A Photographers Search For Inspiration
Here's looking at you, kid - A horse stands in a field Pagham Harbour, West Sussex, England. Photo © Scott Ramsey
Sunday afternoon had arrived and to avoid watching yet another repeat on TV I grabbed my Nikon and went out exploring. A walk was needed to clear my mind, invigorate my soul and help fire up my creativity. I decided to travel light and left most of the camera gear behind, opting instead for just one camera and one lens. My girlfriend, Indra, also fancied a walk so we headed west along the coast to a local nature reserve called Pagham Harbour.
Pagham is a beautiful place but even after walking for a while my creativity still hadn't returned. I tried lifting the camera but saw nothing! Zilch a big fat zero! The light was drab so maybe that was the problem, although it doesn't normally affect me. Maybe I was losing my touch! I did discover a swan feeding in the estuary but even he looked fed up! I joked he probably had the Sunday blues too!
It was getting late so we decided to head home. We walked along a path back past some lovely old cottages that over looked the harbour. Outside one I spotted a man fighting with a lawn mower and from a distance it looked like the mower was winning! As I passed by we acknowledged one another with a nod of our head's and politely wished each other a good afternoon. Poor chap, I thought to myself, I bet he's trying to avoid the Sunday blues too. His struggle with his mower made me feel slightly better, as at least I had managed to escape cutting the grass!
As we walked our thoughts turned to food and I suggested calling into the takeaway on the way home, although after suggesting this I remembered the difficulty I had getting my trousers on that very morning, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Or then again maybe the washing machine was broken! Yes that's more like it. Maybe with every wash it's shrinking my clothes. Solving the dilemma the only question left was ' Which do you fancy Indian or Thai takeaway?
The takeaway sounded good but in reality it was just a quick fix. What I really needed was a spark to ignite my thoughts and inspire me to create. Little did I know that around the next bend a horse would do just that!
Sometimes You Need To Stop Looking To Find What You Need
The field had a old wooden fence running along it and came with a clear view of the harbour. In the field stood a a beautiful white horse all alone with only a crow and a seagull to keep him company. His ears pricked up as he heard us talking followed soon after by his head. Pleased to see signs of life we stopped at the gate and I made horsey type noises to try and call him over. I was't having much luck so instead I tried calling him over as you would a dog. 'Here boy, c'mon boy' I shouted following it up with some clicking sounds that I'm sure I had heard Clint Eastwood use in a western. The horse just carried on eating! Indra reliably informed me she knew what to do, she's good like that ;-), after disappearing for a while she returned with green fresh grass. Waving it around bit the horse plodded over as only a horse can. I watched as my girlfriend stroked his nose and chatted to him as if he was an old friend. I lifted my camera to my eye and started taking photos. The clouds parted and the low winter sunlight fell perfectly onto us. Against the sunlight I could see every hair in the horses mane. He looked at me, I took a photo, he looked again, I took another. There seemed to be some kind of connection. He certainly enjoyed the fresh grass and was eating it as quickly as Indra could pick it. Maybe he was bored, do horses get bored? It can't be that exciting standing in a field! Maybe we had lifted his spirits as much as he had ours!
Pleased with the photos we said our goodbyes and headed to the car. I did think about going back and telling the man and the swan about this great horse down the lane. Maybe it would help improve their day? but that would be silly I guess! They wouldn't understand and anyway I'm sure swan's don't like horses.
The Horse With No Name
How do you stay inspired?
For me creativity and inspiration come hand in hand. I can have a conversation with someone, listen to some music or watch a film and be inspired to create. Let me know in the comments below who or what inspires you to create. Also if you lose your mojo how do you reignite your creativity? All tips welcome, till next time Scott.