After the initial emotion caused by the purchase of your new camera, you get bored, you run out of ideas, you begin to think that the problem was not the camera but you 🙂 Don’t worry, we all have moments of “creative depression”These are days when we are not able to imagine a single photographic idea and carry it out with a minimally decent result. But you know what..? They are fleeting moments. Creativity is a gift that is given, that is true, but it can also be exercised through observation, inspiration and reading. The more time you spend viewing and studying the work of other photographers, the easier it will be for you to find inspiration.
Meanwhile, it has occurred to me to briefly share with you 5 ideas with a high creative content. The methodology that I am going to follow in today’s article is a little different because I am not going to expose the photos openly but behind some links which you have to reveal as you read each idea. I don’t want the photo to be the first thing you see, but rather that you read the idea, that you try to imagine it first, then you can click on the example photos that I attach at the end of each idea 🙂
1- From the ground
Have you ever wondered how an insect sees our world? Seeing things from very below has to be very different. We are used to seeing everything from our height as human beings that photos taken from the ground often impress us. Whenever you like a landscape, try putting the camera on the ground and shoot, you may be in for a pleasant surprise. Here’s an example.
2- Depth of Field
Playing with the Depth of Field usually gives very good results. It can be applied in various ways: by focusing on the subject and blurring the background, or by focusing on the subject itself only a very small part and leaving the rest of their body or face out of focus. This technique works very well because it gives the impression that things are much sharper in the photo than in real life 🙂 Here is a very illustrative example. If you stare at it you will notice that your eyes automatically go to the center of the photo, since it is the only area in focus. This is a very shallow Depth of Field. (More on Depth of Field in the next article)
3- Lawn
Shooting from the grass is another very interesting creative resource. It consists of placing the camera on the grass or among some brush and shooting. It usually causes a very pleasant effect because the viewer perceives the sensation of being there, lying on the grass or hidden behind the plants. Here’s an example.
4- A Photo within a Photo
There are photo editing and retouching programs with pre-prepared effects: you upload 2 photos and the program automatically inserts one photo inside another in some funny way. But here I do not mean that. Here I propose that you take a photo, physically print it, and re-photograph it again within a similar context to where you originally took it. Here’s an example.
5- Confusing Horizontal and Vertical
Normally when we look at a photo we know if the scene is horizontal or vertical. A field of wheat is horizontal. A building, on the other hand, is clearly vertical.
What I propose in this technique is to confuse the viewer. Photograph something horizontal in a way that it appears vertical or vice versa. It’s all about composing and shooting the photo from a perspective (or editing the photo afterwards) that confuses the viewer. Don’t worry, you won’t be fooling anyone, most of the time the viewer will notice and even crack a smile as they try to guess what the scene was originally like. The same smile that you are going to smile when you see this photo and this other 🙂
As you can see, there are 5 simple and easy ideas to carry out, they do not entail too much complexity nor do they require advanced photographic equipment, most of them can be applied even with a compact camera and even with a mobile phone. I hope they help you find the inspiration you need.
If you have enjoyed this article please recommend it. Thanks, as always.