This is the age old question, isn’t it? How do you stay or keep inspired and creative through the time?
We ebb, flow, sit in stillness, get bored, get excited, get distracted, curl up in a sunbeam, hop on your motorcycle, go to the bookstore or eat a sandwich. So how does all of this help us stay fresh?
True creativity is coming up with a new solution to a problem or scenario. That really is what makes it so hard to sustain. We don’t ALWAYS have a problem to solve. We also can’t just continuously make ourselves problems. Actually we can, but that is toxic so we try not to, so then what?
Myself, I know I need time by myself, as well as time to experience the work that others do. Then I pick one thing and really try to explore that thing fully. I’ve picked up some techniques from other artists and have a little list I never actually refer to when I need it. So messy and completely inconsistent at best.
Actually, if I’m honest, the only consistent thing I do is to have a general idea of what I want to try and relax and go forth calmly with particular attention to having my kit prepared and organised. I also always have a little book of some kind to write my ideas and plans down.
An inspiration to me is photographer Freeman Patterson. He has written many books and most of them read like a workshop. He has great techniques to loosen the cogs and tap into your creative approach.
The following gallery has a number of examples. The various techniques used are:
- Neutral Density Filters
- Long Exposure
- Zooming In
- Multiple Exposure
- Double Exposure
- Change of POV
- Aperture Priority
- Shutter Drag
- Shutter Priority
- Polarizing Filter
- Combinations of the above.
I do find that sometimes my ‘oh f’ mistakes are some of the more interesting things I end up with. A lot of times, you need to just relax and play. Just to see what happens. So I definitely don’t sweat it if it’s not perfect or exactly what was in my mind’s eye. It’s half blind anyway.
Check out the 52 Week Creative Challenge on the blog.
Sobo Creative 2024