Parents, if you want wonderful pictures of your children, never teach them to say "cheese"! Please learn from my mistake or you will have thousands of photos just like mine - squinted eyes, scrunched up noses, clenched teeth, and an image that just screams "say cheez!!!". Join me while I search for that one perfect shot that doesn't conjure up images of dairy products. Oh, and unless you like that *messy* look, you'll probably want to clean their faces before you snap away. I never seem to remember myself.

An imporant sidenote is to make sure you document your life! Recording the little details of the who, what, where, when, & why makes for wonderful stories and captures your life for years to come. Because if you are like me, you'll forget it all 5 minutes later!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Where's the Creativity?

I've been feeling a bit stifled lately. I've had little time for embracing creativity - which I really need. Creating [anything] is a big emotional outlet for me and I haven't allowed the mojo to flow in quite some time. So now when I think about being more artistic, it is a bit intimidating and pretty much frightening.

I tend to favor photos that have lots of color, saturation, contrast, and have personal meaning to me. Essentially documenting my children's life and the things in our immediate world. But I feel like this results in snapshot-type stuff. I mean, how could I NOT cherish a photo of my children? That is what a good mom does, right? Still, I LOVE the more artistic side of photography and that is why I fell in love with photography so many, many years ago. But I haven't gone in that direction in eons. And I want to get back there.

I want to think about the images I capture. I want to explore techniques. I want to push myself to be more insightful. I just want to try. And I want to enjoy it.

So I think I'm going to start doing this POTD thing twice a week - once with my typical image on theme staying in my comfort zone, and once with a (hopefully) more creative and outside the box {for me anyway} image. Trying new stuff. Exploring. Taking my time. Growing. Maybe I can then find out where the creativity is. Here's my first try at it today.

Photobucket

Canon 10-22mm lens, f/16, 1/50, ISO 100

Ok, I need to spend a lot more time thinking about and working on the conceptual stuff as the image content per se isn't necessarily out of my box. I hope that will come back to me over time. But I certainly did more creative stuff to it today than I usually do to any of my images so for now I'll focus on the techniques and processing skills to create some artistic images!

19 comments:

jordan.krogman said...

Wow! That is a GREAT first "creative" shot. Seriously. . . I just love everything about it! :)

pat said...

Oh man! Love the saturation and color pop in this. The sun flare is awesome. Nice WORK!!!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I love it!

Jess said...

I hear ya. I am just now starting to get my "mojo" back now that the warmer weather is here- but it is even harder to make time to do the potd every day when we are go-go-go.

I LOVE your shot. That sunflare! WOW! Stunning!

Kristina said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on photography and the artistic side of it! I just LOVE your photo, and can't wait to see what else you come up with!

Anonymous said...

Wow what a great shot.

Angela2932 said...

Beautiful lighting and color in this photo.

mamawest777 said...

Excellent post!! The picture is super, too!

Michelle said...

that is beautiful. love how saturated and clear it is. hope this jump starts your creativity--looks like you've got lots!

Debbi said...

Your honest, insightful journaling really hit home for me. I feel the same way - I just need some inspiration for my creativity. The POTD can sometimes feel like I'm just "taking a picture" to get my post up - not a creative challenge or outlet. Your photo is beautiful. Love the sun coming through and the colors.

Kristen Wagner Penn said...

Your shot is amazing! I know exactly how you feel too. Hopefully warmer weather will motivate me!

Trina said...

I understand where you are coming from, I am having a hard time thinking outside of the box and being creative. I see others pictures and always wish I was that creative. I love the shot you captured! THe colors look great!

jewels said...

I'm inspired by your journaling, and am inspired by the light and color of this photo! Beautiful!

Cheers,
jewels

Bobbi said...

Love this shot! The sun is so great and the colors are so rich, very creative. Great job.

Krista P said...

Creative and interesting. Lovely shot!

Becky said...

Very cool! And good for you--I tend to get stuck in a rut myself. You're an inspiration.

Tera Fraley said...

I think this is an amazing shot! Just love the colors and the sunflare!

Suzy said...

THis is beautiful! If you ever find time and don't mind sharing I would LOVE to know how you PP this? I'm trying to learn and this is just great!!

Sharon said...

Beautiful color here.