Staying Inspired As A Photographer

12 October 2017

Every photographer lacks inspiration at one point or another. Maybe you are in a creative rut or perhaps you are eager to shoot but you are short of ideas. Believe it or not, inspiration is easy to find if you look in the right places. Here are my favourite ways to find inspiration and to make sure that I am never short on ideas to shoot.

Staying Inspired As A PhotographerStaying Inspired As A Photographer

Finding Visual Inspiration

The first thing I do when I’m looking to be inspired is to go on to social media.
Pinterest is my go-to app, scrolling through my feed or searching for ideas always sparks concepts for upcoming shoots. You can search keywords (if you have a vague idea of what you are looking for), find photos from thousands of photographers portfolios and easily save the images that you love. I like to organise my pins into boards based on the style and concept. Try spending half an hour soaking in all sorts of images and pin your favourites.

Instagram is another great option. I try to put aside time each day to scroll through my Instagram feed to not only get inspired, but to stay up to date with new trends. Look through accounts that you know you love and see what new work they are producing. The popular page is another way to find new accounts to follow. Click on whatever catches your eye and check out any accounts that you like the look of. Following new accounts can be a great way to gain inspiration not only immediately, but in the future as well.

Staying Inspired As A PhotographerStaying Inspired As A Photographer

Look Outside The Box  

Sometimes inspiration can come to you when you least expect it.
Go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go, or simply move into another room. Spend 10 minutes just looking around yourself, look out the window and look at the objects you own from a new perspective. It’s all about looking at life from a new angle and changing up the view you normally see every day. This could be as simple as moving from sitting at your desk to sitting in a different room, or you could go for a walk in the park or visit the beach.

As legendary fashion editor Grace Coddington once said “Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you”. Go somewhere you haven’t been in a long time and really look around yourself, when you are paying attention it’s easy to find small things that spark ideas.

 

Staying Inspired As A PhotographerStaying Inspired As A Photographer

Another option to think outside the box is to draw inspiration from a different genre of photography or art than your own. I often find that looking at paintings or drawings is a great way to spark new ideas that might not have been done before. Pay close attention to composition, props, posing, styling etc. Watching a movie is another favourite of mine. 

Movies are an amazing way to become inspired without even leaving your house. Pick something and again pay close attention to the little details.

Keep A List

Lastly, my favourite tip for always having inspiration for shoots is to keep a list of your ideas.
This can be a note in your phone or get creative with a sketch pad. Whenever you have an idea write it down, then whenever you are stuck you can revisit these ideas that you had in the past. An even better way is to keep a visual diary on your phone.
Try using the camera to capture inspiration you might come across when you are out and about. Whatever it is that inspired you, whether that be a potential location, prop, textures, colours etc., take a quick shot of it on your phone and add them all to an inspiration folder. Then you can open this folder when you aren’t feeling inspired and look back on ideas you might have forgotten about otherwise. 

Staying Inspired As A PhotographerStaying Inspired As A Photographer

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