Okay so this post is a little random and doesn’t really fit with any of the usual categories here, but I had the inspiration for inspiration and wanted to share it! And a new category was born here – “Random” 😀
I enjoy taking photos and as with anything the more you do it the better and quicker you become. I find that sometimes it can be hard to find practise inspiration when you are taking photos “just because”. It can make you feel a bit silly and like you are doing something without a purpose. Never a good feeling right?
I thought I’d collect a few things/places that I have stumbled across that have given me a lot of inspiration, maybe they will help you too?
Aquarium
This was a little surprising to me as I kind of thought it would be little like in a zoo, where you either barely see the animals or they are far away in a cage that hardly flatter the photo. Turns out the glass in aquarium is barely noticeable and the fish/sea creatures move at a nice glacial pace so you can keep up. Also the lighting can be quite dramatic too. I got below shots in London Aquarium and had to whittle them down from about thousand – jelly fish and their million shapes!
Fair grounds
There is so many things you can do with fair ground photos! Do you want to capture the movement of a carousel? Improve your night time photography skills? Capture people’s faces when they are oblivious and having fun (but not in a creepy way!)? Below photos are from a little fair ground in Epernay in France. I really got fascinated by the neon lights against a black sky.
Graffiti
I don’t know why, but I’m quite often drawn to photograph graffiti on walls. This may not be the hardest thing to photograph as the images are flat, but actually it helps to think about how you can make a flat image interesting with composition. It makes you think a bit harder on how you frame it.
Lighting can also be challenging, some interesting pieces can be in poorly lit areas like underpasses and tunnels. Good place to check out on purpose is near Waterloo, London where the walls are in constant change providing new inspiration every week if you wished so. My inspiration for “things on walls” is not limited to graffiti. I also like to take photos of interesting windows, postboxes, doorways or even stickers. It’s the composition that is key here. Below is a collection of photos in Waterloo, London and Merida in Mexico.
Animals
Photographing animals can be very challenging. If we are talking about pets, they hardly ever do or behave like you want them to. They also can move quickly and the moment you wanted to capture is gone in a blink of an eye. You also need pretty good lighting to ensure you can get sharp images.
When it comes to wild life you also need patience. They certainly won’t do their party trick just because you are there. In fact they are less likely to show off. Taking photos of animals can really teach you to be faster with your fingers. I tend to take a million shots and hope for the best! Below is a a few pics of pets and wildlife.
Food (glorious food)
I recently took a course in food photography and it taught me a ton on how lighting is so important when you are taking a photo of something small. Small shadow gets magnified when it fills the screen. Food is generally a patient model too so you have time try out different lighting and figure out what works best for the shot. Same principles go for flowers too. 🙂
Hope these pictures have given you some inspiration to dig out “the good camera” and take some photos? For me that seems to be the hardest part, but when I do I remember how much I enjoy it and always vow to do it more often.. Feel free to leave things that inspire you in the comments, would love to hear what gets you going! 🙂
House of Harlow 