inspiring photography

the scene:

- you have an hour to kill
- the internet is working (not something predictable from the seat in which I currently sit)
- you have your favorite beverage on your desk (water, tea, coffee, beer, whiskey or whatever it is that tickles you)
- you simply want to look at some great photographs, seeking inspiration but also simply the satisfaction of looking at and enjoying fabulous images.

Where do you go (three or four sites)? [this may or may not include those sites on which you post your images!]

I visit the landscape work at WhyTake.net and 500px daily for a dose of inspiration and a slice of humble pie.

I usually visit the websites of my favorite photographers. In adition to WhyTake.net and 500px, I also subscribe to Landscape Photography Magazine.

naturally, eva, your reply begs the question: who are your fav photographers?!?

I knew you were going to ask that..... Ian Cameron, Darwin Wiggett, Lon Overacker, Guy Tal, Kah Kit Yoong, Michael Fatali, Adam Gibbs, Andy Mumford..... to name a few but there are many others.

I like photocascadia.com. A great group of photogs....the site is loaded with inspiring images and solid articles and blogs. I also frequent Justin Resnick's site.

IMO, NPN is the only game in town when it comes to nature photos!

Good call Jim.....

Don

An hour to kill? Must be nice.... Of course I'm on NPN daily and came here for some inspiration, motivation and critique, so I'll just included that as my default go-to site. Personally I'm a creature of habit and don't venture too far out, but I must toss in a vote for Whytake.net simply because of the awesome collection of nature photographs. What's inspiring there is that it's a showcase (vs. a critique site like NPN) and so there is nothing but photographer's best - and some phenomenal imagery.

Other than that, there aren't too many places on the web that I frequent.

Eva, THANKS for the reference!!! I too am a fan of many an there are countless photographers that inspire me as well. Call me gutless, but too many to mention.

Lon

Lon has a good point about NPN compared Whytake. ...... and of course I am on NPN several times a day as well and came here for many of the same reasons Lon mentioned. I might also mention NPN is how I found most of my favorite contemporary photographers. Several on my list though are not on NPN.

I have found the images on the NPN site as inspiring if not more so than any other site. There are a lot of good to great photographers submitting images on NPN. My favorites at this time are Jim Brandenberg, Guy Tal, Joseph Rossbach, Jim Erhardt. I am on the NPN site at least a couple of times a day. Just to keep up is a daunting task.

William Gillis
Minnesota

William, thanks for your kind words though I do not consider myself even in the same league as the first three photographers you mentioned. I am a just a photography hobbiest, the others are true artists.

First and foremost I go to NPN....daily. Because it is where I participate...and where I find inspiring images. But, I must search and sort to find the 'best' new photos each day. I always check out 'all photos'. And I wait for WP to capture what I may have missed. Then onto photo.net...for a look, to find inspiration in their gallery and newsy stuff. Newly added to my daily routine is 500px and Whytake.

I don't visit individual sites...because the turnover of their photos is too slow to keep me interested as a regular (daily or weekly) visitor. And that includes individual blogs by photographers...even those who try to post daily...yes, I know one who is doing that.

Ken

By the way, there was a slightly mischievous objective to my question - which links to the recent questions re lack of activity (for example) and I was wondering where NPN'ers spend their time as well. It was also out of genuine curiosity to find some inspiring work - because, yes, Lon, IF one had an hour to kill, we'd better use it productively!! I hadn't heard of Whytake and only vaguely of 500px (yes, we're a little shut away here in Uganda!).

For myself, I visit a couple of sites - NPN obviously. Two clicks - one for Landscape gallery (where i mostly hang out) and one for "All Photos" to view anything that catches my eye among the other galleries.

I also subscribe to LensWorkOnline, primarily to view the LensWork and LensWork Extended (and generally don't go in for the rest of the stuff on the site. ffffl*ckr is an ingenious system as well - for those sites that allow one to "add to favorites" - that allows one to discover new photographers as it assumes that the photographers who produce images that you enjoy will have favorites that may be of interest to you.

I agree that individual sites are rarely worth visiting because the turnover is too slow.

The first "other" site (because NPN is always my main stop) that came to mind for me was 1x.com. Surprised nobody else has mentioned it, but then I hadn't previously heard of whytake.net. It of course lacks the in-depth critiques that NPN is so valuable for (aside from a small critique page that seems largely ignored by 1x.com members). But in terms of originality and quality of work, it's way up there...

I have visited 1X.com several times. They feature a mix of a lot of different images that don't particularly appeal to me. The ones that I do like, I can also find here on NPN, Whytake, 500px, even deviantart and redbubble. I also don't particularly like their general snobbery and the heavy duty manipulated images they select as sublime. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and not some self-proclaimed art critics (as we all are in this discussion)." Just my 2 cents on 1X.com and again that is just my opinion since I like more classic views of nature.

Ok so most everyone is talking about getting inspiration from sites that showcase photography. Does anyone ever get inspiration from other avenues of art? Website, in person or books.

Cristina, I sometimes visit a local gallery that has paintings from the region. I certainly spend some time considering those works and evaluating whether there are lessons that I can apply to my photography. I do the same frequently when I come across paintings in other venues, whether viewed online or in person. Sometimes it's pretty hard to bridge the gap between the two forms of art, but I figure the mental exercise is nonetheless valuable.

Eva, I don't visit 1x.com all that often...or any other site for that matter. But my general observation is that, over time, it has trended gradually away from some of the more heavily manipulated work. There's certainly still plenty of that, but it no longer seems quite so much like I'm viewing a different planet when I visit the landscape galley on that site. I do find it valuable to see some different approaches to nature photography aside from the "classic" approach that you mention. And for what it's worth, the general snobbery doesn't bother me at all...I find there's plenty of that in photography generally (though not so much on NPN, thankfully).

Anyway, that's about the full extent of my willingness to stick up for 1x.com. I don't really care that much. I wish I had more time to get into the field for photography and less time to worry about which sites to visit for inspiration.

A photography exhibit was done recently at the local college showcasing a regional photographer's work. I knew going into it he wasn't a landscape photographer (rather more contemporary and portraiture based) but I wanted to go to it anyway because I thought it might be a great way to get exposed to some really great work, in addition to the work I see on here. So I went to see this exhibit to get inspired and frankly, I felt let down. I did not get inspired, in fact I wasn't all that impressed with the work itself. So I went out on a mission to find inspiration in other places only to find, that like you said Phil, the gap between my vision of photography and this person's vision were clearly so different I had a hard time seeing what it was he wanted to convey. At least I tried... But that's not going to stop me from looking in other places in the future.

cristina - good question. living in uganda somewhat limits the art to which one is exposed - in some ways, but not in others. i find the diversity pretty limited and conventional. photographers here generally spend all their time doing documentary work and/or photojournalism - can be a bit grim (both in terms of subject but also quality) when displayed in galleries. as such, if i am seeking broader inspiration and have that imaginary hour to kill, it'd probably be best spent on the web (if the internet is working - yes, another challenge - and currently the country has ground to a halt as the optical fibre cable supplying uganda was cut by a ship's anchor or a trawler's net ...). given that i had neither heard of whytake.com nor 1x.com, this gives me something to explore!! however, the last time i was in the US, i thoroughly enjoyed a Elliott Erwitt exhibition (so i am not confined to nature in my appreciation but could be justifiably accused of having rather eclectic tastes ...!).

I lurked behind the scenes of this website for a couple of months before I joined and I got plenty of inspiration from that. I finally plucked up the courage to join and it's the best thing I've done for my photography.

I often find myself browsing the websites of Ian Cameron, Adam Gibbs and Kah Kit and many more from here to be honest. The quality of the photographers on this site is very high indeed.

Gary.

we were all lurkers once - i reckon there may be quite a lot of lurkers out there, gary - exposing oneself, one's vision and efforts is always daunting. but i think that one learns a lot from the process. this is part of the inspiration itself.

Here is a great list...you can spend days looking through the sites of these photographers:

http://www.dherreman.com/great-landscape-photographers

Some of the photographers listed on this page are on NPN while others are not. David Herreman himself is a very good photographer.

if i had days, of course - rather than that one hour - i'd be winging it to the field, camera in hand!