I try to cover a variety of topics on this blog to inform, educate and hopefully inspire! Some posts are very technical while others are more ‘right brained’. I was recently in Alaska on assignment shooting for the tourism bureau, and was given the task of shooting a transportation museum. Now I will admit I have shot here many times, and I have some nice images of visitors exploring the grounds. But what a difference a little time makes.
Maybe it was the strong coffee, but the second I walked into the museum this year I was overwhelmed. Nothing was different, but everything looked different. Why was this? I was fixated on the gritty textures, strong colors and dramatic shapes. I was changing out flash cards on my D800 every half hour. I was given a few hours to shoot here, and ended up spending 4 hours.
I couldn’t get past the question why hadn’t I seen these cars in the past. They weren’t new, I was just really seeing them for the first time. For some reason I had taken the blinders off, and was really in tune graphically with my surroundings. The trick for me, and all photographers, is getting into that creative space often and when we need it most like on assignments or during a workshop.
What I learned is I just need to slow down, forget about distracting thoughts, and get into the zone. Images are all around us, we just have to see them.