Creative Life:

Six Ways To Find Inspiration

Here are six ways to inspire your creativity. Music is at the top of my list while creating, especially when post-producing on the computer; I have created many a piece to the songs of Leonard Cohen! And of course, for many of us, the natural world is our driver: the birds, the flowers, the vast outback plains, the pounding surf. All of this flows in our bloodstream, feeding us daily.

Above: This image of black-necked stork and a passing egret was made in 1977 during a six-week camp at Woolwonga Wildlife Sanctuary – now known as Kakadu NP – most of which was spent sitting in a humid, mossie-ridden bird hide. During this period, I learned the value of stillness and solitude.

1 Knowledge is creative power

Discovering and learning about the nature of your photographic subject after the event—or better still before you take the picture—will inspire creative inventiveness. Knowledge also provides you with a back story that connects your audience to both a higher level of appreciation of your work and a view into your creative soul.

2 The art of self-talk

Observe things like composition, lighting, texture, colour—all the ingredients that may inspire you creatively. Ask yourself questions, for example, would you have approached a scene differently? Learn the art of ‘self-talk’ and develop productive conversations with yourself.

3 Read visually inspiring literature

Whatever lights your fire! The wonderful thing about reading is it challenges creative imagination; the more exercise you give your imagination, the more expansive it becomes. Poetry especially can be inspired by an image or vice versa where it might inspire you to create an image.

4 Visit art galleries

Although there are great online collections, I’d encourage you to visit real-world galleries and examine the beautiful textures in the paintings. However, if you do use the internet, take care not to blindly copy the artistic styles of others as you will be robbing yourself of the joy of knowing that your creative voice is ALL yours!

5 Try creative collaboration

The worlds of film, literature, music and physical artworks of all kinds are all complimentary. If you have a creative colleague that works in another medium have a go at working together on a project.

6 Create through play

Learning to relax into a state of play, both at the point of capture and in processing on your computer is essential to help enhance your creativity and inspire your journey to new and exciting levels. The key word here is ‘play’; to truly play creatively you need to engage what I call the ‘not thinking’ process. In contrast, thinking about things like picture frames, how many ‘likes’ you may receive on Facebook, and economic outcomes can interfere with the creative process.

State of Play

As both naturalist and artist, emotional connection with nature is what drives me. Moments in time, like this spoonbill’s preening contortions, are what I strive to capture as writer and photographer. In this instance, the initial capture was driven more by the naturalist within however this creative expression is all about play. A state of play is where I reside when the ‘artist within’ takes over and this is what this montage is about. Royal Spoonbill preening. River Murray National Park, South Australia

Find your passion, unlock your creative voice, develop your art and craft and claim the joy and energy of sharing with a creative community.