I found myself inspired in early February, 2020. As I was exiting my nearly predictable semi-annual dry period I was invited to participate in a portrait shoot in Illinois. I’ll write about that experience soon. Spoiler alert, it was worth the trip.
The dry spell was smashed to pieces and I was back on fire. Right about then we all started hearing about a mystery illness in China. I’ll bet you’ve heard about that. Shortly after getting home the world I knew went seriously sideways. I wrote about the beginnings of this around me in an earlier post.
Shelter In Place
Like a lot of folks I have a “day job” that, lo and behold, has almost nothing to do with my art degree. The good news is that I’m one of those weirdos who mixes left brain and right brain traits. After the “shelter in place” announcement from the state of California I started seriously wondering if my new found inspiration was in danger. No. No it wasn’t.
Opportunity from necessity
I took this as an opportunity and didn’t slow down. There was a wealth of subject matter under my nose, all I needed was the necessity to explore it. Walks around my rural neighborhood became scouting missions for tiny subjects. As a result I was actively seeking out mundane subjects to create interesting photographs. If anything my creativity accelerated.
Selfie Central
Without my muse friends, my interest in off-camera flash became an opportunity for self portraits. I setup a backdrop and a strobe in my home office. Selfie Central was born.
A little knowledge, a speedlight, and a tiny diffuser became a strip light to create dramatic light for small subjects.
This also became an opportunity to encourage friends to create. I know they’re in the same situation, or in a lot of instances recently out of work, stuck and home, and dearly needing something constructive to do. I love to be helpful so I’m glad to support and mentor.
New ideas for my backlog
I also had new ideas for post processing previous work. I have volumes of images and a backlog of portrait projects. This was a golden opportunity to look for gems and reinterpret those with new ideas. This has had the bonus effect of reconnecting and growing friendships with my model friends.
Opportunities abound
Of course this was also an opportunity to follow up on a contact with the editors of Photofocus from weeks ago. Not only was I inspired to create images, I was inspired to write. I keep using the word “opportunity.” Yeah, things are weird, hard, scary, and for many deeply tragic. Opportunity is there, you have to want to see it.