How do you get your ideas for your photographs?
How do you get your ideas for your photographs?
That's quite a little question there, isn't it??
Well gee... I guess there are lots of ways.
For landscapes, I usually just walk around, for hours and hours, and try too "see" as hard as I can. usually I get some ideas of what to come back and photograph.
For the other stuff I photograph... well usually I draw pictures first. Sketch stuff out on scrap paper, diagram lights and camera, sortof like storyboarding. Once I have something down on paper it's much easier to execute, even if the final photograph doesn't always look quite like I intended.
but I don't think many people here on this form "plan" photographs the way I do... I think LF users shoot predominantly landscapes, then maybe some portraits, and maybe some people still use LF for product / architecture / commerical type stuff. I wonder... we should have a poll on "what you shoot".
-Tadge
http://Tadge.net
from my contact sheets.
adriantyler.net
I've been walking around with a handheld digital camera collecting possibilities for large format shots. The quickly dealt with and easily stored digital shot lets me think about good lighting and time of day for eventual large format pictures. This is mostly for landscape work, although I've also used digital to gather my thoughts about architectural subjects. I think I may also see if I can't use my digital to try exposures while I am shooting LF, just as some shot polaroids.
To add to Tony's comments, I also use a digicam for scouting and "test" shots. Although I have some "higher end" digital gear, I actually enjoy using my crappy little Canon S400; it is extremely small, it can "shoot in B&W" which is handy for visualizing on-the-spot if you are planning on B&W and the voice annotation is almost invaluable. Since I started using it, my "keeper" percentage went up quite a lot; not only do I actually shoot less, the ones I do take are better then they might be otherwise. Very handy.
By walking around, reading, thinking, dreaming, keeping my eyes open, looking at photos and paintings that end up inspiring me or lead me to wonder how they were done or why the photographer sees things the way they do-- trying to figure out what the photographer was thinking about or responding to, I also try to come up with ideas for photos I haven't seen before.
Great question, Emma. It will be interesting to see how different people approach the issue.
My approach is to try to tell stories. Whether I'm shooting landscapes on a trip, or doing a commercial-style product shot, I first try to get a grip on, or an understanding of, the essence of what I'm shooting. Then, I try to figure out how best to tell that thing's story, or at least my interpretation of its story. In some cases that might mean conveying a sense of the historical significance of the subject, or it might just be the beauty or the majesty of the place, or the character of the person. Similarly with products, I try to understand the item's purpose and design, and then convey that with the image I create. I've found that if I understand (or, think I understand) something about the subject, ideas about how best to shoot it seem to pop up on their own.
If I'm taking a trip to an area I'm not already familiar with, I'll do research on the Web, and look at topo maps. The topo maps, along with a solar position calculator, helps in figuring out in advance where to be at what time of the day. For commercial-style shoots, I'll often do sketches of how I want to compose the object, what things I might want in the background to help tell the story, and how I want to light it. For more complex things that might involve a series of images, I sometimes even do story boards, where I plan both individual shots and the sequence.
But, beyond the planning, I also try to keep my eyes open for spontaneous things that take place. The area I have the most trouble with is keeping an eye out for the "little things" - macro stuff within a scene that could be great detail images.
For five years I've been building a "Goals and Objectives" worksheet with all the ideas that come up - sorted into categories, including one called "Photo Projects". Whenever I hear of something that sounds like a great photo idea (that fits into my overall photography goals), then I add it to the list. Some come from school classes, others from discussions with friends, things I see and would like to photograph, etc. Most, but not all, of my photographic desires in the large format area though, are close ups and chaos in nature details rather than landscapes as is the case with lots of people.
An interesting thing about your question is that it presumes a photograph must result from an idea.
If I'm to understand an idea as something that is consciously understood, then I'll say that don't get ideas for my photographs at all. I get my photographs, and then get ideas FROM them. The real world and the inner workings of the mind are never as cut and dry as this, but I do believe there are two fundamental, polar oposite approaches to making an image. On one side is work that gets labeled "conceptual," even though a lot of people like to use that word without considering what it might mean. The conceptual label implies that the work starts with an idea, and that most likely the idea remains central. The physical creation of the work is then primarily an act of illustration*
On the other extreme, the work doesn't have an agreed upon label as far as I know. But it's work that comes from a process of questioning, not answering. I see it more as an exploration than an illustration.
My personal work, and the work I usually like to look at, comes from the latter process. Milan Kundera once wrote that a good novel is always at least a little bit smarter than the person who wrote it--and that if your novels are merely as smart as you, you might want to consider a different line of work. I suspect that creating something smarter than you are involves exploring territory outside of what you already know. Which might lead to illuminating ideas that are deeper than the ones you've already had.
My best pictures have come from wandering through the world with a camera slung over my shoulder, in an unusually open state of mind. Definitely not from having a plan, and also not from "trying to see really hard." It's really about being open, and allowing myself to be captivated by something, and not trying to think my way through the attraction the thing might hold for me. The best work just happens, and most of what I'm aware of during the process is being drawn in by what I'm seeing. The thinking part, the ideas, come later, when I'm trying to figure out what happened, what I did, why.
*The word "illustration" comes from the greek, meaning "to shed light upon."
This implies that there was something there to begin with that you might illuminate.
The word "drawing," on the other hand, implies drawing something forth, as you might draw water from a well: in other words, to bring something to the surface that was not there before.
I think I'm with paulr on this one; I usually make my pictures, and then figure out the 'why' of it later on. Part of the reward of photography for me is trying to figure out just why I was drawn (or continue to be drawn) to certain subjects.
My best pictues have been made without any preconcieved ideas in mind; I think a certain receptivity is key. Paradoxically though, if you're really TRYING to be receptive, you usually aren't...
Anyway, I always know an austin granger photograph when I see one.
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