Looking for inspiration

[NicolaB]

I am doing a 52 week photography challenge to try and improve my skills.

I know I need to see more creatively, so this weeks challenge is 'to create a portrait that tells you something about the person'.

I set the challenge, but I am not creative . Does anyone have any favorite images that they can share - either your own or some you have seen that will help guide me?????

tia

[NicolaB]

Helllloooooo - anyone there

Babies in firemans helmets, children getting very messy, ANY shared shots on this subject would be GREAT.

[faeriegodess612]

Do you mean tells you something about them using props? Like with school pictures, where a kid that has an interest in something would use say,...a guitar, or a skateboard, a sport ball, a wrangling rope, an ipod, a phone, shopping bags, a microphone, etc.....

Or do you mean something that tells something about them without props. Thats gonna be harder to convey. You can show emotions in pictures, if it tells on someones face or in their body language,... but you cant tell that they like Rock music, or that they've just gotten their black belt, when they are wearing normal everyday clothes. Unless the kid that likes Rock is wearing a band T-shirt, and the kid that is a black belt is wearing his karate uniform. You get where I'm going with this?

[NicolaB]

Well I started off thinking of a friend - who is a Dr, with a stethascope around her neck, head in hands and crying. It says a lot about where she is right now. But it is corney - and I would never ask her to do that!

I thought about putting my dh in a big arm chair in the garden telling a story to my two little ones (well the little one would be playing on the floor lol), wearing a Munster rugby shirt, with a table next to him with a couple of books on. Again I am not sure if this is inspired or would look cluttered and trying too hard?

So then I realised, what I really want to capture is emotion that says something about that person. I am still floundering around though not quite sure which way to go.

Sigh. I was hoping people would have favourite image that 'spoke' to them about the person in it, that would give me inspiration and direction.

[candidrachel]

Thing is you don't want your photos to look too cheesy or contrived do you? I was thinking about more on the lines of going into town and taking a portrait of say a butcher with his bloody apron on and a backdrop of pig carcasses. Or an old lady sitting on a bench deep in thought and I mean a REAL old lady with a craggy aged face with lots of wrinkles that can really tell a story. It'll take guts to approach these people but in my experience most people love posing and having their photos taken.

Of course my ideas might not be your cup of tea so it all depends on what kind of photography interests you. I like street/travel, family and kid photography.

By the way your little blonde daughter has gorgeous long eyelashes. If I was you I'd get a really tight crop and take a close up of those lashes or even wait until she is cozied up in bed asleep with a teddy for company - now that'll tell a story

[NicolaB]

I like your thinking Rachel! Actually I would love to do some street when the little one goes to school. I saw an old lady clutching her handbag on her knee, sitting in an old fashioned bus shelter on the sea front near Poole last summer. Boy that would have been a picture.

It just hasn't clicked in my mind how I can really get 'more' from my images (that sounds wet doesn't it - lol)

The girls both have gorgeous long lashes - my husbands according to him ;-) I want to try some detail shots and see what the 70-200 can do, so I will def try this.