Our community reaction to…

We love interacting with our fans as there is always a great deal of topics to discuss and opinions to share. Knowing the perceptions of our community is very important for us as it allows us to get to know each other better. Through our discussions, we want to learn what our fans like or dislike and uncover the reasons for their judgements.

This time, we asked our fans what are they mostly inspired by when taking photos. They had 5 options to choose from:

Photography is a form of art, where inspiration is a vital element. Sometimes it can be a theme or scenery that is of particular interest for us. At other times, it’s simply about having a creative day. Inspiration is known by many names. Things that inspire one photographer may be of no interest for others because we are all different.

Our fans tend to agree that “inspiration can come from many different sources” and it’s hard to predict where and when it will strike. While some “pick up inspiration from song lyrics or movie quotes” to get their ideas, others prefer “watching people do average things whilst having headphones on” and playing instrumental music in order to get stimulated. They claim that observing “many interesting mannerisms and poses” of other people inspires them more than anything else.

The majority of our fans are mainly inspired by other people, which is pretty logical, especially knowing how different we are from each other. The background that we come from, our culture or even the way we look and behave can give us ideas for photos.

On the other hand, there are people ready to wait “sprawled in the bush” in order to photograph insects for instance, as they inspire them the most. Others will be more keen on taking landscape photos and admire the beauty of the natural environment or manmade panoramas, claiming that “human habitation set against nature” is the most inspiring theme.

Some believe that “it’s not where you get inspiration from, it’s how you create inspiring ideas from things you have learned previously”. Life is about learning, and it’s necessary to know how to utilise the things we’ve learned. As mentioned by one of our fans, a good photo is the one that positively surprises not only the viewers, but also the artist who took it; it should be “unexpected and surprising” for everyone.

Others believe that “experimentation can work better than going out and seeking inspiration”, though there are people that disagree, claiming that experimenting is “only good for learning techniques” and if you really want to take a decent photo, you have to feel inspired, otherwise the results will “feel somewhat shallow”.

Every photographer is trying to capture something unexpected and surprising, something out of the ordinary or simply something memorable. Inspiration can come in many forms, however it doesn’t always have to be visible in the final shot. For many, the “finished work is rarely a direct representation of what inspired” them, but simply a result of their inspiration.