Follow Taylor Davidson
It's been a busy post processing week, going from out of the camera photo to creating art. The problem I had was in the naming. Every piece I create I give a name and sometimes that name is hard to come by. In a name, there are times when it's obvious and then there are times when I have to wait for the name to tell me it's true nature. So I've been waiting around for name inspiration.
I would look at this photo every day. One day I would see a name, but it didn't quite fit. Then the next day, another name. It still didn't fit. Every time I opened this particular shot, something new surfaced in my gray matter. I would think about it on my way into work. I'd think about on the way home. I'd think about it as I drifted off to sleep at night.
There seemed an urgency to this naming as I'm getting ready to launch a new gallery page on the website and it seemed this was the only photo that was stopping me. Now I know I can launch the website without this particular image, but sadly, that's not how I work. Don't ask because I don't know the reasoning behind that thinking. It just is and I work with it. The other thing that occurred to me was the simple naming of "Untitled", but that's a cop out in my book.
So I spent the week waiting for name inspiration. This got me thinking about inspiration in general and wondering how many sit around and wait for inspiration to hit. You see, that's something I can't do. While I was waiting for the name to make itself known, I continued to work on the other images I'm preparing for the gallery. I continued to work on the description that was to accompany each photo. I continued to work on a variety of things that sit patiently in my creative magic box.
Sitting around and waiting for inspiration to hit is a no win situation. The crazy thing about inspiration is that it takes it's own sweet time to appear, and by waiting, it often takes longer than you'd like. Sort of the old "a watched pot never boils". By waiting for inspiration, you often halt the process. It's best to find a new creative project because that new project could easily provide the inspiration you're waiting for.
I've notice this happen on many occasions. There's a part of the book that's just not evolving. It's a dead end in the plot. I put the book away and pull another rabbit out of the creative magic box and within due time, that dead end opens a new road. I've had this happen with photos also. There are times when I think I've finished the processing of an image, but when I look at it, something just isn't right. It's acceptable, but it's not complete. I'll stare at the image and I'll know something is wrong, but I just can't put my finger on it. So, I put the image away and break out a new one.
I found this while preparing the new gallery. As I was putting together the data, something inside said I needed to do a bit more work on a particular image. I have no idea what it is, but something more (or less) had to be adjusted in the photo. So these so called completed pieces are moved back into the WIP folder and I continue the prep work as the inspiration unfolds itself inside my brain.
The point of this little story is to remind the creative in you not to douse the fire, but to add another log and fan the flames of your creative genius. All creatives have a creative magic box with so many tricks wanting their turn at life. Give those creative tricks a chance. And who knows, the inspiration you've been looking for may actually be buried beneath the new project you just began.
Oh, and here's the resolution to this story. I was thinking about the image on my way to work the other day and the song Old Man by Neil Young came flying into my head. I looked at the image again. Lines and wear and weather. It said a lot about life. So the title became Take A Look At My Life. The photo is attached to this post. You decide the meaning.
Peace on your journey - Kerri
Top image from Imgembed.
This is a cross-post from Ezine Articles.
Kerri Williams is a creativity coach, a fine art nature photographer and a writer on a lifelong creative journey. You can learn more about her photography and view her work at http://www.magpistudios.com.