Every where you look you can find inspiration. That's a fact that no one can disagree with. But what you do with that which inspires you, can make a world of difference.
At times ideas seem to just appear out of no where and other times it seems like I am more likely to spontaneously combust then come up with: something worth saying, a unique way of expressing a portrait, a way to generate more business or even simply the motivation to write about something that is my life, my dream and my passion...photography. This begs the question: Why is that and what can be done to fix the problem?
If I had the answer to that I'd be the proverbial overnight success and have my own television show and book deal before you could finish ready this blog entry lol...suffice to say I do not have the answers to those questions and I don't think you'll be seeing me on the TV anytime soon, nor will I be number one on the NY Times Best Sellers list in the foreseeable future.
So where does today's photographer find inspiration? I know that for me it comes from many different places...sometimes it's as easy as looking at a scene and knowing even before the shutter clicks what the end result is going to be...other times it comes to me when I am going through the shots from my latest shoot and an idea just jumps out at me, maybe a certain way of cropping the photo or even something as simple as tilting the photo a certain way. Other times it's a trial an error process, working in OnOne Software's Perfect Photo Suite 6 or maybe Camera Raw, Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. Usually it's a process that involves at least two of those programs and sometimes it's a process that utilizes all of them.
So what are some other ways of finding inspiration? That depends on you. Some people find that looking at the work of other photographers works, or reading books having to do with different areas of photography. Blogs (one of my favorites is www.louistorres.com), podcasts (www.thisweekinphoto.com, www.forweddingphotographers.com), video podcasts, books, videos, websites and art galleries are all great places to start looking for inspiration, as well.
Although todays professionals typically have at their disposal many powerful software suites, there are numerous free websites available for edititing your photos. A quick google search for "free photo tools" turns up quite a number of websites available. One such popular site is (or app if you are on a mobile device) Photoshop Express, available from www.photoshop.com. Although not as powerful as it's full featured counterpart Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Express offers very powerful, albeit basic, controls for editting your photos to fit your artistic vision.
If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (or even an Android device) there are countless apps available for photo manipulation (some of which are VERY good). Some of my absolute favorites are: Snapseed, FX Photo Studio HD and Trey Ratcliff's 100 Cameras in 1. There have been many occasions that i have used these apps to help me find the inspiration I need in order to find the perfect portrait inside what would otherwidse be an ordinary photo. When used correctly these apps can produce stunning low res images, or aid you in finding creative ways of editting your final product for your customer. Here is an example of a concept photo that I created for a customer using one of the programs available for my iPad:
Although the final product will be created using more powerful tools that are capable of producing high resolution files, the idea for this image was found while I was away from my work station and all of my professional tools, but because I had a portable solution with me I was still able to create a beautiful image that was capable of showing the idea that I had for a particular shot. Had I not had these tools available to me I more than likely would have let the inspiration pass and not been able to recreate this image when I returned back to my office several hours later. It is important to find a way of recording your idea, whether you write it down, record a voice note on your phone or pull out your iPad and create a concept photo right then and there. I can not begin to count how many times what I thought was a great idea was only to be forgotten because I was distracted by another pressing issue.
Here is a photo that I created late one night with Adobe Photoshop while I was working on my quad toning technique (as usual, my dog was a good sport for being my proverbial guinae pig):
Along with the photo at the start of the blog, this next photo was created for one of our brides using OnOne Software's Perfect Photo Suite 6 (although the composition of the subject in the photos was what I was looking for, the backgrounds left a lot to be desired, which is why I chose to edit them so extensively):
What it really comes down to is knowing what rescources are available to you and using them to the best of your abilities. One never knows when inspiration will strike and if you are not prepared when it does, you may miss out on creating a stunning work of art. With all of the tools available to todays professional (and amatuer alike) photographers, there is no longer a reason for any of us to miss out when the mood strikes.
Thanks for reading!
-Joe
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Joseph Salonis is a Professional Photographer/Videographer residing in the Phoenix, AZ area and photographs all types of affairs throughout the Southwest and the West Coast of the United States. His images have appeared in various electronic and print form both domestically and internationally, including publications such as: USA Today, Livestrong.com, eHow.com and the San Jose Examiner. He can be contacted by telephone at 480-420-6JOE (480-420-6563) or by email at Joe@JoeSalonis.com. You can follow Joseph on Twitter and Facebook. You can also read/subscribe to Joseph's blog, Photos and Stuff With Joe Salonis.
