Inspiration, practice and experimentation!

[lil_Bobby_Tables]

Important concepts for a budding photographer.

So I'm curious on how often you pick up your camera and try shooting some?

Also interesting, what is usually the thing that makes you do it?
Like, where does the inspiration come from? Are you browsing pics, seeing something cool and then wanting to try it or are you reading about some cool technique? Maybe you just come up with the ideas yourself?

Please tell do tell! I'm also interested in what good sources of such "inspiration" you turn to when you feel the urge to "experiment".

 

[cgipson1]

Are you selling something? Just asking......

 

[rexbobcat]

My mind defies all laws of physics and spontaneously and asexually breeds inspiration and new ideas from the enigma of cosmic forces flowing throughout the universe.

Energy can not be created, nor destroyed? Pssha.

 

[pgriz]

Rex, what were you imbibing when you wrote that? There may be a market for a lubricant that works like that...

 

[cgipson1]

Rex, what were you imbibing when you wrote that? There may be a market for a lubricant that works like that...

LUBRICANT???? We call that stuff Fertilizer back in Texas!

 

[pgriz]

Lubricant, fertilizer, what's the diff. If it sparks the neurons to glow in a pretty synchronized fashion, you can call it anything you want and it will still work.

 

[lil_Bobby_Tables]

Yeah im selling groceries during weekdays and some weekends cgipson1

 

[lil_Bobby_Tables]

Cosmic forces.. interesting. Can you elaborate on that? haha

 

[KmH]

Important concepts for a budding photographer.

So I'm curious on how often you pick up your camera and try shooting some?

Also interesting, what is usually the thing that makes you do it?
Like, where does the inspiration come from? Are you browsing pics, seeing something cool and then wanting to try it or are you reading about some cool technique? Maybe you just come up with the ideas yourself?

Please tell do tell! I'm also interested in what good sources of such "inspiration" you turn to when you feel the urge to "experiment".

Frankly, if you don't already have answers to these questions, you likely picked the wrong hobby.

inspiration usually comes from 2 avenues of investigation: 1. Looking at other people's photos so you get to see what is possible. 2. Probing the technical aspects of art, photography, and photographic lighting.

Important concepts are: pre production, visual image composition, color theory, the exposure triad, depth-of-field, white balance, how the camera shutter works, image file formats, how digital images work, and post production.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-forum/267492-info-those-new-photography.html

 

[DiskoJoe]

Important concepts for a budding photographer.

So I'm curious on how often you pick up your camera and try shooting some?

Also interesting, what is usually the thing that makes you do it?
Like, where does the inspiration come from? Are you browsing pics, seeing something cool and then wanting to try it or are you reading about some cool technique? Maybe you just come up with the ideas yourself?

Please tell do tell! I'm also interested in what good sources of such "inspiration" you turn to when you feel the urge to "experiment".

You are making this more complicated then it needs to be. Ask yourself, "What am I into?" What kind of hobbies did you have before photography? Do you like cars? Do you like to take pics of your kids? Family? GF/wife? Buildings? Random people on the street?

 

[bratkinson]

The above response, "what are you into?" is probably the best idea for sources of inspiration I could come up with.

Generally, nobody ever has a light go on and suddenly decide they want to become a nuclear physicist, or a concert pianist, or whatever. In my experience, what I like or dislike, whether it's a particular team, or hobby, or wine, generally comes up on its own after trying out several or even many things. In the business world, people sometimes start in one business and evolve into another.

It's that way with photography. When I started taking pictures 50+ years ago, I photographed everything from the family dog, birds, ants (and aunts & uncles), cars, even trains. My then growing hobby of model railroading became a passion for photographing trains as well. 25-30 years later, I put down the camera and the model trains for a variety of reasons. 10 years ago, picked up a point and shoot to take pix of ebay items I was selling, then into people photography. That evolved into getting a DSLR a year ago and creating a collection of expensive glass. Last summer I tried out some landscape shots and downtown shots. I may try some more as time permits.

Where does the inspiration to go out and shoot come from? Within. What do you want to do? What interests you? Start there. Your interests may change, just as your tastes/desires for certain foods change over time as well.

One advantage today is taking a picture costs nothing. It used to be the cost of film, processing, printing, and waiting for the pix to come back from the drugstore...Digital has converted me to a click-a-holic...

 

[mishele]

KmH, everyone struggles w/ inspiration. Just because he is asking people how they find it, doesn't mean he should find a new hobby.
Finding inspiration is a personal journey. I search through flickr and look at my contacts' work. I've also started to enjoy going to Galleries.

 

[The_Traveler]

Sometimes I get so burnt out from day to day stuff, I can't even think about putting out the effort that making pictures takes. (I mostly shoot street photos)
So I trick myself.
I get up early and, before I can even think about it, grab my bag and set out for a specific destination - always on surface streets and no highways - and end up stopping and shooting some.
That gets me over the hump and then I have all the images to process.

link

one sat morning last summerhttp://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...r-hampden-c-c-always-welcome.html#post2560508

 

[DiskoJoe]

My mind defies all laws of physics and spontaneously and asexually breeds inspiration and new ideas from the enigma of cosmic forces flowing throughout the universe.

Energy can not be created, nor destroyed? Pssha.

No but it can be converted to matter or a load of crap in this case. :hug::

 

[DiskoJoe]

The above response, "what are you into?" is probably the best idea for sources of inspiration I could come up with.

Generally, nobody ever has a light go on and suddenly decide they want to become a nuclear physicist, or a concert pianist, or whatever. In my experience, what I like or dislike, whether it's a particular team, or hobby, or wine, generally comes up on its own after trying out several or even many things. In the business world, people sometimes start in one business and evolve into another.

It's that way with photography. When I started taking pictures 50+ years ago, I photographed everything from the family dog, birds, ants (and aunts & uncles), cars, even trains. My then growing hobby of model railroading became a passion for photographing trains as well. 25-30 years later, I put down the camera and the model trains for a variety of reasons. 10 years ago, picked up a point and shoot to take pix of ebay items I was selling, then into people photography. That evolved into getting a DSLR a year ago and creating a collection of expensive glass. Last summer I tried out some landscape shots and downtown shots. I may try some more as time permits.

Where does the inspiration to go out and shoot come from? Within. What do you want to do? What interests you? Start there. Your interests may change, just as your tastes/desires for certain foods change over time as well.

One advantage today is taking a picture costs nothing. It used to be the cost of film, processing, printing, and waiting for the pix to come back from the drugstore...Digital has converted me to a click-a-holic...

There you go. Get some wine and get drunk. See if something comes to you, lol. If not at least you had fun drinking the wine. Typically if you are searching for it inspiration will elude you and then sneak up on you when you are not expecting it. Just learn to recognize when it hits.

I like to go hit the streets to find new ideas. Sometimes you get good stuff, sometimes you dont. But at least you got up and out in the fresh air. Often I will spot locations and get ideas for shoots using them.