That old double edged sword

Taking photos is perhaps easier now then anytime since photography was invented (must really look up when that was, now that I think about it :-) I mean you could take a picture right now if you had your camera in front of you by just pushing it's big ole button. Of course you would probably only end up with a picture of the wall, your desk or in fact yourself. But you get my drift.

To take a great photograph you need inspiration and one of the best places to get that can be by looking at the work of others.

Of course doing this can lead to you facing the biggest double edged sword in photography. Or the " oh my goodness I can never do that!" moment as I've sometimes called it. Not to anyone mind you but sometimes mentally. But I digress ( and possibly indicate I need to get out a lot more too) 

For example I know several people on facebook who are either "proper" photographers or do photography as a second form of income after their day job.  When I first started looking at their work after I had gotten my first DSLR I found myself somewhat depressed as looking at their work, which to my eyes seemed magazine worthy, I found myself thinking I would never measure up.

However after getting a lot of practical experience under my belt it made me realise ( and not to sound too immodest here) that I could compete with them. Sure in some areas I still can't ( studio experience is still woefully lacking but c'est la vie).

So confidence is just as important as knowing which buttons to push.

Another important lesson is not to accept things on face value as it were. I met one guy who loudly proclaimed his many, many years of experience as a photographer etc, etc, and his grasp of photographic theory was well in advance of mine, leaving me somewhat intimidated. Until I saw his style at least, the theoretical had not come through with the practical. Now to be fair some people might have liked his style but I would tend to assume most people prefer photographs that aren't so over edited and colour boosted that they give you a headache.

So if you are looking at another photographers work remember their style is going to be different from you and their experience will be as well. This was best summed up at a recent course I went on. Five people taking pictures of the same model, all turned out very different. You need to focus on why you are looking at their work to begin with. You're looking for inspiration. 

Take this photo below of Felicia Day, the actress. 

Now, I don't have a internationally known actress, that many bookcases, studio lighting or even a cool ladder, so what inspiration can I draw from this?

Simple really. The books provide a simple and very different backdrop, once we could easily be recreated using a single large bookcase and getting close into the model. Now, I have no studio lighting, but a bookcase next to a window would add a similar effect, getting a model with a glasses and book holding a similar pose gazing out of the window and convert it into monochrome would give a similar look but a very different effect. It would be even better if the book was a Jane Austin as we would instantly get a beautiful lady waiting for her Mr Darcy.

Of course all I would need is a model but then that's a common problem for a lot of photographers.

So, to sum up if your looking at someone else's work for inspiration, don't get hung up on trying to match it exactly as let's face it, the world would be very boring if all photographs were the same. Focus on it's strengths as you will be surprised as to what it could inspire you to do.

Later Folks