How do you stay creative?

[bhop]

I live downtown in a Mexican city. I never leave my apartment without my camera. To be honest, most of my shots are opportunities. I am not an artist and don't wish to be. I'm a photographer and that suits me fine.

Same here, except for the Mexican city part..

 

[Tappout]

Music. For me photography and music go hand in hand. I hardly every check out other work for inspiration, cause I dont want to shoot like everyone else and am still trying to find my own style. I will just put on the tunes, and let my mind take me to a photo. Sometimes, I just wander and let the photo come to me.
My biggest enemy is time. :er:

I am going to give this a try this weekend! Sounds very promising! Thanks for the input!

 

[ohbearded1]

Gotta list of some interesting locations around my area now, going to visit a couple tomorrow with a friend and our cameras.

 

[1 Pic > 1,000 Words]

I work and have school and don't have a lot of time for photography as an art form, but I always find myself thinking "wow, what a great picture this or that would make." Many times a creative idea just comes to you when your not "trying" to think of one. You have to try different things, even things you may not think will create something that's good, because you will suprise yourself and learn new things.

Creativity is in the eye of the beholder, we're all creative in our own ways, some more than others. Relax and don't overthink it, and you will find your creativity.

 

[tomdinning]

Might it not be possible we are barking at the wrong tree?

If we are casual photographers as I might assume most of us are, even serious ones, whatever that means, shouldn't the priority be to enjoy what we do?
Or is the aim of the game to suffer a little for the sake of art?
Or perhaps be discovered by a gallery and made famous in our own lunch time?
Or impress our friends and relatives.
I can't speak for anyone but myself here and I wouldn't impose my ideals on anyone.
I have been taking pictures for nigh on 60 years; longer than some shorter than some. That's month the point.
I'm not a professional photographer I the sense that I take pictures to sell. I take pictures to teach, because I enjoy the experience, because I can share those experiences, I can reminisce, experiment, talk about, hang or give away what I do.
The creativity comes second hand. The motivation is the personal qualities I have mentioned. If it were the creativity that I relied on id have given up 59 years ago.
It's like any pass time I've had: surfing, flying, writing, cycling, running, drinking, they all enable me to fill my days with pleasure. Things don't always go as I wish but that part of the fun.
If you don't get to where you are going you'll always end up somewhere else. If you carry regrets and expectations with you it will always be the wrong place.
The creativity comes like lightning in a storm. Rarely but all at once. Then there's nothing for a long time.
When there is nothing going on, do something else.
When my wife sees me sitting around she asks what I'm doing
Waiting for a storm I tell her.
While you're waiting can you do the dishes.
Sure.

 

[imagemaker46]

I don't shoot every day, maybe 300 days a year, but I think about pictures every day, ones that I want to try, these are the easy ones, as they don't require a lot of set up time and I have people I can use to do it. I always have a camera sitting on the floor and shoot pictures of my cats when they are goofing around, a lot of the images kinda suck, but playing around is part of it. I spend time working on images in photo shop, just for something to do and it helps keep my head in the game.