[rollin]

I'm looking for ideas or concepts such as "Trash the Dress", or "his shirt your way". What other great ideas are there that You know about? This could keep people busy!..

[krypticide]

Yeah, my shoots need more themes these days. Just not enough time to put in more creative effort, unfortunately. Wish I could be shooting every week...

[rollin]

ok so anyone else have any ideas?

[benjikan]

I'm looking for ideas or concepts such as "Trash the Dress", or "his shirt your way". What other great ideas are there that You know about? This could keep people busy!..

Is this for your shoot, or someone else's?

[NorthProle]

Hello there,

I used to have problems coming up with ideas for shoots and quickly learned it isn't a matter of sitting down and conjuring an idea out of thin air upon will or borrowing from somebody elses imagination (which may work to some extent, but your work will come from ideas from the heart). It's about capturing your own imagination and thoughts (however perverse or weird or wonderful they may or may not be) and using them as a driving force.

I was recently reading an "inspirational" book called "make your own damn movie" highlighting the fact that a guy who's made absolute garbage movies for the past 30 years (see toxic avenger) but has made a successful, fulfilling living doing it because he makes whatever he wants and goes with it, with his heart. Whatever the ideas was, he went with it.

An important point he made is this:

If you need help coming up with an idea, you should rethink what it is you're doing and why you're doing it.


Ideas more often than not are an organic process that suddenly dawns on us as we experience a moment that affects us in some way that makes us stop and think. I would recommend you keep a tiny pocket book with you to record these thoughts when and where they happen.

Often we become bogged down in our lives and daily stress, our worries and responsibilities may dominate a large portion of our available thinking. These cloud our thoughts and limit imagination. If anything, set aside some time that's responsibility free, be spontaneous, break up the routine, go out for a walk or a street festival, or an art gallery. Go see a live band, or a new indie film in a crappy rundown cinema in the forgotten part of town. Experience other arts, othere people's work, no matter how weird they are. Experience a broad range of things, expand your taste. Liberate your thinking and ideas will come.

We can't learn imagination and the best way to get ideas is to observe the world around us and capture it from our own perspective.

This is what I've discovered, I hope it helps in some way.

Cheers,

- Andrew

[rollin]

Great post North Pole, I must find more time to get out and explore all avenues. Being on strike right now may certainly help me do that at this moment!!!

[foxglove]

Have you taken part in any of the monthly contests? You get a different theme each month. It may not always be to your taste, but I find sometimes that conforming to a theme that doesn't initially grab me is really stimulating - it bumps you out of your comfort zone. Not that I've had time for many of the contests lately... but I do recommend it as a creative stimulant.

Julie

[benjikan]

I'm looking for ideas or concepts such as "Trash the Dress", or "his shirt your way". What other great ideas are there that You know about? This could keep people busy!..

I will keep this brief. Asking others to give you idea's will only diminish the credibility of your expression and invalidate your own id. You are giving up on yourself before you have actually begun the process of being creative by doing so. Throw out every preconceived notion you have ever had and let yourself flow. Write anything down that comes to mind, don't be afraid of yourself and your idea's. We are often our worst enemies. Most people stymie themselves by criticizing their idea's before they can be fully realized.

Write EVERYTHING down that comes to mind, even if it has nothing to do with the photo shoot, a painting, a design or anything that requires creative solutions. It does not matter. Keep doing so to eventually unlock your true potential. Eventually ideas will begin flowing unencumbered. Just DON'T pre-judge yourself...PERIOD.

[Tommy]

I will keep this brief. Asking others to give you idea's will only diminish the credibility of your expression and invalidate your own id. You are giving up on yourself before you have actually begun the process of being creative by doing so. Throw out every preconceived notion you have ever had and let yourself flow. Write anything down that comes to mind, don't be afraid of yourself and your idea's. We are often our worst enemies. Most people stymie themselves by criticizing their idea's before they can be fully realized.

Write EVERYTHING down that comes to mind, even if it has nothing to do with the photo shoot, a painting, a design or anything that requires creative solutions. It does not matter. Keep doing so to eventually unlock your true potential. Eventually ideas will begin flowing unencumbered. Just DON'T pre-judge yourself...PERIOD.

Well said! I am so far from having ideas flowing unencumbered but I have analyzed this lately and found that it is most likely because I have pre-judged myself. This goes way back to my childhood I guess. I remembered writing school essays, sitting there with a blank sheet of paper and a mind just as blank for a couple of hours only to speed-write some "stupid idea" during the last half hour. Had I not pre-judged my ideas so much, I would have had more time to write and improving the story. I seriously thought imagination and creativity is something that you are either born with or not. I had given up on ever improving this.
During the last 10-12 years I have slowly improved my creativity and the last couple of years, photography has helped me in doing so.
I'm not saying I take a lot of great pictures, but at least they are my own and I can judge them after I took them and, at least IMHO, I am improving.

Well, maybe this is not what rollin ment with the the original post, but I just came to think of it after reading Benjikans post.

However, I still enjoy being fed a seed that limits my mind a little, helps me get started in a direction somehow. I often check the themes of this forums monthly contest to get inspiration.

[snkenai]

Not trying to be contrary.

My idea of photography is that it is only a tool. Just as the mechanic (me) buys a new wrench, not to find a use for it but the need already exists. Something needs fixed, therefor buy the proper tool for the job at hand. I don't buy a tool and then try to find a use for it.

Although, I have lately been attacked by CBA, and now have too many tools, (film cameras). So in the next few days some of my tools are going up for sale. Naturally keeping the ones I want /need for myself.