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What To Do When You Need Inspiration

July 18, 2011 by Steve Berardi 11 Comments

Photo by Steve Berardi
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how to tell if you’re in a slump. I made the argument that you’re most likely not in a slump at all–that perhaps you’re just learning and being more picky about your compositions (which is a very good thing).

But, what do you do when you really are in an artistic slump?

Maybe it’s been months since you shot a photo you’re proud of, or maybe you feel like you’re losing interest in photography. What do you do then?

Well, there’s one thing that has never failed for me:

Go look at a ton of photographs by other photographers

Luckily, with the Internet, there’s lots of ways to do this:

1. Look through your friend’s online photo albums

2. Look through the photos on Flickr Explore, which is a collection of popular photos on probably the largest photo-sharing website. Sure, they’re not all nature photos, but you can learn stuff from any kind of photo.

3. Visit the website of your favorite professional photographer and explore his or her online galleries

4. Visit that new photo-sharing website that’s getting a lot of attention lately: 500px (there’s a ton of great photographers sharing their photos on here)

5. Or, curl up on the couch with your favorite photo book. My personal favorites are: Ansel Adams in the National Parks, and Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light.

The point of this “photographic tour” is NOT to copy ideas from other photographers, but to see the world from another person’s perspective. It helps open you up to new ideas and inspirations.

One of the most rewarding things you can do is see how other people photographed some of your favorite subjects. Since we all have our own unique vision of the world, this really helps you get to know your subject better. You may not like all the photos you see, but that’s not the point–the point is simply to see the world through another person’s eyes.

Looking at other photographer’s work can also help introduce you to new subjects, which can really help re-ignite your passion for photography. Maybe you’re bored with photographing wildflowers right now, but then you see this awesome photo of a caterpillar and say, “WOW! I wanna photograph that.” And then of course you start an obsession with photographing caterpillars 😉

Take your time when looking at other photos

When you look through other photos, it’s important to take your time to appreciate them. Stop and ask yourself why you like or dislike the photo. Having these types of conversations with yourself will really help you find your own unique style.

Still can’t find inspiration?

If you’ve already looked at every photograph you can find, and still feel completely uninspired, then perhaps you can try a few of these ideas from a great post by Valerie Jardin at the Digital Photography School.

What’s your remedy for inspiration?

If you have another way for finding inspiration or re-igniting your passion for photography, please share it with us by leaving a comment below. Thanks! 🙂

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steveb2About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, computer scientist, and founder of PhotoNaturalist. You can usually find him hiking in the beautiful mountains and deserts of Southern California.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: ansel adams, art, artistic, book, flickr, galen rowell, inspiration, learning, new ideas, photography, photos, slump, style, subject, unique, voice

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sebastjan Vodusek says

    July 19, 2011 at 1:05 am

    Great tips! That almost always helps me.. when that fails however, I like to go for a drink with my school mates from digital arts school and talk a little.

    Reply
  2. MaryElizabeth says

    July 19, 2011 at 6:22 am

    A photographer suggested start to shoot one picture a day .. and then see what evolves over several weeks or a month .. Take photo by instinct rather than trying to study it . .spontaneously!

    Reply
  3. Steve Berardi says

    July 20, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    @Sebastjan / MaryElizabeth – Great ideas, thanks for sharing them!

    Reply
  4. Jill says

    July 20, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    Thanks for passing along the 500px site – omigosh, a whole new level awaits!

    As a challenge, last weekend I wrangled two friends into 2 days of (literally) non-stop photographing of contestants/people/animals at a 50th Annual Rodeo event. We volunteered our time, with images being sold as a fund raiser for the rodeo. We each learned a lot, gained confidence in the quality of our work, had a lot of fun and developed consistency under challenging conditions. Best part? Contestants have images of themselves.
    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  5. Steven Scott says

    July 26, 2011 at 8:47 am

    Nice post. I really like your blog…always interesting. Thanks.

    Reply
  6. Pinoy Photoblog says

    August 10, 2011 at 7:06 am

    “To see the world from another person’s perspective” This is very true.

    Reply
  7. India wedding photographer says

    September 5, 2011 at 11:55 pm

    Nice,really very good blog for Photography and to know about photographer and photography.Steve Berardi sharing a very good tips for natural Photography.

    Reply
  8. India wedding photographer says

    September 11, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    Yes,really Good Blog For Photography.i also really totaly agree with Steve Berardi.giving a such a great tips for every one.nice………

    Reply
  9. Andrew Countryman says

    October 6, 2011 at 10:24 am

    Great idea’s. I find looking at the work of others, makes me try harder to find that perfect shot.

    Reply
  10. Don Baumis says

    February 16, 2012 at 8:06 am

    Steve not only are your articles very informative but they give the reader confidence.
    Keep it up.

    Reply

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