Inspiration is a funny thing. Some call it a muse, some say it is being in “the zone”. When the muse or inspiration visits you, you can create amazing images. We have all had this happen to us. We go out on a particular day and everything we shoot “works”. We seem to get great shots no matter where we look. So, how do you get this to happen? IS there anything you can do to make it happen, more regularly, or is it just about getting lucky. Of course, as photographers, lots of things can inspire us, magnificent light, a great scene, amazing nature, the list goes on.
Sometimes though, these are not enough. Even in perfect conditions, we feel uninspired, well, I know I sometimes do. So, what inspires me? I have a few things that make me want to hunt for the next image. Firstly, great light helps, and a good scene unfolding in front of me works. My new habit for 2018 is that I want to carry a camera with me, everywhere I go. The reason is simple. We never know what we might see or how something may inspire us. We could be walking down the street and the sun is setting and BOOM, it’s amazing, you see the light, it’s warm and vibrant and you think..”I need to shoot this…” but you have no camera with you. So, my new habit is to carry a camera with me everywhere I go. My camera of choice is a Fujifilm X100S, which I bought second hand recently. It is light and easy to carry over your shoulder.
One of my photography heroes, Jay Maisel says he never goes out to shoot because he always has his camera with him, so he shoots every day all the time. Going out to shoot is not an event, he just does it. As he puts it, he does “visual push-ups” everyday. This will certainly sharpen you observation skills, you will be more alert to scenes around and you will get more images. This in itself will be inspirational. So, what inspires you? Think about it…and then carry your camera with you everywhere for when that inspiration starts happening! For your further inspiration, here are some of Jays images…
