I'm always on the look out for inspiration: how to get it and how to keep it. So I can tell you guys how awesome I am at it and teach you a little something about it. Okay, that's supposed to be funny. But in all seriousness without ever thinking about it I am always on the hunt for the next thing that inspires me. It might be a really amazing outfit in a magazine that makes me want to wear something like it or it might be a picture that makes me want to capture images just like that. Our constant search for inspiration has led to the popularity of pinterest and millions of collages worldwide.
I have numerous ways of keeping things that inspire me. None of which are particularly better than the other.
There's Pinterest that I've already mentioned. But I have 18 boards none of which have any specific rhyme or reason or that I really go back to. I just want to make sure I can get back to that specific thing if I really want to. Which leads me to sporadic pinning at best. I guess that's a good thing since it has taken over so many people's lives but sometimes it leaves me wanting for more.
Which leads me to my next way of keeping inspiring things. My "Inspiration" notebook. It's just a composition book that has torn out pieces of magazines pasted in it. Well, not exactly pasted. I have used double sided tape because actual glue leads to those unseemly crinkles. (If you're going to do something why not do it correctly?) But I can spend hours on this and I rarely go back and look through. Plus when I don't have time to go through magazine I end up with a pile I have to go through in one sitting. Like I said before, it's a lot of work. However, I love the idea that I can just flip the notebook open to any page and it would be something that I liked. Plus to me fashion is just something that adds to each other (and it's all about your personal style) so things that I liked in fashion magazines back when I was in high school I still like/still could wear (if you really can wear anything straight out of a fashion magazine anyway). What I'm trying to say is that my notebook is not really dated. Well, maybe 10 years from now I'll look back on it and say wow that's what I was into? Crazy!
I said earlier that when I didn't have time to put things into my notebook my magazines ended up in piles.
Hello, piles. I just can't bare to throw them away before I have a chance to go through them at least to tear out whole pages!
I then neaten it up when I have a spare time or am really trying to procrastinate.
Then there is my current obsession and it maybe an obsession no one else shares, but its a website/app called 500px. It's AMAZING. All it is photographs uploaded by other photographers. Man am I blown away by all of these photographers. Most of them aren't even from the US most of them are actually from Russia or Germany. But these pictures. WOW. I love them. It makes me want to take more photographs. The ones that I love the most are usually just portraits but the way you feel when you look at the photographs. I'm not even sure I can even explain it. Check it out for yourself. You will be amazed. But please don't be fooled by the photos on the homepage. The photographs you find there are more like the ones below or the ones found on their blog. And the popular, editor's pick, fresh, and upcoming photographs change constantly so you're always seeing new photographs. Some of the photographs are breathtaking because of their simplicity and others because of their complexity. Either way it makes me want to get out there and take more pictures, especially portraits. Heck, it even makes me want to go to photography class after class if it would mean I could take pictures like this. I am INSPIRED.
P.S. the photos below do not do the real thing justice by any means so please click on the link to see the real picture.
But I'm sure you have your own way of being inspired. Something that speaks to the very core of who you are just like the fact that this website inspires me speaks to the photographer in me.
Labels: Electronics, Inspiration, Photography, Social Media
