Getting in the zone with you're not inspired

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I've heard or writers and artist that have rituals to get past block in creativity. There are times when I get motivated to carry a camera, but I don't see anything that's worth photographing while I really know that my perception is dulled. What do you do to get inspired to up your chance in getting a good photograph? How do you get into the magic zone when you see beauty and magic in the world and capturing it with your camera?

 

[OptiKen]

Irish Whiskey helps

 

[choiliefan]

Pop a pill and I'm good to go!

 

[blockend]

Beauty will always be around, it's the other stuff that changes. Some of my favourite shots of 40 years ago are the familiar places, things and people I thought would be round forever. I captured some but missed many more. Lesson learned.

 

[Eric Rose]

You can't force it. Just chill, when the muse speaks, then listen.

 

[macfred]

Psilocybn [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], by en:User:Cburnett (Own work in kdrawchem and tweaked with Inkscape), from Wikimedia Commons
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Maybe this will work for color photography ...

 

[TheRook]

I simply put the camera down and do something else. The last thing I want is to waste precious film on uninspiring, mediocre shots. Eventually the inspiration will return. Sometimes it takes a week or two, but that's okay - I have neither deadlines nor clients to please.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Unfortunately the places/things I draw inspiration from are a bit far from home (Kamloops area, Saskatchewan...Japan), so until I can get there, I draw (my background is drawing and printmaking)... or look through my old negatives. I can usually get inspired to go out with the camera, or reprint an old negative... or find compositions within older negatives. Never throw out negatives you think are failures! And I mustn't forget the couple of piles of negatives that have only been proofed and not seriously printed yet!

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Here's Ted Forbe's spin.

http://theartofphotography.tv/episodes/fear-and-creativity/

 

[MattKing]

Unfortunately the places/things I draw inspiration from are a bit far from home (Kamloops area, Saskatchewan...Japan), so until I can get there, I draw (my background is drawing and printmaking)... or look through my old negatives. I can usually get inspired to go out with the camera, or reprint an old negative... or find compositions within older negatives. Never throw out negatives you think are failures! And I mustn't forget the couple of piles of negatives that have only been proofed and not seriously printed yet!

What about something as close as the Coquitlam River?

I too find myself drawn to particular places, but I think that in most cases the trick is just to interrupt your patterns and thought processes enough so that the light can sneak in.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Yes, that is in my backyard pretty much. I have done some photographing there... although I prefer the muddy Pitt River! Another area I'd like to suss out is the Squamish Valley area... Time for a get together, wouldn't you say?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Lovely image by the way, Matt.

 

[MattKing]

Time for a get together, wouldn't you say?

Absolutely.

 

[peter k.]

What I've done, is grab a camera, get to a place, where I'm surrounded by nothing but nature, off the beaten track with no particular beauty. Just a space in a place.
Put the camera bag or camera down, and sit down and do absolutely nothing.
Gradually find myself looking around, getting familiar with the surroundings.
Not focusing on anything in particular.
Then something will catch my eye.
Not moving from a sitting position, my curiosity is aroused.
It may be a bird, it may be a something in the shadows, it may be a combination of this or that ...
With that we find ourselves inspired, and get up to look, and the seed of creativity begins to blossom.

There have been times when a shot has not even been exposed, but the juice is back.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Wait and it will come. Change your location or environment.