Today has thus far been altogether uninspiring. Don't get me wrong - I've been productive enough, taking care of 'work in progress' jobs, organising the supply of prints, following up on interest shown in the Blog... blah, blah, blah... but, well, that's about it. Sure, you expect to have days like this. And it's nice to have it a bit quieter from time to time, to catch up and to take care of the smaller things that need doing.
I should have known this would happen. The day got off to a bad start, with me spending all morning thinking it was Saturday. With this in mind, there were things I needed to do in town, so I adjusted my plans in order to adhere to Saturday's time constraints. Hmm... I also had it in my mind to head out to the woods to try out a few new lighting techniques I've picked up this week. But just look out of the window - it's cold, dark, wet, windy. Combine this with the state of my confused mind, and things do not bode too well!
Shame really, because during the course of a chat with my good friend Paul last night, I sketched out a number of ideas for shots, which I hope will form the beginnings of a new personal project. This is something that's been on my mind for a while - I've been so caught up in producing work for other people recently (not complaining, though!) that I haven't given a lot of thought to my own work. As photographers, we need to make time to create images off our own backs - otherwise our portfolios simply show the work and ideas of a myriad creative directors, marketeers, designers etc.
So here I am, then. It's Friday, not Saturday. And I'm looking for inspiration.
And do you know what, in the the course of writing this post, I think I've found some! Funny how things work out, isn't it?
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2 comments:
Interesting read. As you know I am trying to inspire myself with external lighting and flash at the moment. I think that you have to do it, it reminds you of why you started taking photos in the first place. As you say, the small things take time, archiving, tagging, backing up, contact drills but nothing beats nailing a decent photo. I had a real change of heart about pro sport recently in that I have been doing it a while and want to move on, but the trouble is that it is like a drug that I am struggling to let go of. Hard to explain.
I can understand your sentiments there, Pete, and I think this is something that happens a lot within out industry (and the creative fields in general).
It's like a comfort zone - work that you've done day in, day out, no need to think overly hard, you know your core techniques like the back of your hand. That's great but such work just doesn't 'do it' for us.
We need to be challenged - by others and by ourselves - lest we become lethargic and disinterested in our work. I have seen this first hand, and it is a sad sight for someone who is deeply passionate about his work.
You clearly have a passion for sports photography, as well as the technical abilities - otherwise you wouldn't have done it for so long. So the question is, do you want to leave it behind completely in order to expolore other opportunities?
The answer is out there... but in the mean time, keep up the lighting tests - you never know, they might just make your mind up for you ;-)
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