As we begin a new year and new decade, what are you doing to find inspiration? Sometimes it can be hard to stay inspired in our craft day after day. Some people thrive on having a very focused project. Others like to shoot as inspiration comes to them. This can also vary with our stage of life or stage of photography too. I used to thrive on having a project and a “due date” in my first few years of learning. Now I prefer to shoot when I feel the inspiration and try not to feel pressure to create on any kind of timeline.
Whether you are feeling motivated or looking for inspiration, here are 7 tips for finding inspiration in the new year!
1) Go for an early morning walk. Morning walks have been somewhat thrust on me by my walk-loving golden retriever. However, I find that the routine of our 2 mile walk after the kids are off to school is more than just a good active and mind clearing way to start the day. Much of the year, our walk occurs within a couple hours after sunrise and as we walk, I am always noticing the way the light shines through the neighborhood. There is nothing unusually beautiful about our neighborhood, but just noticing the way it lights up the dew drops on the grasses or filters through the trees leaves my mind feeling inspired as I frame images in my mind. On a couple of occasions, I even grabbed my camera when we got home and went in search of the same beauty slightly closer to home. I wonder what you’d find in your neighborhood in the morning light.
The bokeh I envisioned among the grasses day after day while walking the dog in the morning light!
2) Take a field trip to a local park, arboretum, forest preserve, or city! Make an effort to plan a day or even a couple hours visiting a local area of beauty. Maybe you bring your camera or maybe you just leave it at home and spend the time observing with your mind. Sometimes when you go without your camera, your eyes will see even more opportunities to come back to at a later date. Occasionally, when we have our cameras, we can get stuck on the first opportunity we see and miss the other beauty we might have explored. Go alone for quiet thoughtfulness or grab a friend and make it a social outing! Do you have a place you haven’t visited lately?
One of my favorite local spots to visit when I need a creative fix!
3) Listen to inspiring music. The best photographs make us feel emotion. The best music does the same thing. For me, listening to certain music brings specific types visions to my mind and others take me back to past memories or stages of my life. Instrumental music will often bring visions of nature for me; such as waterfalls or rustling trees, etc. Listening to music that makes me FEEL something deep inside inspires me to want to capture images that also make me FEEL emotion. What kind of music inspires you?
4. Get out at night, sunrise or sunset! Getting outside to witness nature during sunrise or sunset when the light is dynamic and colors are golden is sure to help revive your inspiration. The quiet of sunrise always revives and calms my mind as well. Getting out to shoot at night, when everything looks different is a great way to find inspiration. Night is more unexpected and we can create some interesting images that have a stronger impact that the same scene might during the day. Our cameras often capture colors and scenes at night that we miss with the naked eye. Where is a place that you have never explored with your camera at night?
Chicago has a magic that comes alive at night!
5. Explore a different genre. Maybe the landscape is drab and dreary in the winter and is leaving you uninspired. Look for some details that are enhanced by beautiful light or atmospheric fog. Grab some flowers and experiment with macro photography inside or try food photography. Try some self portraits and experiment with light and composition. Sometimes just picking up the camera can yield inspiration. Is there a genre that intrigues you in which you might explore some more?
6. Learn or practice a new technique. Get those Neutral Density filters and tackle long exposures or try some panning on the water or trees. Spend some time learning new creative post processing techniques while you are uninspired to shoot. Post processing is one of my favorite things to do on the dreary winter days. In fact, sometimes I’m thankful for those dreary days because otherwise I might never get my editing done! What technique has been on your to-do list to master?
Merge of a long exposure for the clouds and quick shutter to freeze the foliage!
7. Plan a trip and/or Explore a new place. If nothing else works to inspire my creativity, traveling or exploring a new place always does. Certainly it is most desirable to travel somewhere exotic or extraordinarily beautiful but even less extraordinary places that are new to you can awake your mind to the beauty of the world. Even a day or weekend away in a new place can inspire creativity. And if you come back home to feel uninspired again, at least you have some images to experiment with in post processing!
Kristen Ryan is an award winning and published landscape and fine art photographer and educator residing in the Midwest suburbs of Chicago. All images are available for purchase in the Fine Art Store or by request. Kristen leads ladies landscape photography retreats in the Tetons, Chicago, and the Canadian Rockies, offers private mentoring and teaches an online landscape photography workshop, The World Around You.