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A necessary ingredient for any outstanding photograph, inspiration is an elusive element. As photographers, many of us wait for this creative inspiration to come along and slap us in the face, screaming, “Here I am at last!”
This seldom happens, and yet nearly all of us are guilty of — at least on occasion — waiting. Waiting for the perfect weather conditions or for a new piece of gear or for the ideal location to jump out at us. As a result of all this endless waiting, there is no telling how many potentially amazing photos are missed. Probably plenty of mediocre shots are missed out on too, but as we all know, they are just part of life. It’s an oft repeated mantra of the self-help guru, but like all common sense advice, we can all benefit from hearing it a few more times:
“Don’t wait.”
Whoever came up with the flawed theory that ‘good things come to those who wait‘ got it all wrong, at least when it’s photography inspiration we’re talking about. Creative inspiration comes to those who go out and search for it. Good photos, and maybe even great ones, are no different. They take work and effort, sometimes more than others, and are never going to materialize on your camera. We all can relate to the feeling of waking up on a day where we’d rather stay in bed. Sometimes as photographers, the motivation we had the day before can evaporate, and we might even find ourselves hoping that a model will cancel for our fashion shoot or that rain will begin to fall, ruining our landscape photography outing. Maybe it would be nice to just spend the day relaxing, in our comfort zone. But the model doesn’t cancel and the rain doesn’t appear and the shoot continues as scheduled. You end up feeling good and accomplished at the end of the day and the photos make getting out of your comfort zone worthwhile. You’ve gotten at least a few keepers — fragments and moments of time that would have gone unrecorded had you stayed in bed.
Photography is a medium of creativity that lends itself to spontaneity — to sudden changes in light and weather, tone and contrast. Photography truly is all just light – constantly changing and always inspiring, but only to the photographers who venture into the unknown and embrace it. New photographic frontiers are not the turf of only outdoor photographers — even the windowless studio holds new life and possibility. It’s easy to become a follower of formulas as a photographer, to stick so rigidly to a preconceived notion of how your photos should always look that you never deviate from your comfort zone.
I often find myself most impressed these days by the new generation of young photographers, whose work seems to evolve and improve at a remarkable rate compared to many long-time photographers whose work continues to look much the same year after year. While this is not a hard rule, I think that it’s the experimental, resourceful, and even rebellious nature of youth that drives this creative innovation and evolution that I so often see and marvel at. Without years of experience and, perhaps even assisted by a lack of technical knowledge, these newcomers to photography experiment with every aspect of their newfound art, learning as they go and cultivating a more intimate bond between photographer and camera.
While it may come more naturally to the young, creativity is not their sovereign domain. The inspiration that comes with experimenting and embracing changes — in light, aperture, location, and perhaps even in gear can jump start the creativity that can be found in every photographer. Experience can quickly lead to complacence and routine, so it helps to shake things up a bit, always questioning why you’re taking a photo the way you are. Cameras can come off the tripod. The rule of thirds is more like a loose guideline. The light of the sun is sometimes preferable to studio flashes. Blurry photos can sometimes be beautiful.
In the age of the smartphone, where 41 megapixel sensors are the new standard for capturing photos of what we had for lunch, it’s important to remember that many of the greatest photos of the past century were taken using simple devices without all the bells and whistles we rely upon today. Lest this sound like a lament mourning the good old bygone days of film, it’s not. It’s simply a reminder to appreciate the concept of less is more and to push the limits of our craft and our tools, whatever they might be.