Chapter 20

Ten Tips for Finding Photographic Inspiration

In This Chapter

Motivating yourself with compositional techniques from the experts

Giving yourself a fresh photographic perspective

When you’re inspired by a certain location or subject, ideas flow through your head with ease, and you have no trouble composing great images. However, sometimes your creativity may be blocked, or you may find it difficult to see the photographic potential of a certain location or subject. But don’t despair. The tips in this chapter can help start you on a journey toward inspiration. Try them all and look for others that help you.

Accept your uninspired times without letting them get you down. Even the greatest photographers have experienced this frustration at times, and the trick is to acknowledge the situation and calmly figure out what you can do to break through the creative block.

Take a Walk, Take Photos, and Take Notes

Some scenes can produce amazing photographic settings at certain times of the day or in certain lighting or weather conditions. Many of these scenes probably exist right in your local area, and you haven’t noticed them yet. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for photographing, pack your camera bag and go for a walk. Don’t worry about which direction you go or what subjects you photograph. Just head out the door and get some fresh air.

While you walk, take in your surroundings: Notice the architecture, trees, people, and wildlife, and pay attention to the textures and colors of things. You don’t even need to pull your camera out of its bag; simply take in the visual elements that are all around you. If you see something that’s worth photographing, take a picture. If not, don’t sweat it; you’ll take plenty of pictures later, when you’re inspired.

Pay careful attention to scenes that catch your eye, and consider why they caught your interest. For instance, you may see a wall that has great texture, colors, and lighting but needs something else to make it more than just a wall. In this case, take a quick snapshot and make yourself a note that describes what you like about the location. Write down ideas you have for shooting at the location and what you need to make it happen. Perhaps you can bring a friend to the same spot on another day and take her portrait there. You can arrange to have her dressed in colors that go with the color scheme of the location, and you can arrive at a time when the lighting is ideal for that spot.

As you walk around, take these snapshots and make these types of notes for yourself wherever you see potential in a location. Doing so gives you multiple spots to choose and build creative ideas from. Use whatever methods work for you. Keeping a notebook specifically for this purpose can be helpful. Or you may want to use your cellphone camera to take snapshots and then e-mail the photo to yourself with the notes you take.

Try Something Completely New

Maybe you’re bored with the work you produce because you’ve been creating the same types of images for a while now. Forming habits or sticking with what you know best is human nature and usually causes this repetition.

Break out of these situations by allowing yourself to experiment with techniques you have little or no experience with. The best way to learn is by doing — and the more tricks you have up your sleeve, the better equipped you’ll be to handle most photographic situations.

Here are some possibilities for trying something new:

Try shooting in a different environment. If you normally shoot outdoors, try shooting indoors for a change (and vice versa).

Experiment with a new style of lighting. If you’re stuck in a lighting rut, practice some of the other methods of lighting you find in Chapter 10.

Take some shots of a new subject. If you photograph mainly people, for example, try your hand at shooting landscapes, architecture, food, or wildlife.

Make an attempt at postproduction editing. Many new photographers create portfolios in which their work consists of straight photography, meaning they don’t use photo-editing software to enhance their images. Don’t follow in their footsteps. Give editing a shot, and see whether you can be as creative in postproduction as you can when you’re behind the camera. Doing so could open your eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. For more on photo-editing techniques, turn to Chapter 18.

If your new experimentations don’t exactly work out, make it a learning experience. Study the photos so you can see what works and what doesn’t — and what needs to change for the shot to be successful. You may be able go back and try again.

Emulate Your Favorite Shots by Other Photographers

Many photographers get their inspiration from famous images that someone else created. These images are iconic and expressive, such as the American Gothic painting, the cover image to Abbey Road, or the shot of Marilyn Monroe with her dress being blown up around her. You probably have your own list of images that stand out to you as inspirational. Try to re-create an inspiring image in its entirety, or take shots of the inspiring aspects of the image and create a new twist.

Do an online search for American Gothic to see just how many photographers have emulated it. You’ll see a large variety of conceptual twists that should jump-start your own creativity.

Watch a Good Movie

Films are a great source for inspiration with regard to photographic composition. In a quality film, the directors of photography and art make camera angles, lighting, color schemes, and lens choices based on the narrative qualities they’re looking for.

When watching a movie, pay attention to the main subjects’ relationships to the other elements in a frame and how those relationships affect your understanding of the scene. Notice the different types of lighting during different scenes, and determine which mood is associated with which lighting type. What scenes use soft light and which ones use hard light? Is there a high level of contrast? (Chapter 10 tells you more about lighting.)

Some movie moments are depicted with wide-angle lenses and others with telephoto lenses. (You find out about lens types in Chapter 3.) Take notes on how moviemakers use different lenses to convey different messages. With an understanding of how different compositional techniques are put to use, perhaps you can find some inspiration to put those techniques into practice with your own photography.

Visit a Museum

Museums hold inspiration in its purest form. Looking at the online images of the great works of art is convenient and useful, but it’s nothing like seeing the real thing. Most of the artwork displayed in museums is chosen for a reason. In most cases, the art world has recognized these pieces as having artistic qualities that could be of value to the public. So take my word for it and head out to your local museum (or do some traveling to see a museum that’s new to you).

If the museum you visit offers a tour, take it and see what the curator has to say about the pieces you see. Listen to what he says about balance and scale, color, and technique. Try to notice compositional qualities in three-dimensional works of art (sculptures, installations, and so on); this different medium could inspire you to try something new when photographing.

Similarly, if you have a favorite photographer — one who inspired you to pick up a camera in the first place — you should see that photographer’s work in person. Doing so is far more satisfying than seeing it in books or on the Web, and it will inspire you to continue creating your own images. To find out where you can view a specific photographers work, do an online search of their name with keywords such as “gallery exhibition” or “news.”

Compile a Wall of Inspiration

When flipping through magazines, you’ll likely come across images that jump out at you. Perhaps it’s the lighting, the successful use of perspective, or the combination and balance of colors that gets your attention. Regardless of what draws you in, clip the page from the magazine and pin it up in your office or studio so you can see it on a regular basis.

As you post these images on your wall, you collect concepts and techniques that you find attractive to inspire you. If you simply take mental notes when you’re inspired by images, chances are you’ll soon forget about them. If you pin up the images where you can see them, you’ll have a constant reminder.

Purchase a New Lens

Maybe you feel like all your images are starting to look the same, or maybe you want to use certain techniques but can’t achieve them with your current lenses. If that’s the case, look into a new lens! In most cases, a new lens is even more valuable than a new camera body; the camera’s digital sensor sees only what the lens reveals to it.

Getting a new lens for your digital SLR is similar to getting a new toy as a child. Because the lens is new and different, it’s interesting. You’ll automatically be inspired to go out photographing.

If you can’t afford to buy a new lens or aren’t sure which one to get, try your local rental house. At a rental house, for a small rental fee you can try out various lenses. Doing so helps you decide which one works best for you and which one provides the most inspiration to create new images. To locate your nearest rental house, try searching the local business listings online. Or you can always ask a friend who may be in the know.

Head Out for a Nighttime Photo Shoot

Most photographers shoot during the day. If you want to create images that stand out from the norm (and you want to have a good time doing it), try shooting at night with long exposures.

Shooting at night is the same as shooting during the day except that you have much less natural light to work with. As a result, your exposures are very long. (With this in mind, be sure to bring your tripod.) Most digital SLR cameras allow you to set your shutter speed at a maximum of 30 seconds. In some cases, this is more than enough time. However, if you notice that a night scene is underexposed at 30 seconds and your aperture is wide open and your ISO is maxed out, your only option is to increase the time of your exposure. (Chapter 3 discusses how to manage your exposure value by setting your shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.)

The setting that allows you to open your shutter for custom, extended periods of time is known as bulb. (Refer to your owner’s manual to find out how to set your camera to bulb.) After you’ve set your camera to this setting, you can hold down your shutter release button for the amount of time you would like to expose a scene. With this setting, you can expose an image for as long as your batteries will allow.

Holding your finger on the camera while it’s exposing a scene for a lengthy period of time isn’t practical. Doing so causes motion blur because the camera shakes — and it’s not very fun, either. You have two options for solving this problem:

Buy a shutter release cable. This cable, which is perfect for long exposures, attaches to your camera and gives you control of the shutter without having to touch the camera. If you’re going to buy a shutter release cable, be sure to research the different options available for your specific camera and read reviews written by other photographers on each product. Some shutter release cables offer various features, such as wireless capabilities and time-lapse options (as discussed in the later section “Reveal the Lapse of Time in a Scene”). Make sure you get one that has the features you want and is priced to fit your budget.

Use the tape and pebble system. This is my own method of choice. With my camera set to bulb, I set up my shot and then carefully attach the lens cap to keep light from getting in once my shutter is opened. I then place a pebble over the camera’s shutter release button and tightly wrap gaffer’s tape around it and the camera body. The tape holds the stone in place, and my shutter remains open. To begin my exposure, I gently but quickly remove the lens cap. To finish the exposure, I simply put the lens cap back on, and then I peel off the tape to free the pebble. This method clearly is the more economical one if you don’t want to purchase a shutter release cable.

It’s best to avoid using duct tape or any type of tape that gets its stick from a thick adhesive. Gaffer’s tape is commonly used by photographers because it doesn’t leave a sticky residue after it’s peeled off a surface.

Having the ability to control your shutter speed beyond 30 seconds is important for when you want to shoot at smaller apertures for more depth of field and lower ISO ratings, which I tell you about in Chapter 7.

Reveal the Lapse of Time in a Scene

One inspiring way to reveal a scene by using your camera is to create a time lapse. A time lapse is a sequence of images taken over a period of time. These images reveal the changes that occurred during that time in the scene. With the camera positioned on a tripod (for maximum stability), you can arrange to have an image taken once every minute or so. Changing the frequency of how often an image is taken changes the effect of your final results. Shorter durations between shots provide more gradual changes in the scene, and longer durations between shots provide more abrupt changes in the scene.

Some shutter release cables have a time-lapse setting that enables you to set the time between shots, allowing the camera and cable release to do all the work from there. If you don’t have a cable release with this option, you’ll have to manually time and execute your shots.

When composing an image for a time lapse, keep in mind the changes you expect to occur. If you’re shooting the sunset, for example, compose your image so the sun sets in a way that looks good compositionally (check out Chapter 5 for info on arranging elements in a frame). If you’re shooting the sunrise, predict where the sun will breach the horizon and compose your image based on that.

This technique can be fun to experiment with, and it’s a good way to get a feel for creating video (which is sort of like a cousin of photography). Your time-lapse images can be put together using any basic video editing software. For more information of using digital video software, take a look at Digital Video For Dummies, 4th Edition, by Keith Underdahl (Wiley).

Join a Photography Forum

Photographers tend to have emotional connections to their own work, and these connections disable them from having a clear vision as to whether the work is technically adequate and successfully conveys a message to viewers. So, one of the most important aspects of developing your compositional skills as a photographer is having your work critiqued by people who don’t know you and who can be critical and honest. Having these folks see your images and give feedback on what they got from the experience helps you figure out what works effectively and what requires a greater effort.

You can find Web sites that allow you to upload images of your own to be critiqued. Examples include the following sites: jpgmag.com, photoartsforum.com, and www.naturephotographers.net. At sites like these, you can also critique the works of others. Doing so gives you insight as to what common mistakes are made and what to avoid when composing photographs. During this process, compare your work to that of other photographers to see how yours stands out. Are you happy with the results of the comparisons? If not, figure out what makes you unhappy about the photo and how you can make changes in the future. Photographic composition is an ever-evolving skill, so don’t ever be embarrassed to admit that you can do better next time.