Inspiration

It makes me chuckle when I read posts on forums asking where to go in a particular town or area to take photos, or even saying something like "I have the day off tomorrow what can I shoot?" There's a good line over on Pixiq about inspiration - "There is plenty of subject matter, so why make the same images that are already out there or the same images that we have seen hundreds of times before?" If you take other people's suggestions it's likely you'll take pictures like theirs too.

I find inspiration comes simply from having a camera with me. It makes me look at the world in a photographic way. So much so that if I am supposed to be doing something else I can get engrossed in the picture taking to the point of distraction.

Even familiar places can yield surprises. Nothing stays the same forever. I've lived round here for 40 odd years now, and there are still new pictures to be made. Just this morning I took a camera with me on a walk to the Post Office and made some 20 exposures. Some were rubbish, some I messed up, the two here I kind of like. But the point is, I was inspired to take the shots, not by some magical location or cunning plan, but simply by looking. Then again I do like photographing the banal!

Oh yes, I only had the one 24mm lens with me too.

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