I posted this on another forum but I thought I'd get your thoughts as well.

I've been out of the game for a while but have slowly started uploading again. My biggest problem is a lack of inspiration. I can't seem to come up with enough ideas to get my port. going. I'm going to be wife/kid free for a week and want to really concentrate on doing stock but I'm short on ideas. It seems some people can submit as many images in a month as what's in my total portfolio. So what's your inspiration?

I'm not a big numbers person myself.  But you need to start somewhere.  Why not start with a topic, item, place and then think about as many applications/variations on that theme as you can come up with for stock.

Home alone. And the first thing you think about is photography

Take a lens you normally not use that much, and go for a walk.  You�ll find loads of interesting stuff.

Quote from: mattb on April 01, 2009, 10:34

So what's your inspiration?

Paying my mortgage...

Lol, i'll second that! Ive never really had a problem coming up with ideas, quite the opposite actually. I keep lists of ideas so when I have time to shoot I always have lots of ideas to choose from. 

Ive never really had a problem coming up with ideas, quite the opposite actually. I keep lists of ideas so when I have time to shoot I always have lots of ideas to choose from. 


I also have a list.
Unfortunately my list involves so many props, models and locations that I can't afford to shoot any of my concepts! 

The ideas' list is indispensable to develop an inspirational work-flow; this is not my idea, but what I was taught when I was at art school 30 years ago (omfg - that's scary to see in type) my prof enforced the rule we must keep a journal of ideas... he learnt  that 40 years before  from some dude who learnt it 529 years before that, who ground pigments to make Da vinci's ink ...  it was written on his headstone ... KEEP  A JOURNAL.

 The ideas list - or the artists 'journal'  gives you a constant personal reference to refer to in an ever changing environment of trend and fashion, in 'dry' periods we can refer to the journal for inspiration.    The journal can take any form - napkins or pigskin-bound archival paper to cell-phone snapshots of subway ads. Record all of your ideas, and make note of what you like about images you see in magazines, newspapers and on bill-boards.  Don't worry so much about what you see on microstock sites,  pay more attention to current live media.

Get in the habit of recording your personal ideas in your own code or short hand or endlessly rambling dissertation.  Make the habit regular - aim for daily - capture your ideas and hunches of what might make a good photo.   Don't hold back on what you journal, and don't edit it. Just keep stocking up the ideas and squirrelling them away. (it is important to actually write them down on paper or record them digitally in some way And write on the image the point you want to make.)

By doing this you will develop a habit that promotes a very successful frame of mind to support your inspirational process. In a month flip through what you have journaled, and you may find certain ideas really take hold - - they might even change as you re-read them and inspire new entries in your journal.  If you are able to commit to journaling your creative ideas regularly over an extended period of time - for the rest of your life - you will get the greatest benefit from it. Creative journaling is - without doubt - an essential tool in the photographers bag of gear.

It is very important that you don't just journal your ideas.  After the first month or so of learning the habit of 'journaling your ideas' start turning them into photographs... take a day or so after the first month and review your ideas, then pick one that grabs you and do it - turn it into a photo series.  then keep journaling, repeat process.

Eventually you will start identifying trends in media, and through the journaling process see how those trends differ from your personal direction - eventually through the process you will develop a skill and confidence in your ideas to begin to produce originally styled work that is new and fresh and becomes the inspiration of others.

Quote from: mattb on April 01, 2009, 10:34

So what's your inspiration?

Paying my mortgage...

That's not inspiration but motivation. The best artists die poor anyways. Van Gogh didn't have an eye for the market at that time. Renoir did, painting high class rich ladies on social events with colorful umbrellas.

Quote from: sjlocke on April 01, 2009, 14:51

Quote from: mattb on April 01, 2009, 10:34

So what's your inspiration?

Paying my mortgage...

That's not inspiration but motivation. The best artists die poor anyways. Van Gogh didn't have an eye for the market at that time. Renoir did, painting high class rich ladies on social events with colorful umbrellas.

True. FlemishDreams  hits the nail on the head. Inspiration is the fruit of art, whereas motivation which pays the rent does not necessarily make you an artist, but more so a maker of mass products .
The two are easily confused, BUT, one is displayed in galleries and stands the test of time; the other dies after a few hundred rf's. Like the wc, what is vital and used regularly is not necessarily art. 

Who said microstock was art... At least I don't consider myself as an artist. A little bit younger I was one. I was painting, drawing full size people and taking pics only because something "pop" in my eyes. Now I take picture with the left side of my brain, asking myself if I will be able to clone all those logos and company signs in photoshop.

I take pictures without any lightning creativity for being able to modifying my images at the maximum in photoshop. Like someone said lately, I'm a unphotographer

True. FlemishDreams  hits the nail on the head. Inspiration is the fruit of art, whereas motivation which pays the rent does not necessarily make you an artist, but more so a maker of mass products .
The two are easily confused, BUT, one is displayed in galleries and stands the test of time; the other dies after a few hundred rf's. Like the wc, what is vital and used regularly is not necessarily art. 

not sure about your final statement Bat, 
obviously you've not been to the grand museum in Canada's capital. there is a wc in the gallery, as well as raw meat, and 3 slashes of paint