So lets set the world on fire.

This may not be a blog post about photography, well not 100% about photography. It is more about inspiration and what inspires my style of photography.

So...what does inspire my style of photography? My answer to that question would be "everything". there is no magical recipe of perfect things to inspire you. Maybe a leaf blowing in the wind is enough to get the creativity juices flowing. Maybe a little depression, or a little happiness. For me, most of the time, my inspiration comes either when I am riding my bike or by listening to music, sometimes while reading a book. Maybe it is triggered by just a word, or a phrase, maybe by the actual music, but it happens a lot. 

When I am riding my bike (which is at least 11 miles on a daily basis, when not in winter season) I think about a lot of things, but at the same time the sound of gravel and dirt colliding with the tires is relaxing enough to make me ponder about stuff, random stuff most of the time. The water dress image I did came to me in one of those bike rides. Just thinking that "...it is too hot. I wish my clothes were made out of water" was enough to convince me to do this shoot. It took a while (about 5 months) to make it happen but the idea was there. 

Water Nymph

Another example, is when I read a book, maybe a phrase like "A murder of crows" will lead up to something like this next image. 

The Fall of the Crow Princess.

So lately I have been listening to this song, in repeat, and can't stop doing it. And this just one song evokes a lot of things in my core. Stuff like feelings of homesickness, loneliness, appreciation, happiness, thirst and a lot more. Which are perfect for inspiration, but at the same time it inspires me to not hold the camera that much, to be on the other side, not hiding behind the lens but enjoying the "spotlight" sort of speak. To be carried home, and to carry someone home (You'll understand when you listen to the song below). The song is "We are Young" by Fun (yes, that is the name of the band), and here is the video, take a couple of minutes to listen to it. Note: This is my favorite rendition of the song.

I have a lot of ideas in my head, and probably tomorrow I will be in front of the camera, I have a great idea for a self portrait. And it was just inspired by this song. The thing is that I am reminded of the idea every time I listen to this song, and probably it will not make a lot of sense when you see the final image and go "This was inspired by that song?" but that is how inspiration works. It is not a literal thing. And that is why photography has been a huge part of my life. Because you can do a lot of things in a portrait but it has little meaning, and at the same time you can do so little that means so much. That is why it is an art and not just something that you pick up and do. So let's set the world on fire, we can burn brighter than the sun.

Note: Sorry if you have the song stuck in your head right now. I know it is kind of catchy.

Modernizing Fantasy: Full Steam Ahead!

I know that i have not written a blog entry in a while and I have to blame my "addiction" to video games and movies for that. I mean, Gears of War 3, then Assassins Creed Revelations, with a little bit of Ico/Shadow of the Colossus in between, before tackling Batman: Arkham City.  And there are a lot of video games I do want to play. Thank God I didn't start playing Skyrim because then i would have not be writing this blog entry. Not to mention watching The Immortals, The Muppets, and a lot of replaying Super 8.

Anyways, I had been planning a shoot with a really good friend of mine for a while. It would be part of my Modernizing Fantasy Collection and the idea came to me while doing the Dryad. I had one word for the theme and a rough sketch of what I wanted, the word was "Valkyrie". And then I started to do some test on wings, and clothes, and fabrics, and background. This was interrupted by the video games and the movies (seriously I have watched Super 8 like 25 times as of this writing). But then I came back on track when I finally did the shoot for it. My friend, she is a natural model and she doesn't even know it. After 5 frames I already had what i needed, but went and took different poses just in case.

So I started working on the images immediately, editing the background, adding wings, a lance, skirt, buckle, and just when I thought that I had the image finished I took a break from it. The image looked good, but I always let it rest for a couple of days before I finish it, that way I see it with fresh eyes and a fresh mind. And even thought I had finished editing the image, inspiration hits me once again. I usually get new ideas while finishing an image, and most of the time I use those ideas for other shoots. For example when I did the Dryad I thought about putting wings in it, and that is how I came to do the Valkyrie.

Inspiration hit me while watching the movie "The Rocketeer" (a highly underestimated-while-ahead-of-it's-time movie). I thought about doing something Steampunk style, and I thought about doing another shoot with this theme. But in my head all I could see was tackling the Valkyrie in a steampunk way. And it took some time to do it, but here it is. I call it The Flight of the Valkyrie. I hope you like it as much as I do. This is probably the final image, but since I thought the same thing about the Valkyrie I am not sure anymore :). All I know is that I have a special place set aside for the huge print in one of the walls of my office.