Sometimes it just hits me. Sometimes I just need a pen and paper and the ideas are flying out of my head so quickly I think I may have missed some. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t as clear, but I know I just need to get my camera and shoot something, anything really.
Then there are times when I am left scratching my head. Left without any ideas as to what to shoot, how to pose my clients or even how to edit the photos. During these times, I find myself needing a little inspiration.
Inspiration for me comes in many different forms. Sometimes all I need is a quiet space to clear my mind and rest. A space to focus on my art and what I want to get out of it. But sometimes I need inspiration from an exterior source. For this I turn to my books and magazines, and of course the good ol’ internet.
I follow many different photographers online, some conceptual photographers like Kirsty Mitchell and Scott Rhea and some fashion photographers like Emily Soto and Lara Jade. Portrait photographers like Anastasia Volkova, child photographers like the incredible Jinky Art, Simplicity Photography and newborn photographers like Keri Kay Photography. And of course, I follow many amazing wedding photographers like Feather & Stone, Ozzy Garcia, Tanja Lippert Photography, Barbara Ann Studios, Reg Campbell Wedding & Editorials, Mastin Studio, Fifteen-Fifty One, and Jasmine Star. I also turn to the greats like Yousuf Karsh and Malak Karsh, who truly are my favourite portrait and landscape photographers, respectively. But you have to be very careful when you take inspiration from those who shoot the same types of photos as you. You have to make sure you take inspiration and basic ideas and not their work, not their intellectual property.
Most of the time this is easy to do as often when I look at other photographers’ work, it acts as a jumping off point and though the original thought may have stemmed from someplace other than my head, the end result is completely different and truly my own. However, there are times when I get back to my computer and am running through the shots and see something that is a little too similar to someone else’s shot. At times like this I have to ask myself, did that come organically throughout the course of the shoot? If the answer is yes, then I roll with it. If the answer is no, well to be honest I haven’t run into this situation before, and I intend on keeping it that way!
Inspiration comes from many sources for many people. For me, it is all about balancing inspiration from within myself, those around me and those who came before me.
It’s about finding out who I am as a photographer and capturing the world around me the way I envision it.
