When you are fresh out of ideas-what is your "go to" subject or technique? I am running out of ideas of things to shoot, and i need some new ones :) I have had shots of my family for the past several days-which defeats the purpose in WHY I started this-to improve and try things new OUTSIDE of shots of my family lol.
Normally I don't have any idea of what photo to take for the day, and I just take my camera with me when I can. But if @11:50pm I don't have any photo I'll look for reflections in windows/mirrors :)
I always go outside. I never fail to find something inspiring outside. I also shoot with my iPhone regularly. I like the flexibility and there some amazing photography apps for it!
My son! I'm am a crazy person when it comes to how many photos I have of him because he is just so darn cute. I think my Facebook folder is up to "Rory Story - Part 10!". So that is 2000 photos of him!!! I'm very good at taking photos of him but I wanted to challenge myself and take different shots to improve upon my photography. So, I've said to myself that I will try my best not to. I already have one of him in my 365 day album!!! Haha. Good luck looking for inspiration!!! :-)
Usually I know that if I haven't taken a picture by the time I leave school, it will be a default - my pets, bokeh, macro. I'll work on angles and lighting.
Try something new. If you normally shoot with a shallow depth of field, try wide angle landscape or architectural shots. If you haven't tried a reverse lens macro, you should! (Just type it into google for a tutorial.)
WATER ! or liquids of some kind ! thats constantly my back up at the mo (hense plenty of liquid shots) ...... i also have the safety net of my 3 lads :)
Go outside and start snapping pictures of everything. Don't say no to anything. You'll find something you like and it will be a new "go-to". And yes, you'll have a bunch of shots that are terrible and worthy of the trashcan. Rotate the camera slightly, in a way you wouldn't usually.
I took a picture of the leaves of a tree in desperation one day. Ended up getting the moon in the shot:
You might be feeling repetitious, taking a picture of the same thing too much? Random shots from outside will break that up. Be creative!
last year = birds, this year = frogs. The other easy shot is a self portrait, and everyone in 365 land should rest easy that I have not resorted to self portraits yet!
Pick a destination that`s a long walk away.Somewhere you need to go anyways.A grocery store,a bank,whatever.
Then take your camera with you,and just walk with it,and whenever you notice something interesting ( the way a car is parked,a park,people crossing the street,a weird angle of a building), you just take the shot!
It`s not allways necessary to plan ahead.Just go with the flow.
I just go for a walk inside outside anywhere, armed with camera. I generally take a heap of shots and end up with a couple of (often surprising) good ones!
I'm like Richard. I work all day and it's often dark outside when I get home so my only option is usually inside with flash, so I break out my macro setup and try to find something interesting. "Try" is the keyword as I'm not always successful, but they all can't be thrillers. :).
my kids are my default photography setting,i need inspiration but time is limited for getting out and i always do the same route to and from school so don't find much inspiration there,today will be hard,tomorrow i may go to the supermarket and photograph the fruit and veg
I go outside and sometimes just stand in the garden, waiting. Pretty soon interesting birds, insects, animals turn up; you can get some good macro shots that way. Sometimes I set out to take a macro of a flower and find it full of insects of varying sorts that give it added interest. Or I take a walk around the neighbourhood checking out the neighbours' gardens, pets, sometimes the neighbours themselves! Take a drive to a nearby park or waterway of some sort.
There are days when I just can't get to use my camera and the fillers are always things around the house, fruit bowl, the pets... I wish I had a better imagination!!!
either macro/closeups or selfs (:
you cant go wrong with landscapes either. but when its 11:40 something, and you still dont have a picture (happens to be alot) long exposures work too!
I find a day trip or even a walk around my local area. I'm always stuck for something to shoot then when I'm out I can't stop shooting. I also find http://dailyshoot.com/ to be a good help really gets the imagination working when you're stuck for something. Local events, bands, fairs etc are really good too!
I have so many ideas running around in my head there aren't enough days..... but what I do is try to marry what I'm thinking about at the current moment with a photograph. How can I turn a certain thought into an image. Today I'm remembering the Challenger astronauts so I did a tribute to that. Yesterday I didn't want to get out of bed... so I tried to capture that. Wednesday I had a long day and the cookies I made were my solace so I took a picture of that. I take a lot more pics than what end up here so there are lots of failed attempts. I try to take pictures that are important to me so that when I look back I remember that day, with a smile. Just keep snapping away!
I usually start taking pictures of my houseplants (sometimes on purpose--sometimes out of ideas). I like taking pictures of flowers. I try to take a road trip to visit a botanical garden once a month. There are a lot of photo ops there (landscape, flowers, plants, trees, birds, snakes (ugh!), wild animals, people, etc.). I also like to walk in my neighborhood (see my neighbors run when they see that I have my camera with me). I know that I will be out later in the year when there are more local events.
I've got several series which are on-going, road, sky, garden, dailyshoot, a-z home challenge, object challenge, monthly self-portrait, and whatever else is going on at the moment. Really the choices are unlimited.
I suggest that you give yourself a few options. Take pictures that may work within them and then when you look at them later you will decide which to choose.
Personally I never get tired of bridges or old houses/buildings that are occupied or abandoned. Just the mystery of the stories they could tell intrigue me! Im very limited to these things where i live because there are few bridges and old buildings that I can access....
I haven't run out of inspiration yet *knock on wood*...but I love just getting in the car and driving - take an hour and go off the beaten path. There are tons of little nooks and crannies that are hidden everywhere. I found horses and sheep in a metropolitan city this week...it can happen. :)
Flowers. We're blessed in Southern California with a warm season that produces some kind of flower year round. I can go out on a walk and get five to 10 really good flower shots. Use one, so I know I can go back the next day or in a week and find something else out there. Yesterday, I had nothing after firing off a bunch of shots. Walked into the front yard and had my shot within minutes.
I see nothing wrong with taking pictures of your family every day! Change up the background or what they're doing or how close you are, etc there are millions of variables
I find myself doing a lot of close-ups of things . . . eyes, parts of things, lots of food (it's always good for color, especially all kinds of candy), flowers, etc. Just to get a different perspective of "ordinary" things you might just pass by in daily life.
You take great pics of people, I find myself constantly photographing at night, cause it's dark when I go to work and when I come home. Just take your camera around and whenever you do something different snap it and see late what turns out. I was just in the supermarket at the tills and looked across all of the tills and everyone had their heads down distracted it would have made a great shot but I didn't have my camera. Doh. Spring soon, lots of light, and rain for the UK!!
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Go outside and start snapping pictures of everything. Don't say no to anything. You'll find something you like and it will be a new "go-to". And yes, you'll have a bunch of shots that are terrible and worthy of the trashcan. Rotate the camera slightly, in a way you wouldn't usually.
I took a picture of the leaves of a tree in desperation one day. Ended up getting the moon in the shot:
You might be feeling repetitious, taking a picture of the same thing too much? Random shots from outside will break that up. Be creative!
Then take your camera with you,and just walk with it,and whenever you notice something interesting ( the way a car is parked,a park,people crossing the street,a weird angle of a building), you just take the shot!
It`s not allways necessary to plan ahead.Just go with the flow.
-Depth of Field Photos
-Repetition or Patterns
-Landscapes, cityscapes
you cant go wrong with landscapes either. but when its 11:40 something, and you still dont have a picture (happens to be alot) long exposures work too!
I suggest that you give yourself a few options. Take pictures that may work within them and then when you look at them later you will decide which to choose.
Keep up the great work!!