What are your sources of inspiration??

What do you look at when you want to get a new idea for a shot, hit the wall creatively, or are just looking to improve your skills? Are there any particular photographers that you follow?

I generally look at the following:
Sports Illustrated - Action and, surprisingly, some portrait ideas
Outdoor Photographer - Landscapes

I also used to read National Geographic, but I was never able to use ideas from any photos in those magazines.

Photographers:
Peter Read Miller - probably the best photographer on the Sports Illustrated Staff
Pete Souza - Staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune

Honestly when I'm stuck for ideas I like to go back through my old stuff from my film days and my older digital stuff. It's a lot of fun to see the thing I used to do back then. The things I shot, and the odd angles I tried.

Also when it comes to nature/wildlife photography I go to the site of my favorite photographer, Donald Cohen

And of course I love to page through all of the wonderful images and awesome ideas on this site. We have such a steller collection of photographers from all over the world and of all skill levels here on PR.com!

Beat me to it Almo! I come here and after looking through some posts, I am ready to go :)

I also read Outdoor Photographer for landscapes and scenic photos. I have also started reading Wisconsin Trails, for the outdoor pics and potential local travel destinations. Audobon magazine and outdoor magazines in general for wildlife pics. And of course, this site.

I also like Mike McDowell's and Ann Cook's digiscoping sites for bird pics. Michael Fatali for landscapes, and our very own Andy Armstrong for portraits. I'm not a sports shooter but I love to see Photo Johns MTB pics.

I also will look at Outdoor Photographer for ideas/inspiration. Also will look at one called Nature Photographer. It is a really neat mag which is based soley on it's membership. They have 3 different levels of subscription with the top being called Field Contributor. That is where all of their photos/articles come from; the members.

I will look at some of my old stuff I have which is surpisingly from an old Kodak Instamatik. Love to look at anything from Ansel Adams and a new found favorite in Nature/Wildlife; Moose Peterson. Also like David Cohen and John Ford.

Last and definitely not least is to come to here. This has got to be the best site I have found in relation to it's members, their diversity in culture and styles and talent.

Chunk sent me some Az Highways magazines and they are really inspiring me to get out there with my new sigma 18-50mm and try and do some justice to the land in which I live. I am not a great landscape pohotographer, not by a longshot, but I defy you to look at the images in that mag and not come out of it with a zest for the landscape.

This site right here is a big source of inspirations, and www.uer.ca (Urban Exploration)

I just can't put my camera down when I'm somewhere that I've never been to before. If I have the luxury to do so, I usually return after I've processed my first batch becuase I have many redo's. Hopefully the light cooperates on the revisit.

Cheers,
Tim

Don't limit yourself to photographic sources for inspiration. I find a walk through the Art Institute of Chicago's impressionist exhibit to be one of the most inspirational (creativity wise) things I've ever done.

Two things I've done that I think have helped my photography a lot are learning to draw and learning to paint. I was surprised at how much each changed how I see - tones/contrast and light and shadow with drawing and understanding color with painting. Elements of composition with both.

I find that in general articles in art books and magazines teach more about creatively composing scenes than those in photo resources.

I think that most really good photographs owe a lot more to control of the scene than control of the equipment so I think the most is to be gained by exposing yourself to how great artists (some of whom are photographers) have done that.

I'm with Chunk here, drawing and painting both contributed largely to changing my view on all art, including photography.

As for inspiration, I look at stuff like magazines and newspapers to see how to do things right, but I look outside of my own home for inspiration. Life is incredibly interesting and inspiring if you just pay attention.

Reading often inspires me. I will catch a sentence that will make me imagine what is being described and I will suddenly want to go out and capture the image I envision. Not just the obvious (a setting sun, a flower, etc.) but something less likely to be focused on by most. I recently read a passage somewhere about a character holding the family bible, with the pages falling out, and the illuminations fading, and I wanted to run out and find bibles with illustrations and old, faded books, which led to bookstores, and libraries, and book displays outside of thrift stores, and it just snowballs from there. The images I finally love the best are usually far removed from what originally motivated me and I often can't remember how I got here from there.

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Originally Posted by Sebastian

I'm with Chunk here, drawing and painting both contributed largely to changing my view on all art, including photography.

As for inspiration, I look at stuff like magazines and newspapers to see how to do things right, but I look outside of my own home for inspiration. Life is incredibly interesting and inspiring if you just pay attention.

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Looking to art is a very interesting idea that I have never considered. I never thought of looking at paintings and drawings for inspiration.

i get frustrated with lack of time, lack of equipment and lack of skill... and go for months without shooting (as obviously i have recently...) but then certain people will nag and encourage, and then i start up again, certain people who belong to this forum :)
for inspiration i try to go after the things i wouldnt normally photograph, or i just start dragging the camera along when i drive somewhere for errands, as that is usually when i'll see something i normally would have missed.

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Originally Posted by masdog

Looking to art is a very interesting idea that I have never considered. I never thought of looking at paintings and drawings for inspiration.

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A pro photographer I highly respect, Robert Holmes, taught a class at a conference I attended last year, and the whole class was about how art inspires his photography. He'd show a slide of an abstract painting, then a slide of a picture he took that was inspired by that painting. For instance, he showed an abstract canvas painted yellow with two jagged black lines in the center, then showed a picture of two birch trees in the fall against a backdrop of a yellow-leafed forest. It was AWESOME how closely his photographs corresponded with his art examples. And this guy has been published in numerous magazines including National Geographic.


For me, personally, I get inspiration from Photo Projects. Things that force me to go out and look at one subject in a different way, or interpret a theme creatively. I also love this site: http://www.dpchallenge.com/, which is basically a site devoted to photo challenges. I love looking at all the creative ways that hundreds of photographers at all skill levels chose to interpret a theme. It really motivates me to pick up my camera.