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Sometimes, people need inspiration.

Today, I was reading in the Strobist Flickr group what inspires some of the photographers there. I found the answers fascinating. Everything from other photographers, to music, to movies, to art , to books and even family. That got me thinking, “What inspires me?” The answer… Anything that move me. I know, that’s pretty vague, but let me try to explain. I don’t usually go looking for inspiration, I let it find me. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t let it freak me out if I don’t get inspired. It’s like insomnia, the more you think about not sleeping the more likely you’re not going to fall asleep.

But when inspiration does hit me. It hits me like a ton of bricks. Again, it could come from anything that moves me. And sometimes from things I would never expect. I currently have a list of at least a couple of dozen shot ideas that came to me from different sources of inspiration. The secret to being inspired is to write it down so you don’t forget. You might not always be able to get the shot right away. Or it requires extensive planning. Write down everything, in as much detail as possible, so when you do get around to shooting, that feeling you had when you first got inspired comes back to you.

Here is a source of inspiration that I came across today. It got my creative juices flowing and now I have a couple more shot ideas to add to my list.

Tell me what inspires you.

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This weeks Friday Five.

• The Man - Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002). I had the honor and pleasure of meeting the man in the late 80’s. Truly an inspiration. Check out the website and especially the video clips.
• The Workshops - David Tejada is now offering lighting workshops. This guy knows his stuff and I wish him luck with the workshops.
• The Book - Or should I say your book. Have you ever thought about writing your own photography book? If you have, check out www.photographybooknow.com for a chance to win $25k.
• The Review - Bert Stephani has posted a review of the Strobist’s Lighting DVD on his site.
• The Search - Idée Inc. has come up with with a new way to search images. This has huge potential!!!

Did that get your attention?

With Nikon now sporting a full frame camera (D3). Do you think Canon is going to sit on it’s butt and do nothing? No way! IT’S ON!!!!! This is a good thing for photographers. Competition between the two will bring better and better cameras to the market. And cheaper and cheaper full frame cameras. That’s right! Affordable full cameras are on their way. Yippie!

The 1.5X and 1.6X crop factor cameras will still be around, but they will be the low end, entry level cameras. And the associated lenses will be considered to be the same. Low end, entry level. That expensive “made for digital” lens you just bought will still take great photos in a few years, but it’ll be worth next to nothing. What low end, entry level photographer will want to pay a lot of money for a lens that they can’t take with them when they decide to upgrade to a full frame digital camera? Not many.

So what should you do? Sell all your “made for digital” lenses now! Start buying lenses that can be used on full frame cameras. You know that once the full frame cameras are in your price range you’re going to get one. So, why buy lenses that you can’t use in the future.

What are your thoughts on digital lenses and the future of digital SLR’s?

I did it! I am now a twitterer tweeterer twitonian twizzler… I’m on Twitter! Follow me, PLEEEEAAASE.

Tomorrow is a big day for any Vancouver area Mac user, or anyone who wants to find out more about Mac computers. It’s the grand opening of the first ever Apple Store in BC! Check it out here.

• How rich will you be in 10 years? According to this website, I’ll be worth $16,021,866 in ten years. What will you be worth? It’s not photo related, but it’s fun.
• Lifehacker has a great post Turn Your Point-and-Shoot into a Super-Camera. If you have a consumer level point-and-shoot made by Canon, it’s work checking out.
• DPReview posted a review of the Nikon AF-S VR Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G.
• I have a lot of respect for wedding photographers. They have a tough job dealing with “the most important day” of a brides life and then dealing with everyone else at the wedding. DPS has a post “Wedding Photography Survival Tips: The Preparation” to help aspiring wedding photographers.
• When I first saw these images, on photoshelters blog, I was in awe!

I found this after I posted my “Friday Five” yesterday:

Lisa Bettany is one of my favourite local blogger. She has a very unique and creative blog. Her videos are funny, her photography is great and she’s cute as a button. Yesterday she posted a rather cheeky idea to make money. Check it out!

I’m starting a new feature this week called “The Friday Five.” What is it? You might ask. Simply put, it is a list of 5 sites or articles I found interesting from the past week.

So here we go!

• David at Strobist runs a great blog about off camera flash tips and techniques. This week he posted an article about syncing a Canon G9 at shutter speeds as high as 1/2500th of a second. The reason I liked the article is because the Canon G9 is my “carry around everywhere” camera and it is also the camera I use to film my video posts. Here is the link to the article.
• Chase Jarvis’ recent post about his travels to Dubai caught my eye because of a stunning image of the cities skyline poking out above the clouds. You have to see this.
• Cara Phillips has written a wonderful article about “being a photographer.” Anyone interested in making a career as a photographer, or who already is a “professional” photographer needs to read this.
• Scott Kelby’s post on his blog about the success of his The Digital Photography Book, Volume 1 becoming the best selling digital photography book ever is quite amazing. And that The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 is out selling volume 1 for the same time period is even more impressive. Good luck with the books Scott.
• Check out Photoshelter’s blog post about the National Magazine Awards. Some great images.