Where do you find inspiration?

This is such a difficult question for me to answer.  Not because I don’t know, but because there are so many things around us that I find inspiring. When you have been through something like my AVM, you learn to look at things a little differently and appreciate the little things in life. Something about knowing that God had a different plan, surviving something you shouldn’t have, puts a lot into perspective.

Like many others, I use social media as tools to see what other artists around the world have created. Sometimes I spend hours looking through feeds and seeing the endless opportunities the world has to offer. Our daily lives are over-saturated with perfected imagery. It can sometimes be very uninspiring and overwhelming. 

Don’t get me wrong, I use sites like www.instagram.com, www.500px.com and www.flickr.com to browse images when I need to get my creative juices flowing. I tend to find myself gravitating towards artists that push the limits just a little. I love, absolutely love, images that are composites. The ones that were not created with a true sense of photojournalism, but images where the creator sat there and envisioned something that could have looked real.  I don’t like the ones that are just too far gone because I still need there to be a sense of realism. Maybe the sun wasn’t in just the right place.  Maybe at the time the Milky Way was just doing its thing on the other side of the world. The images where the detail, lighting and depth of field is just too much to be captured in a single image. Those are the masterpieces I love! 

Technical Details: Camera: Sony A7RIII Lens: Rokinon 24mm Filters: None ISO: FG/500 | SKY/1000 Aperture: FG/f/11 | SKY/f/2.8 Shutter: FG/Bracketed (5 Images) | SKY/200 @ 25 seconds Processed: Lightroom, Photoshop and DXO Nik

Some days I can get lost in those social media platforms; looking, swiping, and scrolling. I am always looking for the one image that stays on my screen for more than a fraction of a second. The one that goes by so quickly that I need to scroll down to get a second glimpse before moving on. 

But where does the rubber meet the road? How do I turn that fraction of a second into something of my own? How does that morph into my own creative vision? While there are endless possibilities of things people can do, here are some of the things that come to the top of my list: 

1. Write It Down: Seriously, you’re never going to get to the things in life that you want unless you write them down. Make goals. Review them. Change them. Check them off your list while replacing them with new ones.

2. Find New Surroundings: Get out! Seriously, get out and explore. Drive down a road you’ve never traveled before just to see where it takes you. I can’t tell you how many new photo locations I’ve come across just by going somewhere new without a plan. 

3. Clear the Distractions: Social media is great but you need to unplug! Not only from social media, but all of the other things you have going on in life. Trust me, I know that can be difficult! However, it really is needed to let those creative juices flow! 

4. Focus on You: Yep that’s right, you have my permission to put yourself first! This is something that took me an extremely long time in life to learn. Putting yourself first is just as important as putting others first. If you don’t take care of yourself, not only will you not be able to complete items 2 and 3, but you may not be there in moments when others really need you. You have to recharge! 

5. Fail: You got it! Fail! Fall flat on your face. Heck let that person walking by remind you that you fell as they keep on going. There is a lot of vulnerability and emotion tied up in failing. Those are things that build you as a person and those things translate into your artwork. Failing helps you create captivating, moving images that make people stop and stare while they connect with it.

EXIF: Camera: Sony A7RIII Lens: Foreground: Canon 16-35 2.8 L, Sky: Rokinon 24mm Filters: None ISO: Foreground: 400, Sky: 10,000 Aperture: Foreground: f/11, Sky: f/2 Shutter: Foreground: 1/4 second, Sky 13 Seconds # of Images: Foreground: 8 frames, Sky: 8 frames stacked (3L 10D) for noise reduction Processed: Lightroom, Photoshop and DXO Nik

Well there you have it, a little glimpse into my inspiration. This is how I translate ideas into my work. I hope you enjoyed it, at least just little! 

What about you? 

Where do you go for inspiration? What motivates you to take your art to the next level? Tell me in the comments below or on facebook! 

And just to see if you are paying attention, one of these images in this post is not a composite. Do you know which one?