Finding Inspiration

Sometimes we have a vision, an idea we want to shoot. Sometimes they happen on the spot and sometimes they’ve been formulated over time. And sometimes it feels like we’re running on empty with no inspiration and no ideas.

That’s where I found myself a couple of months ago. Aside from an iPhone ‘doors’ series called NYC42 I shot mostly as a joke, I had not done any photography since I moved to New York over a year before. I needed something to kick-start my creativity and get back behind the camera. But, what to do? I was so used to doing shoots for magazines, I didn’t know what to shoot pictures of.

I decided on doing a 90 day photo project that would force me to carry my camera with me everywhere I went and take pictures every day. I set rules for myself. A new picture every day and no ‘banking’ photos to make it easier.

I am proud to say that I (mostly) stuck to my rules and am in the last 9 days of the project. The result has been dramatic for me. I no longer have to force myself to carry my camera, I grab it instinctually. My passion for photography has been reawakened. My desire to make it my main career has been renewed. This blog is a direct result of the 90-day project.

I would say my project was a complete success. If you are looking for something to get you going, maybe a 90-day project is right for you. Maybe 30 days would be more doable. If it gets you out there and shooting, it’s good practice. But there are other ways, too.

Sometimes inspiration doesn't just jump out at you and yell "take my picture you fool!" I've walked around looking for something to shoot and have found nothing that inspires me or been too overwhelmed with many different possibilities. In these moments I've wished for something to guide me in a specific direction.

For those times when you just need a little direction, there is Daily Shoot. I just discovered @dailyshoot while I was searching for other photographers on Twitter. After I took some time to further check the Twitter profile I realized there was a web site associated with the Twitter account. The site has the assignment of the day and then a gallery of photos posted by photographers participating in the exercise. All you have to do is upload your photo to any of the listed photo services and tweet it with the hashtag #ds238 (the number changes with each sequential assignment). The site then automatically adds your photo to the gallery.

The photo quality and interpretations of the assignment are both diverse and impressive. It is interesting and inspiring to see what other photographers are doing with the assignment.

Another suggestion I’ve read about (and started doing) is to get a film camera, one fixed lens with black & white film and just go out and shoot. No RAW file to correct and no Photoshop post processing to fall back on. You can also use a digital set to black & white but don’t tweek it in Photoshop afterwards.

The most effective exercises are the ones that take you out of your comfort zone. If you are used to shooting in a studio, go outside. If you are used to shooting landscapes, do some street photography. Get out of your routine and you may find some new ways of looking at things.

NYCinHDR vs NYCBuskers

I have decided to do a self-published book project. It was partly inspired by my involvement with Kickstarter (post about that coming soon). My original idea was to do a NYCinHDR book. I have been interested in strengthening my HDR skills and this sounded like a great way to do this. It is definitely a city rich in depth and urban texture, an ideal subject for HDR. Another idea I had recently was to make the project about the people of the city. Mostly the street and subway performers found throughout the city. Each subject has it's pros and cons.

As far as I know, there has not been a book dedicated to HDR photography of New York. I don't really want to redo all the iconic views in HDR form. So what do I do to keep it fresh but still New York? One thought is to give a little more context to the images with some anecdotal or historic information about the places in the photos. One of the drawbacks is it will have to be mostly architectural due to the nature of HDR. Not to mention, there are so many photo books of the city already, would HDR be enough to make this one appealing and not just another NYC photo book?

An HDR image of storm clouds rolling over the Brooklyn Bridge.

I had an idea once to do an album with only musicians from the subway. I've heard some really talented ones and thought it would make a great compilation. There is something that attracts me to these people. I recently shot a cello player while I was at Highline Park shooting brackets for HDR. It was the highlight of my day. I posted the photos, tweeted the link and a few hours I had a message from @sawlady on twitter asking me if I would like to shoot her. She called herself a busker so I looked it up. In a nutshell, it's an old English term for street performer.

A busker playing for the crowds awaiting the Ferry at Battery Park.

So what is more interesting, the buildings or the people? Many would say the people. Can I find a way to mix them both in? I'm not sure. There would have to be some continuity between the images besides being NYC, I think. I am kicking around the idea of using Kickstarter (no pun) to get people's input based on what they would contribute to.

Either way, I will be continuing to shoot both subjects so I don't have to decide now.

The Mad Hatter

Quite regularly, something happens to renew my love of living in New York. I don't dislike it most of the time, mind you, but sometimes I really love it.

Today was one of those days. I went to Highline Park today to shoot some brackets for a book project I am working on (more on that later). The clouds were rolling in with patches of sky in between. It makes for a more interesting picture when shooting for HDR. I was cursing the soft, textureless clouds in the New York sky but was determined to make the best of it.

I found a couple of good locations to shoot along the elevated park and shot four sets of brackets. I was nearing the end of the park and was getting ready to exit downstairs when I hear some bells. I went to investigate and saw this guy dressed in black with a top-hat playing a cello against a blue background. It's like I planned the shoot.

I asked him if I could shoot him and he said sure. He said his name was Rev. Aaron Jones. As soon as I pointed the camera at him he came alive. He played that cello like he was a rock star in Madison Square Garden. At first I worried that he was vamping it up too much but then I resisted my urge to control it and just started shooting.

It was in an enclosed area so there wasn't much light. I had my EF L 17-40mm lens which maxes out at 4.0. I went up to 400 ISO but on my Canon 20D I can't go any higher without getting significant noise. I decided to switch to my Zeiss 50mm at 2.8 with the exposure compensation at -1. I figured the Canon tends to make the exposures a little light and I needed enough shuuter speed. It was worth the risk of not being able to get the manual Zeiss lens in perfect focus.

As much as I love the blue background, I had to see how this one would turn out in B&W. Everything about the way this turned out was perfect. The light coming in from the side added some extra drama. I love color and I'm not sure what it is about B&W that makes people think a photograph is more artistic. Making a crappy photo B&W won't make it better, but a good photo might be better in B&W. What do you think?

The Rev. Aaron Jones started singing a song along with his minimalist cello playing. Once again, I think he performed as if one hundred eyes were on him. I just kept snapping pictures and enjoying the uninhibited performance as he ended with a flourish. I also posted one of the pictures on my Project: 90 Days site as my picture for today.

I haven't had a chance to go through the brackets I shot, yet. I was so excited about these shots I wanted to process them and post them. Stay tuned for the HDR images of the other Highline shots.

Day of Remembrance

Living in downtown NYC right next the the World Trade Center site definitely has it's pluses and minuses. During the day it is tourist central and the construction is non-stop. In the evening it quiets down and the proximity to the Hudson River makes for a nice area to walk Shea.

This was not my first September 11th in NYC but it was my first one living in this apartment. They brought the barricades a couple of nights before and set up the site throughout the night leading up the the morning. There was a hush downtown as traffic was kept to a minimum. As I was walking Shea the echos could be heard of the names being read of the people lost 9 years ago. The family members walked by the front of my apartment building to and from the memorial pool.

This was taken as I was coming back to my apartment. This road is the West Side Highway and was blocked off. It was used as the main walkway for the families. My apartment is in the building in the background. The guards almost didn't let me through the barricade to get back to my apartment.

As I was coming out of my apartment I crossed the barricade and decided to melt in with the families returning from the memorial pool to see where they were headed. We went up to Liberty Street where there is a giant plaque on the wall of the fire station. I caught this little ceremony as these firefighters set out wreaths to honor the fallen.

This one was my Project: 90 Days shot for the 11th. All of the ones in this post were considered, but I felt this one captured it best. This firefighter was showing his son all the names on the plaque of his friends that died and putting flowers nearby.

After I left the area I started walking around, I heard there was a mosque protest and hadn't decided whether I wanted to check it out or not. There were lots of religious groups out pandering their particular dogma. The Christians were especially loud yelling about abortion being murder, Islam is a lie and how homosexuality is a sin. I ignored them as best I could. Then I came across the biggest rally. These were my peeps. Anti-war and anti-religious bigotry. This guy had Veterans for Peace all over him, including tattoos. He was standing with his back to the crowd as if waiting for someone.

I made my way back toward my apartment and heard the sound of bagpipes. There is an pub called O'Hara's right next to the fire station and I noticed lots of firemen and police hanging out drinking beer. Now they were all out in the street yelling "one more song" every time the bagpipes went silent.

I ended the day in New Jersey to get a shot of downtown and the twin lights memorializing the two towers. I remember the first time I saw that years ago. I thought it was very appropriate.

As I reflected on my day, I'm thinking that New Yorkers will view September 11th much more vividly than the rest of the US. I wondered at families dredging up the memory every year and coming down there. Where do you draw the line between paying respects and moving on to allow yourself to heal? As I watch many of the families it was obvious that some people have moved forward in their lives and some people were still stuck in the pain and grief of that day. I wish those people peace and the ability to heal and move on.

Tilt-Shift Fun

I recently had the opportunity to do a short lens swap with a fellow Canon owner. He got my EF L 17-40mm lens and I tried out his 90mm tilt/shift lens.

For those of you that have never used one, the shift function allows for adjusting perspective. It is especially useful for architecture as it is rarely feasible to have your camera perfectly level so perspective comes into play. Architecture usually requires wide-angle lenses which creates even more perspective distortion. By shifting the lens parallel to the camera perspective can be either removed or accentuated.

The tilt function tilts the lens from the camera plane resulting in the center plane in sharp focus while the top and bottom are blurred. The lens can also be rotated 90 degrees to give a sideways depth of field simulation. It is sometimes used to simulate a miniature scene. I did a Photoshop simulation of the tilt function for my Grand Central Station picture on my Project: 90 Days site.

I'm not really sure what the practicality of a 90mm tilt-shift lens is, especially on my 20D with the 1.6 crop factor. When I went out to shoot, I had to shoot everything from far away. I mostly used the tilt function because the shift works more effectively when the camera is on a tripod.

This image of the taxi cab was my favorite one from my little tilt/shift excursion. It's a little bit iconic with a personal twist thanks to the lens swap. It ended up as my photo of the day for my Project: 90 Days.

Project: 90 Days

Introducing my photo project. The premise is simple: post a photo a day for the next 90 days. However, like most things in this world, it’s not that simple. I have a purpose beyond sharing my photography. So I have set up rules for myself to facilitate my special purpose.

My Objective
The main objective of this 90-day challenge is for me to develop a point of view with my photography. I have been a photographer for over 10 years and have done pretty well, developing my own style. I’ve been published in local, national and even some international magazines doing fashion, food, portraits, architectural and artistic photography. So what do I mean about developing a point of view and why am I concerned about now? Good question. Almost all the photography I have done has been in a controlled setting. I’ve controlled the light in the studio or on location and I’ve controlled the subject being photographed.

I want to step out of that controlled environment and show a slice of life from my point of view. I live in New York City. There will be no shortage of people and things to photograph.

The Rules
There is only one real rule (the rest are merely guidelines): all the photos posted will be from the 90-day period. Ideally, I will take photos everyday and post the best one. I will not “bank” photos to use on a later date. Realistically, I may not be able to shoot an acceptable photo everyday and the photo posted on a certain day may not have been taken on that day, but certainly within a day or two of posting.

I will let this project take on a life of its own and evolve as my point of view evolves. I will try to stay away from too much scene or architectural photography, especially the typical iconic shots of NYC. My main subject will be people.

Much like an assassin, I will begin more by shooting people from a distance. Like Leon told Mathilda: “First you learn with the sniper rifle from long range. Then you can use a pistol. When you have mastered that, then you learn the knife.” The better you are, the closer you can get to your target.

That being said, I will detach myself from the outcome of this project. 90 photos in 90 days of whatever I want to photograph.

Please Participate
Your participation will make this project really mean something. There are many ways in which you can take part.

Rating At the very least, please rate the photos honestly on a scale of 1 to 10 stars. It’s anonymous so you don’t have to worry about offending me.

Comments I’d love to hear what you like about and image or what you don’t like. Feedback of this kind is very valuable as it would be easy for me to get stuck in my own point of view.

Sharing There are Facebook and Twitter sharing options. Please help me spread the word of this photo project.

I trust you enjoy my photographs and return often to check on my progress.

Thank you,
Don Crossland

doncrossland.com/90days