It's just that too much thinking has kept the momentum created by inspiration to a minimum.
But then last week, a very good friend of mine asked me to help her with the photography for a new project she's putting together. She's someone I never hesitate to help, and with the option to spend a good chunk of my day taking photographs and "playing," I was 100% in.
We had a great time taking the first set of photos, but when I began to edit them in my usual "playful" way, I began to get frustrated by my lack of control over each of the elements and also my inability to keep a standard editing process. While we both agreed the results turned out very nice, I realized it's time to step up my game, or risk staying at the same skill level I have now.
The photo below is not from the photoshoot I just mentioned. But it is one of the first photographs I've edited while trying out new software. (http://www.acdsee.com/en/free-trials.) And I have to say, I feel newly inspired with momentum after my first couple of passes.
The photo below was taken while driving through Colorado last February. We were on our way to spending the afternoon snowmobiling across The Great Divide, when I spotted what I can only describe as a crater of a mountain out the window.
With every right bend, left bend, then right bend around the mountain range, this beauty moved from car window to car window. No matter where we turned, or whether it disappear for a few minutes behind a closer peak, this crater-mountain always (re-)appeared in view.
I was enchanted by the snow sweeping across the indented rock, and how it filled the nooks and crevices of the hard earth. One of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen, I snapped photos from out the window, at every angle I could, as we passed.
Yes, this was taken from a moving Saturn Vue.
Most of my favorite photos are taken on the fly, in the flurry of a moment, in the in-between poses, in the photo you just had to snap even if it was going to turn out crooked or blurry or "un-usable." (I don't think unusable is a valid description in photography; just a photo asking you to be more creative with how you highlight its content and present it. But that's a conversation for later.)
Black and white photography has held a special place in my creative heart since college, especially when it comes to portraits. Consider this my portrait of a crater-mountain I'll likely never know the name of, but which I'll always remember playing hide-and-seek with.
(While I do intend to post these kinds of photos and blogs more consistently on this site, I do post almost daily over on my "everything goes" tumblr blog. If you're interested in following my creative process more regularly, please feel free to check out surfinnsb.tumblr.com. Thanks for reading!)