Where do You Go for Inspiration for Your Photography?

Over at the DPS Forums Nicole asks a question that has got some great discussion and shared learning going. She asks:

What happens when you run out of ideas, or just hit a mental brick wall for things to take pictures of? How do you get back into it?

How do you find things that you haven’t photographed 1,000 times before?

Here are some of the responses which I think are suggestions that would be useful to many of us:

• I would say check the flickr interesting category and have a look there – hitkaiser
• If no inspiration is presenting itself, I like a ‘random’ assignment; I tell myself I’m going to go to some place or other and not come home until I’ve taken a good pic – or at least done my best to – photonob
• If not that, then the old ‘within 20 meters of your front door, there’s a good photo just waiting to be taken’ strategy – it makes you look at things in odd or new ways, I find – photonob

• Sometimes it’s fun to come up with a photo scavenger hunt for yourself and just walk or drive around, trying to get them all – googlit
• I like to go to the zoo and take pictures there. I always come back with something new, and I’ve been there loads of times. Parks and cemeteries are good for this, too. Besides getting new pictures, you never know what you might learn. 🙂 – googlit
• just start taking random picts, even if it’s just your bookcases in your room. Play around w the composition, or aperture, or shutter speed to make it artistic. And if that doesn’t work, get drunk and start shooting, guaranteed to get you out of a rut – Christian James
• Bouquets of flowers are always inspiring too. My roommates have watched me move my camera and play for hours taking pictures of bouquets that have been left – beckywithasmile
• Since I don’t have the time to go traveling much lately, I just try to watch for opportunities in my neighborhood. A shop window that had an entire wall of little golden waving ‘maneki neko’ (fortune cat) statues, the way a sunset looked through the branches of a tree growing alongside a bridge, the Space Needle seen from across the Cut – RainPacket

• I jump in my car, put the roof down (if the weathers good) and drive out in a random direction, until I find somewhere or something to take photos of. When I’m done I’ll keep driving – andy206uk
• what i have been doing for the last 2 years is, every time i see a photo that inspires me, i cut it out and put it in a little pocket sized journal. that way i always have a little bit of inspiration in my pocket to feed off of when i have photo-block. also, i like to write my ideas down in there when they hit me, so i don’t forget. its a great little device – Fraggleroxer

What a great list of ideas for uninspired photographers!

Head over and share yours in the Where do you go for Inspiration thread.

PS: The first image above is from our ‘Backyard’ Assignment.