Creativity and inspiration are fickle muses. I have written as a hobby via blogs for a number of years and I wrote (with my wife) professionally for three years or so as weekly columnists for a major newspaper in central New Jersey. There were times, when I sat at the computer and magic happened; words, phrases and ideas flew from my mind to my finger tips and I could fashion a wonderful story in no time at all.

There were other times, when I would struggle to construct an enticing opening paragraph. I find the same scenario with my photography. It is only a hobby, but it is an important one. I follow many photographers via the Internet. I listen to podcasts and take part in various webinars. I am currently working on a personal project, A Year of Yosemite, where I am writing about 365 photographs I took during my week (+/-) of hiking there. It was wonderful, exciting and amazing! The spirits of Ansel Adams and John Muir were omnipresent.

So…where can we find inspiration as photographers? You know, those times when our cameras sit in their bags for days on end and we don’t feel inspired to pick it up and go out to shoot. In the video below, Art Wolfe talks about his avenues of inspiration and the different views he brings to his photographic craft. Although he is very modest, Art Wolfe is an acclaimed photographer. His training and education as an artist enables him to distill visual themes which help him create bodies of work that I found very stimulating.

I encourage anyone interested in art or photography to watch this YouTube video and perhaps watch it again. I thoroughly enjoyed it on several levels. It will certainly serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for my own photographic journey.

Where do you find photographic inspiration?