Here’s some really awesome commercials, clips, and inspiring examples of creativity I’ve seen recently that I really enjoyed.

Empty LA  by Matt Logue.  Los Angeles without any cars or people…  Crazy.

PDF article by AfterCapture magazine:
http://www.rangefindermag.com/storage/articles/AC0610_Logue_Smith.pdf

And for all of you that are videographers, or love to produce stock footage and video for microstock…  enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SItFvB0Upb8

Don’t judge the B ROLL!

Do you ever feel like your work is never good enough?  Do you get praise from others about your creations, but deep down inside you don’t feel the same way?  Maybe you feel like you just served up a pile of trash.  To be honest, I feel this way about my own work a lot.  I recently did a few photoshoots and nothing I shot really wow-ed me.  This type of thing happens other creatives I have spoken to, as well.

I Am My Own Worst Critic
I’m definitely my own worst enemy when it comes to criticism. I see the flaws in my work.  Even if they are minor, almost untraceable to others, I still manage to find them.  Am I just being over critical?  Am I bored with what I’m doing?  Is it just because I’m being overly anal?  What’s wrong with me?  I want to be happy with what I’m doing.  I am definitely enjoying it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be 100% proud of where I’m at creatively.  I think we all want to have our own “style” but this is easier said than done.  I’m still trying to figure out what it is, and probably will continue to do so for a very long time. 

Transform
Last year Atlanta Georgia based editorial photographer Zack Arias made a video like no other.  It described a personal struggle that a creative has and lives through.  I don’t care if you’re a graphic designer, a hairdresser, a chef, a contractor, a sculptor, or even a basket weaver… if you create on a daily basis, watch this video.  It’s a must see, and I am pretty sure you will be able to highly relate to it.  Any creative professional should see this.

Getting In and Out of Creative Rutts
We all get in the same creative patterns sometimes, and many times we might not even notice it.  As a designer I would find myself using a lot of the same typefaces, or laying thing out with the same compositions all the time.  In photography, I might find myself framing a lot of headshots in the same way.  Or, I might continue shooting the same themes and subjects with different models.  What do you do when you realize you’re in a rutt?  You do whatever you can to get the heck out of it.  Don’t wait around for someone else to tell you what to do.  Mess around and get crazy the next time you get to work.  Change things up surprisingly.  Look elsewhere for inspiration, if you need some.  Try something new (maybe a different subject, theme, or style) that you might have passed up before.  I personally find that when I get out of my comfort zone and try something new, I get a lot more satisfaction out of my successes.  You will also realize whether or not your new experiments are for you or not, and just might step back into your comfort zone.  Even still, you’re going to be a lot more well rounded of a creative than before.

It’s Okay…
Being your own worst creative enemy is not necessarily a bad thing… be worried when the opposite is true.  Then, you might have a problem.  Heck, maybe it’s healthy.  It’s nice to have a constant semi-dissatisfaction with your work, in a way, so that you can use that to drive you onward to the next level.  I talked to my mom about this topic recently (she’s a hairdresser that’s been in the business for over 30 years).  We agreed that sometimes you just have to keep doing what you know you have to to please your clients and pay the bills.  Feeling completely satisfied with where you are as an artist or craftsman might be a lifelong quest… just try not to beat yourself up so much along the way.

What Should I Shoot? That right there is the million dollar question.  Even seasoned stock contributors find themselves asking this at times.  The world of stock is a mindset, and even once you’re in it, it’s easy to get to the point where you wonder, “Okay, what should I try and shoot now”?  If you really struggle with coming up with ideas on what to shoot, then you need to start opening your eyes to the world around you.  I don’t care where you are, what you’re looking at right now – inspiration can be smack dab in the front of your fat head.  Sometimes it’s there and we don’t even realize it.  Open your eyes, and don’t just see, but try to truly observe.  Reflecting on the who what, when, where, why, and how of everything around you is an easy way to come up with stock concepts.  Try to write things down when you think of them.  This applies in the graphic design world, as well.  Rip out that cool magazine ad you saw in the latest issue of your wife’s Elle magazine (I wasn’t looking at it, I swear…I was just sitting next to her on the couch at the time).  Save that piece of junk mail with the interesting modeling pose.  I tend to note things a lot, but I forget to follow through.  Make a little notebook or scrapbook of the things you’d like to try, the things that look are cool, and the things you think would appeal to a buyer, especially.

Getting Organized One of the toughest parts about stock photography is all the organization that goes into planning and properly executing a shoot of any given topic.  It’s a lot of work and effort.  Sure, there are times you might wing it and come up with a nice variety of different themes, but if I find that if I’m always trying to “wing it” my time isn’t used the most effectively.  If you’re going to be shooting models, you need to orchestrate the entire shoot with them.  Then, you need to decide on a location, wardrobe (what to tell them to wear) props, ideas and themes to try.  You want to make the shoot effective for the short amount of time you’ll be working together, for me it’s usually 1-2 hours tops.  Making sure you have your model release ready for them to sign, and not forgetting to have them actually sign them is even a chore.  Then there is the scanning and uploading of the releases to each and every agency you’re submitting those images to.

Shooting Subjects That Can’t Talk Back If you want to shoot food there is the purchasing of the ingredients, the prep and cooking time, the presentation of it all on the plate and table setting.  Food could sometimes be easier to work with than models, depending on the model.  Sometimes models can decide to cancel last minute, then what do you do with your time slot?  It’s very similar to any other business where you have to make appointments for your clientele, such as dentistry or a beauty salon.  There also is no “extra work” later on when shooting subjects other than people.  You don’t even have to edit the entire shoot unless you want to, and there is no mailing of a disk required.  You save on your time and money shipping a disk out to them.  Maybe you’re not interested in food. Well, maybe you could shoot other objects over white. Please don’t bother with apples, unless it’s done in a truly creative way.  Stock sites’ reviewers have seen enough of those and they’re be extra eager to slap that “reject” button as quick and hard as they possibly can.

Motivation This is the part where you come in. If you can’t get yourself motivated, nothing creative is ever going to happen.  Working from home, and being your own boss, can especially be challenging.  Maybe there isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder, and asking you whether or not you’re going to make the deadline.  You need to make your own deadlines for yourself.  Without having weekly, daily, even hourly goals, your time is going to be wasted.  I’m living it right now – some days I spend way too much time doing social networking on twitter or facebook.  Other days I spend too much time editing older, similar images that probably should have just been backed up and tucked away.  If you are having a rough time staying on task, don’t think you’re the only one.  Stay tuned, as one of my future posts here will address this topic.  There are things you can do to minimize distractions, and stick to your workflow.  Speaking of which, I think it’s time for me to stop blogging and start keywording my images!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t have many images that I say, “Hey, I want to print that really big and frame it – slap it on my living room wall.”  I was talking to a close friend this weekend, and said to me plainly, “That’s because you see dollar signs every time you shoot.  You’re looking too much for stock, and missing out on the rest of the world.”  You know what?  He’s right.  I need to start taking time to shoot my own personal artsy/fartsy stuff in addition to my normal backgrounds/textures/model shoots.  My friend Tim can spot things that are dying to be captured.  I give him a lot of credit, he just shoots strangers in the streets and takes their dirty or confused looks, if they even give him any.  Maybe once I can get over that fear, I can start to capture some cool street-photography style stuff that I would normally pass by. Sometimes I also reason to myself, “No, I won’t take that shot – I don’t have a model release for that person, so I can’t sell it as stock anyway.”  That’s probably my main problem. 

Check out more of Tim’s work here – http://www.pbase.com/tsla1124 He is an amazing photographer with a strength in travel, editorial, and lifestyle images. Tim is a busy guy – he has a lot of great images that would even sell great as stock – but no time to sell stock.  If you’re interested in purchasing licenses for any of his images for use in stock or prints, by all means tsla1124 AT gmail.com

He has photography from Italy, Greece, Panama, San Blas Islands, Mexico, Bost, New York City, and more. 

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

All images Copyright © Tim Sala 2009

http://blogs.photopreneur.com/photographers-and-designers

A great read on the photopreneur blog about photographers, designers, and the spill over.  I have always found that photography spills into design.  I can’t think of one of my graphic design friends that hasn’t tinked around with photography in some way, shape, or form.  It also touches on how those that think they’re going to get everything right in the camera without any post processing knowledge are going to have a rough road in this business.