In The Frame: 2-19-2023: Got Inspiration?
How about we make some art, eh?
Hey there, my intrepid photo buds! This week was a doozy. I found a card that I had forgotten about and discovered some images from Colorado a few years ago, did a little walk around in downtown Phoenix that made me realize how much I miss the old parts of the city, and spent a ton of time learning some new post-processing tools. I shot 52 images and wrote 6 long articles on the new Creative Class I am working on.
I also talked with a couple of photographers who are feeling a bit burned out, creatively strapped, and lagging in motivation. I get it. There is far more negative news about nearly every damn thing than we should have to bear.
Here’s an idea. Ignore that crap and focus on making cool stuff.
In these visually oversaturated times, it can be tough to come up with new and exciting project ideas. You know there is something to do, but putting a fine point on it can be as elusive as an honest politician. These challenges can seem daunting and even insurmountable. However, there are indeed solutions that can help you can produce your finest work despite feeling paralyzed by inaction. Let’s look at a few ideas we can use to jump-start that creative motor, get it purring like a 73 Jaguar right after an $1100 tuneup, and use it to take us to extraordinary work.
Be inspired by the little things.
We never know when or where we'll find our next great idea. Not every photo has to be a huge production. Sometimes we can find cool and motivating images right in our own backyard. Literally! Get up early and take a look at your home, yard, area, compound. Can you imagine having a compound? Sounds deliciously huge and, for some reason, a bit scandalous. (The FBI raided her compound last evening…)
There are things all around us just waiting for a camera to appear so they can reveal their private beauty. A bit of a leaf, a shadow, something shiny in the grass. Remember when we thought all of that stuff warranted a photo? Before we got jaded and expected to only hoist a camera when there was something “important” to photograph.
Try different styles and formats.
I know I say this a lot, but working with new approaches, styles, gear, lights… to whatever you are working with, can create new neural pathways through the cerebellum… or something. Look, I just made that up but it sounds impressive, so I left it in. But fictional or not, the challenge of something new can move the needle on your creativity by forcing some new constraints on how you work.
When was the last time you shot some black and white, or film, or pulled out that 300MM lens you bought back when them storbists were radically taking their flashes off camera and raising hell? Shameless! Have you played with On1’s new stuff? Or dabbled in a little cinematic color grading? Go ahead and get crazy, it’s only art and it won’t hurt at all.
Portrait shooters out making landscapes in the wild weather of spring, or landscape shooters huddled over a table filled with chocolate and flowers. It’s all good and it’s all fun. Let go a little – and try something… else.
Binge on the work of a photographer you admire.
Grab a book of his or her work and sit with it for a couple of hours. Pen in hand, cool little Moleskin at your side, (these are especially important when perusing books at coffee shops - makes you look incredibly erudite and serious), making notes on every photograph in the book. What is the same, what is different? What was the motivation for this one? Or that one. Or the little slightly naughty image on page 94? Of course you don’t know why, that is why you are making a guess. And what your guess reveals is more about you than them.
Cool, eh?
Whether they are shooting the type of work you do, or something totally different, make a few notes and what you will learn will be like a fire in your belly demanding you grab the camera and get to it. Trust me.
Challenge yourself with a personal project.
Oh, here I am again chatting about personal projects as if they could make a huge difference in your photography. It’s only because personal projects can make a huge difference in your photography. It puts a box around the work, a contextual tool that keeps you focused, driven, and excited to shoot. Having the project focuses the mind and eye to discover the images that fit what you are doing.
Maybe the approach you take is right up your alley, or possibly you try something totally different. Deciding on the project has infinite possibilities, so you must put your head down and forge on. Then make it a priority.
Some projects may take only a few hours, and others can take years or decades to complete. I suggest a shorter one – or a series of shorter ones - while you are also doing long-term work. Photographing your county and the growth that is changing it could take ten years while making images of the weird stuff you found along the highway when you were fixing that nice old lady’s tire may only take an afternoon.
Take a break.
Seriously. Maybe you are like that sad little dark brown French fry that got caught in the strainer and has been through the hot grease eleven times. Ya’ll done, baby.
Listen to music. I mean really listen to it. Sit and do nothing but soak it in. Spend a weekend or a whole week reading, writing, and drawing little cartoon characters doing god knows what with ball-peen hammers and plaster pigs. The photography will be there when you ready to come back to it.
Perhaps you put a time frame on the respite. “I’m taking a timeout, coach. Back in 30 days ready to rock.” Or simply be ready to be inspired when the idea hits you and snatch that camera off of the back of that comfortable old armchair. But, and I mean this from experience, don’t let it go on for over 21 days. That can be problematic and can work against you in some deep habit-forming ways.
Look for other photographers and artists to hang out with.
My Facebook Group for Project 52 is one of the places I go to get charged. The people there are simply amazing, super supportive, and talented as hell. It’s a place where you can share your images, your challenges, and your wins. It is the absolute only reason I even have Facebook on my browser.
Are there meetups in your area? Or a camera club? Hey, some of the camera clubs can be a lot of fun and very exciting to be a part of.
There are associations like ASMP or APA or Graphic Arts Guild that have a lot of people who are also looking for some sort of artistic connection. Be bold, be brave, be assertive, and get out from behind that damned screen. (Except when reading my newsletter, which is likely the absolute coolest thing anyone can do.)
Take the bad with the good.
It isn’t a shock to anyone who makes things that sometimes what we make is less than extraordinary. Less than great. Less than good. Less than… (I think they get it, dude – ed). Sorry. Failure is part of the process. Wait, no… Failure IS the process. We learned to walk after failing time and time again. We learned to talk the same way. And now we are making art, and failure is simply how we get from suck to ‘dayam!’
Don’t beat yourself up over defeat. No, instead praise yourself because you did what so many other people will never do… you gave it a shot. You attempted the goal, took action, stopped finding reasons to not do something, and instead took it on face to face.
That’s your win, brothers and sisters. Rejoice in that.
Finding inspiration, motivation, and sometimes just a little reason to fight off resistance takes a willingness to cast aside fears, embrace changes of all kinds, and a good old “just do it” approach.
As long as there are artists, there will be resistance. As long as there is resistance, there will be artists challenging it, fighting it, occasionally losing to it, but ultimately beating the ever-loving crap out of it.
We know who they are. They are the ones standing in the rubble with the smoke all around and proudly proclaiming “I made this.”
Yeah, you did, my friend.
Now stop showing off and go do it again.
And again.
The images in the post were taken with my Samsung T220 ($20 / eBay)
THIS WEEK’S PHOTOS FROM THE CLASSES
Top left to right: Julie L’Heureux, Rob Scamp.
Bottom left to right: Amy Roth, Mark Lunn
GEAR AND STUFF
Great little boom arm for tabletop work.
Neewer Tripod Boom Arm, 19.7" Horizontal Center Column Tripod Extension Arm Rotatable 360° Aluminum Alloy Swivel Lock
Available at Amazon - and it is really pretty slick.
Let’s get you into a different, and better place a year from now. I am taking two mentors for this quarter, and I will build you into a professional photographer. You will make every nickel you invest back in less than 6 months if you do what I ask of you.
It is intense, fun, exciting, and extremely powerful coaching.
Send me an email or give me a call / text at 602 814 1468.
See you next week.
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System (enrollment begins January 6, 2023) where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year of teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
Check out my newsletter and community at Substack. We are new, but growing.
You can find my books on Amazon, and I have taught two classes at CREATIVELIVE.