Great post. As usual

Moral of the story: “quit whining and shoot more” I love it!

Great post, Don; another one hit out of the park.

I also try to keep myself open to the serendipitous shot. Ones where there really isn’t time to left-brain it to death; just enough time to capture the scene (your camera is ready to hand, right?). For example, on my way home from shooting a double-header yesterday evening, this scene presented itself. I only had time to grab the camera and shoot one frame before I had to put it back down and start driving. I’m rather pleased with it.

http://www.gordonrunklephotography.com/Landscapes/Urban/11609612_kZmHo#844556179_okHpV-A-LB

I try to keep myself open to seeing things around me — light, shadow, texture, color, relationships, etc. When I succeed in achieving this open-ness, I also find that it is meditative; I feel more connected to and a part of the world around me.

Gordon.

sounds like someones farm isn’t working out too well…

j/k

Careful, I may have to send a mafia guy over to take care of yous…

Absolutely!!!! Once you start to see, you can never go back to just looking.

Lots of great ideas in this post, and I really dig the tone. Very funny, very smart!

Thank you so much for this wonderful article!! Lots of great ideas to try and look forward to accomplishing them!!

I don’t make my main living off photography..YET! And I don’t play those silly online games either lol.

Take care and once again, thank you!

I love #7. I think people assume they have to toil in their area to get inspired, but sometimes stepping away and doing something different gives your brain a refresh and chance to look at old problems in a new way.

Damn you, but I was getting so close to level 400 in Mafia Wars!!!

Great post as always, and some of us need to be reigned back in on occasion. And with the warming of the weather, hopefully it will help with being more focused. =)

Your commentary consistently rises above the crap that compises most of the internet. It’s the first post I read each day, and I read almost every one of them numerous times and frequently print, yes, print, them to keep on hand.

Great post Don. I’ll note too that #5 doesn’t have to be a whimsical thing either. I make a habit of contacting and saying a few good in depth things to the people whose work I admire and has helped me. It’s worked out fantastically well. I’ve actually booked a few jobs this way, get to pretty frequently pick the brain of Nick Onken and a number of other photogs I like and have started gaining some interest from a rep. If you can find a way to help them and give back a little (and not, “I can assist you anytime”), all the better. Hey not everyone responds, but if you can establish a good connection with a few (and don’t be a pest) then it’s extremely helpful.

Nice post – personally, I have done the “write a letter to photog” – I’ve sent a few e-mails to some pros, just to say I am a fan – and gotten some surprising feedback – one even took the time to go through my website and say a few nice words of encouragement.

Yep…

They will indeed often return emails and compliments.

–don

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Amen, Brother.

Don,

First, great shot of Alex. It’s nice to see the finished product and I’m sure she loves it. Second, love all your advise. Consider this comment a #5. Wonderful work and great teaching style! Hope to see you again soon.

-Mark

Here’s a variation on idea 10. Shoot an image based on the song titles of a favorite album.

http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/2010/03/top-of-the-pops/

If you feel brave, do it in an hour.

I have actually got more work even in these bad economic times. I have noticed a few full-time photographers have closed down shop which has brought a bit more business to the part-timers.

I’m not (chronologically) a ‘young people’ but I do like your post and especially like #7 …

Great post. A very different take on getting inspired. I have been using a medium format and large format camera because I miss the excitement of developing the image. Plus I find I have slowed down and thought more before taking a photo.

Thanks,

Greg

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Great post Don,

Saw your bit on giving a compliment to another photographer. For the last two years I having been paying it forward see blog post below

http://rockhoppermedia.blogspot.com/2010/04/pay-it-forward.html

This year I gave a present to a photographer a Pro Account at Flickr, this guy is the next James nachtwey or Don Mcullin but had a simple account. Simple I buy him a account at flickr so he can use it to the full advantage.

As for the disposable camera brilliant. We finished our degree all smug about how great we were when our tutor entered the room and confiscated all our high end nikons and glass and gave us a final assignment.

With a single 34 shot disposable camera with built in flash we had to do a portrait of a CEO, company premises and feature set. We had eight hours to do this and found our subjects and have full colour prints in this time. Mortified we picked up these cameras and headed out. Evereyone of us did this assignment with professional results. It s not the camera its you as a photographer that counts.

Also dont fall into the cults of different photographers and there techniques develop your own style and have the cahunas to stick with it. Experiment and have fun.

I was invited to do wedding photos at a naturist wedding, still kicking myself that I turned it down, a niche market with referrals, nobody knew me there who cares if I was in my birthday suit….

have fun share it and encourage others, and always pay it forward,

I believe in Karma,

Rich

PS I am not a fan nor evangelist but another Pro Photographer who respects you.

I’ve taken more pictures in the last couple of months since I discovered the “Hipstamatic” app for my iPhone than I took with my EOS in the whole of the last year. It’s amazingly inspirational. I’ve bought all the additional films, lenses etc and I take loads of images with the settings randomised – one shot, no re-takes, and I don’t even review it until later.

They aren’t always successful in their own right, but they do give you lots of “wow, now if I did this instead of that” moments. Then you get inspired to get out the big camera and do the shot again, properly. It’s a lot of fun, takes no time at all, and you end up seeing the amazing in some really ordinary scenes that you would never have thought to shoot before.

Check out a few on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenmwinter/sets/72157623673205381/

I totally agree.

One more thing the iPhone camera does… it makes you see when you aren’t ‘shooting’… in other words, the camera frees you to see the world and look for interesting things without the necessary ‘gear’ items we use when shooting. We begin to see things everywhere, and all the time. Grab that iPhone and shoot it – just to see what it looks like.

That is a very good thing for our creative eye.

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Great post! Very interesting ! Good ideas for creative photography!!! thanx!

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Great post, there are so many distractions these days it’s important to stay focused. Thanks!

I wholly agree with #4 (do something silly)

I created a picture (for a competition) which got more attention and feedback than anything else I’ve done:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/callumw/4805679433/

I have no shame …. I may do a series (oh no!!!)

c.
)