Subjects and Inspiration
There comes a time in every creative's life when they are lacking inspiration. Whether it's a struggle to come up with ideas (like the writers block I sometimes have while writing these!), or an unhappiness with the work that's being produced, or even just an unspecific feeling of being adrift, it happens to everybody. It is, unfortunately, unavoidable. However, nobody wants to be in this state, so we try to limit it as much as possible. One way to help limit these dry spells in photography, for me, is to be intentional with my choice of subjects.
Photos without a clear subject of some kind can often appear unfocused, cluttered, or devoid of interest. It makes for a picture that might look ok, but not special.
This photo looks unfocused (not in the literal sense, but there isn't a clear subject to draw the eye). The egrets are cool, but so small that they don't add a whole lot. THe colors are nothing special, and the composition as a whole is uninspired to my eye (shot with a nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 mm f/5.6 @ 380 mm, f/10, 1/2500 sec)
Even though I was the one that took the image above, I am constantly self critical and am more than willing to admit that this shot is rather unremarkable. As a matter of fact, I have tens of thousands of pictures like this, ranging from terrible to ok to good, while I only have a few dozen (at most) pictures that I would consider great. That doesn't make me a bad photographer; it reflects the reality that not every work of art will be great. Photography, perhaps more so than other art forms, is an exercise in trial and error. With modern technology, more pictures are free, so take more when you can!
That is a great first way to have images with a great subject: take tens, hundreds, thousands of pictures. It is a simple fact that if you take enough pictures, you will end up with some good ones. This isn't to say that you should just go out and think quanitity should be your only consideration, but especially as a beginner, I would take hundreds of pictures in an outing and only come back with a handful of keepers. I didn't have much technical knowledge, but I shot what looked interesting to me. This is what I would advise any beginner to do: go out and take pictures of what you find intriguing. This is fun and it will subconciously build your photographic skills. As you look back through your pictures from an outing, you will start to notice certain commonalities in your keepers. One commonality will likely be that these great images always say something about the subject.
I've written before about how important it is for photographs to tell stories. The best pictures don't just show a subject, they say something about it.
This shot (from the same outing) was the result of simply shooting what I found (and getting a bit lucky!) (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 f/5.6 @ 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec)
In this image above, you could say that it is just a picture of a buck, which isn't incorrect. However, the way that the buck's head is framed by the foliage draws the viewer's eyes to the center of the image and the buck, and this foliage tells the viewer about the buck's environment, and even that it is a bit reclusive with the way that it is nearly hidden.
You may point out that this is easy to say for wildlife photography, where the environment will almost always say something about the subject. Or sports where the same could be said, and the fact that most sports photography shows some action in it. Or even portrait photography, where the image showcases a person and their expression or action in turn says something about them.
What does this picture say about its subject? Well, he's certainly up to something! (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 82 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec)
And what does this one say about the subject? we may not know what's so funny, but it must have been something! (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec)
These are all fair points. There is so much that goes into these genres, but choosing a subject is often much easier. The subject is typically a living thing and capturing it doing something interesting seems the obvious choice. However, things get less clear cut when you get to landscape photography.
Choosing a subject in landscape photography may seem complex at first. If you don't happen to have a beautiful landscape in front of you, what are you to do? This is where finding the beauty in the mundane is paramount. I believe that almost anything can look beautiful under the right conditions. Play with lighting, weather conditions, angles, etc., and that dull cityscape can turn into a kaleidoscope of colors and lights, that highway interchange can turn into a kinetic reminder of my home, and that leafless tree in the dead of winter can even turn into a beacon for the viewer's eye.
Boston at daytime looks cool and all, but by night it looks like a stunning tribute to human ingenuity (5 image panorama) (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 50 mm f/1.8 @ 50 mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec)
Most people wouldn't find much beauty in a highway interchange, but with light trails, a gorgeous sunset reflecting on clouds, and a sense of place, it can have plenty (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 82 mm, f/22, 2 sec)
This shot looks pretty desolate and like a place where there may not be much photographic intrigue. However, the angle gives a strong leading lead to a tree that sums up the chill of winter (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 200-500 mm f/5.6 @ 2o0 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec)
Obviously, I still had something to take a picture of in these images. If you're stuck in a room with nothing in it, I can't help you, but at the end of the day, the best way that I find to get good images, with a good subject and all of the other factors that make these images, is to get out and wander. Whether that's walking a local park, going for a drive, or taking an entire trip, change your surroundings and I have no doubt that you'll be able to find interesting subjects and plenty of inspiration. As always, never hesitate to reach out with questions or comments. Until next week!
