Right now, nothing. Nothing inspires me. just thinking about digging the camera out of the bag seems like a chore. That probably has to do with family issues I'm dealing with right now, but I won't go into detail.
That said, photography has always been cyclical for me. I get periods of inspiration, produce a thousand sh*t images, then one great one as the result of everything I learned from the bad, then put the camera down for a few months. Then I come to this site, lurk, see some image, statement or advert that gets the motor running all over again.
Then why am I here trolling without posting new pics you might ask? Well, simple. I've dodged the "need to go pro" bullet and have luckily kept photography as a hobby only. A hobby I enjoy none the less. I'm hoping that by participating here, in any capacity, that I might be inspired sooner than my normal cycle dictates. I need the mental distraction of a hobby like photography right now, and that's really difficult to do without the proper germination of the brain seed.
But wait... Photo contest this month is circles, eh?
Hmm...
I guess to answer the OP, the thing that inspires me the most about photography is to be able to think of the image I want to create, then nail it through thoughtful set up and proper exposure. There have only been a small handful of times I have done this, but every time was a victory worth working for, especially since I'm very VERY left brain oriented. I will spend weeks researching a style of photography (for example, High speed), weeks trying to get competent at it, then hundreds of shots learning how to get it juuuuuusssssst right. Then when the day comes I can set the shot up for keeps and nail it.
It's a great feeling.
