Capture your heart

Much of what we do comes from our interests and passions. Hopefully you’re fortunate to work in a field that is an area of passion, or at least do something at work that interests you.  But if not, at least your creative pursuits outside of work can be driven from your inner core – the thing(s) that make you cry or pound your fist on the table.

I don’t do a lot of portrait or people photography. But when I do, I like to capture a story or an emotion. The photo below presented itself to me as I was walking in a park in Florida. The park is in the middle of a retirement area and I knew this couple embodied a story. Even though they both need a walker to get around, they were committed to getting out and enjoying the sunshine. Somehow I also felt they were committed to each other and will continue to walk together as long as they are able.

Think about what moves you. Create from your heart.

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

Every day is a gift.

Personal project

One of the best ways to stay creative is to do a personal project. A couple years ago I decided to create a calendar using photos that I had taken during weekend bike rides. I ended up calling it “Within Biking Distance” and gave them out to my family for Christmas. My sister-in-law recognized a farm photo and knew that a friend of hers grew up there. So she told her friend about it and she subsequently bought 14 calendars from me.

But the purpose of this story isn’t necessarily the end result even though it was nice to sell some calendars. The important principle is that once I decided to do the “Within Biking Distance” series, I had a goal – something that focused my creative efforts. I had fun taking the photos and was able to plan when each phase of the project needed to be done so I could “ship”.

Check out this incredible personal project:  10,000 lakes. What’s your next personal project?

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

I was glad to be in a plane and not having to find my way around that road spaghetti.

Go small

What if you had to limit your creative project to a fraction of the normal size? I found this to be very interesting when I decided to do some “macro” photography over the holidays. Macro photography requires you to get very up close and personal with your subject because you take a shot of a tiny fraction of what you might normally take. I have an example of this in my PIC-OF-THE-WEEK below.

But does this transfer to other forms of art? If you compose songs try writing a jingle. If you paint still life maybe you could paint a small section of the subject. If you write short stories try writing copy for an ad or a 140 character tweet. If you sew clothes try sewing a blouse for a doll.

The point is to give yourself artificial constraints that force you to look at things differently than you would have otherwise. New perspective: new creativity.

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

I always look forward to this guy’s appearance at our house. He always shows up at Christmas time.

 

A milestone

52 entries! (well, 51 – I took a week off over vacation) Last year at this time I started this blog to explore creativity with you and offer some of my thoughts and projects. I’ve stuck with it for a year and I hope it’s been helpful to you – it has for me!

Now I’d like to change things up a bit and incorporate some practical information on photography, music composition, working with Photoshop, etc. I’ll still weave thoughts and ideas about creativity into the mix but I want to share more of the actual process I go through as I create.  I hope that you are even more inspired and motivated to develop your unique creative gifts.

Here is a Photoshop tutorial that I hope will make sense as you look at it. Each layer and its corresponding settings are listed. If you have any thoughts or questions, please post and I’ll respond to you.

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

Here's a better resolution of the tutorial photo. We spent a night in Sugarcreek, Ohio and I found this bus out in the middle of a field. Seems to go with the old windmill, doesn't it?

 

God creates... you create

A miniscule sampling of God's unbelievable creativity...

Now go create...

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

A still shot of our dining room table at Christmas time.