inspiration and creativity - part 1

I have neglected this blog so much lately. I have been making up excuses to myself and others about why I dont use this as much as I should. So I am making an early New Years resolution to at least do one blog a week...even if it is just some random ranting to stop the ideas and thoughts from rattling around in my head so loudly.

So.....where do I start first?

more after the jump


Inspiration and creativity? Where does it come from and how in the hell do I channel it to keep myself moving forward and only looking back to see where I have come from? Lately I have been doing a lot of reading....books....blogs....whatever I come across that grabs my attention. I have used other photographers, painters, artists and authors to inspire my recent shoots. I feel this insane desire to do something different.....to push myself one step further....to break away from what I know how to do and instead, challenge myself both photographically but also personally. I think all artists have this burning desire in them...as well as a partially loathing for the things they create. Or maybe its just me.....but I swear there are a lot of creative people with some interesting emotional and social problems....including some of the greatest photographers that we look up to and respect. And maybe it is that drive that pushed them to make the images we all know by name.

So, I have been trying to break away from my typical style of work and go a different direction.....which as strange as it sounds....comes from when I first picked up my camera again. I love playing in the studio and all the lighting equipment...but....studio work is studio work. And yes, there are some amazing images that can be obtained while shooting in studio.....take a look at these guys for example and inspiration:
Chase Jarvis
Dan Winters
Michael Grecco
David DuCheim
Joe McNally
Joey Lawrence
Tim Tadder

I could continue to list so many other photographers. And dare I use the word "contemporary" to describe them since they do not all follow the standards and guidelines all the masters laid out before us?

But to get back on track, as much fun and as much as I love playing in the studio with new talent, makeup, hair and stylists, I have missed playing around on location or even in studio with my flashes....yes, those little black things that eat up batteries and most think belong on top of the camera. Off camera flashes are where I cut my teeth playing around with lighting. Originally, I used my flashes to shoot skateboarding.....my first love. There was something about the hard and harsh directional lighting that I loved. You can create crisp outlines and rim lighting on your subject.....you could create deep and long shadows to add dimension and definition to your subject.....I could go on and on about this love affair I have with these damn electronic flash units. So, a couple of my past shoots have been done with the intention of breaking and bending the rules and shooting on location with bare bulb flash units....and to be honest, I am loving the results. I feel like it has kind of sparked something in me that might have been missing or absent...but more than likely, it was hiding, lurking deep down inside waiting for the perfect moment to jump out and slap me around some. And I am glad it did. I needed to do something "new" and "different" for quite awhile now.

So, maybe what I am trying to say or express here is that sometimes to move forward and do new things, you have to stop and turn and around and look back at where you came from. Go back to your roots. Go back to that moment when you knew this is what you wanted to do. And grab ahold of it and run like hell with it!