I decided I would do an informational post today. I have several commercial shoots this week, but today I'm making time for me. Sometimes when your hobby becomes your job you can lose sight of why you loved it enough to make it a career. Deadlines and pressure, billing and taxes, should I get that lens?, should I go that workshop?, should I find a bigger space?, will I make enough to pay myself this month? (ha, ha). So much pressure and stress can definitely put the kibosh on your creativity, which is why I periodically remind myself that one of my hobbies is still photography.
I love photography. I also love to see great design in all sorts of things. As a photographer, I am constantly inspired by magazines, movies, fashion, art, architecture and nature. I subscribe to several magazines primarily to look at the photography, Vanity Fair being my favorite (of course, the articles are also great). Looking at classic paintings is also very inspiring. Many lessons can be learned about setting the scene and posing people just by picking up an art book.
One surprising source of inspiration is from Pixar movies. Pixar never gets it wrong. I think they have found the best of the best and hired them all. I have this idea, based on no factual information, that when Pixar shows a room, they not only have their animators working on it but also bring in architects, interior designers and so forth. Everything looks amazing. I think their best example of this is in The Incredibles. All of the "sets", costumes, architecture etc., in that movie are so aesthetically pleasing.
When I watch Pixar movies, or any movie, I always watch how they set up their shots. Many times when the director really wants you to focus on a particular character's emotion, they get in very close and actually cut off the top of their head. The character is typically positioned to one side. That setup is usually always eye catching, no matter how many times you see it. Every shot in a Pixar movie is thought out; nothing is an accident. They frame everything thing up perfectly because, well, it's animation. They can take their time and do that.
People sometimes confuse inspiration and plagiarism. Growing up with five older sisters, I heard the word copying many times. When you're the youngest in a family of that size, no matter what you do, someone has always done it first and probably done it better. The truth is, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Many photographers claim that others are copying their work. If I see someone undeniably copying my work, then Hallelujah! I've done something right! You can be inspired by others without doing the exact same thing.
The image below is a good example of how you can be inspired by something and still produce an original image. I love the song Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos. A few weeks ago I noticed the image on the album cover. Tori Amos is standing in a white dress, in front of a gray background. She is small and the background is large. I decided to do an image based on that album cover. The setup is different, but the idea is the same. My husband's first reaction was that he really liked it, his second was that the client would probably not be interested in it. I didn't do it for that reason. In a creative industry it is important to push yourself not just to get paid, but to continue to love what you do, to be inspired and to improve yourself. I truly believe that if you do that, the clients will follow.
And so today... this one's for me.
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