Picture Ideas - Brief Article

How often have you glanced at the camera lying on your shelf loaded with your favorite film? You had exposed several pictures during your earlier outing a few days back, but the film is still there and 20 pictures have yet to be exposed. You want to finish the film, but you are not getting even the faintest idea of what to take pictures of. The days are passing quietly. Today the season was not right, yesterday it was foggy and the day before yesterday, it was hot and humid and so on and on.

Well, these reasons are good enough to satisfy oneself, but the camera is still there with the half-exposed film. It is possible that by the time you get an excellent idea, it may be too late? The entire roll of film may become stale and your efforts may be affected.

In fact such a situation is generally called "the photographer's curse" -- having all the equipment, both mental and physical faculties available, but no inspiration for picture ideas that haven't been done a thousand times before.

Do you sit and wait until you get an excellent idea, an inspiration or a brainstorm? There is a popular saying that good ideas are like fireflies ... sometimes they come flying around out of nowhere when it is dark enough, but sometimes they never appear. Sometimes you can catch them so easily and sometimes you can't, however hard you may try. So it is more or less a question of chance.

It may seem that one of the best means of photographic inspiration is another trip or outing, but maybe you are too busy already and involved in some other activity. Maybe you are thinking that another outing just for half a roll of film may not be profitable or viable economically. You could look for a Mona Lisa somewhere around your house or office and request her to pose for you so that you could complete your half-exposed film. However, that may not be possible and several days could be lost in the process.

Under such circumstances, you may perhaps consider a simple formula, which I have devised for such situations. I just go to the nearby park or a greenhouse, without any planning and with an open mind. A good look at the colorful plants in a cool atmosphere should stir up your thinking apparatus, making new cerebral, electrical, circulous notions. The unconscious mind will come into action and try to connect various missing links. This "cooking up" process will generate new insights and you will regain the required inspiration.

The colorful plants will attract your attention automatically and you will be able to finish the film in no time. The result will be several brilliant pictures. The Caladiums, Coleuses, and Calathea Makoyamas look great during summer months. Several types of Denbrobims can also be photographed. Look for Ammaranthuses -- a good foliage plant. It has no flowers, but its leaves at the top offer a rare and beautiful combination of green, yellow and red.

M. Hanif Raza Islamabad, Pakistan

COPYRIGHT 2001 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group