[BrianR]

I don't always carry a camera, but I always have a little paper notebook. Ideas sometimes come at odd times or places, and don't necessarily involve the stuff I'm currently looking at. I jot down photo ideas & sketches for later.

[MossyRocks]

How would someone who is admittedly not very creative get great ideas for random photos or setting up a shot?

I can take great candids, but if I want to plan a shot out, I'm pretty lost.

In a photo class I took one of the assignments was to go out with your gear and pick a spot. Then stay within arms reach of that spot for 2+ hours and take pictures. It is a good way to learn how to see.

[Sir Nameless]

In a photo class I took one of the assignments was to go out with your gear and pick a spot. Then stay within arms reach of that spot for 2+ hours and take pictures. It is a good way to learn how to see.

I really like this idea.

[MossyRocks]

I really like this idea.

Lots of people complained about that assignment because refused to understand the purpose of it. I also like the photo walk.

[StiffLegged]

A couple of other things that might help: "work the shot", ie find a subject and or a play of light and just take as many shots as you can from as many different heights, angles as you can. Just work hard in ONE spot. Get dirty. Kneel. Lie down etc etc.Two, a phrase that I keep on using when I'm out is: "think like a herbivore". The idea, is as you walk about continue to look through 360 degrees - I'm constantly struck how I see things I've walked past when I look back.

That's really good advice. I'd add learn to look at subjects with one eye shut, it makes it easier to see the way your camera does without the benefit of binocular vision.

[DeadJohn]

What type of photography do you like to do? If portraits, you can pick a specific lighting technique and experiment with that, for example concentrate on taking lots of backlit photos. If landscapes, pick some good spot near home and photograph it frequently at different times of the day, in varying weather conditions.

Experiment with a genre that you haven't done before. Street photography, macro, nightscapes, etc. might spark your creativity.

As far as "planning", there are several good websites and apps for predicting the sun position and shadows for landscapes. I use the Photographers Ephemeris (website and app) and Sun Surveyor (app). Google Maps and Google Earth are good for scouting locations.

[BrianR]

In a photo class I took one of the assignments was to go out with your gear and pick a spot. Then stay within arms reach of that spot for 2+ hours and take pictures. It is a good way to learn how to see.

That sounds like an exercise I read about in one of Freeman Patterson's books - he suggested tossing out a hula hoop into a field or whatever location you're at. Then photograph only what's inside the hoop OR what compositions you can make while standing in the hoop.

(Patterson's books are good reads for inspiration)

[robgski]

I nearly always have my K-1 with me, or in the car if I am at work.

I participate in the Single-In and Daily-In groups here on PF. While there is no pressure from the group, by committing to shooting and posting every day, I have gone out of my way to capture an interesting subject, or at the 11th hour, tried some crazy ideas just to make my self-imposed deadline. My motto is "Desperation Drives Inspiration".

Other gropups and threads inspiure me, like hte Still-Life thread. Hopefully this winter I will compose a few stilll life ideas I've had floating around.

I do read books, visit websites, watch YouTube channels, and attend exhibitions and galleries, and all inspire me, but I've found just getting away from the computer and going in search of an image worth creating is inspiring enough if I won't let myself rest until I've captured something.

Props inspire me, walk through a craft shop or an antique store and ideas abound. Walk through the lighting section of a hardware or auto store and a lot of intriguing, and inexpensive fixtures and bulbs present themselves for lightpainting and other ideas for artificial lighting beyond a flash.

[wstruth]

I took a photography class in college during the film days and we had to shoot a roll of 36 exposures a week. The whole idea was just to get out shooting. With digital you do a lot more.
The Daily and Single In challenges are good for this. Often times you take a safety and often times you get a great image! Most importantly you get to know your camera and your lenses.

[jarlaxle2k5]

I personally look at work already done from great photographers. I go through photography books and often I focus on movie scenes that grab my attention.

In this way I get inspired because personally I am not that great either on making something from nothing 😁😁😁