Photography
The Art of Feeling Inspired – An Expanded Florence Collection
Sep
You know that feeling of excitement when you travel, right? You’re about to see new places, taste new food, see new landscapes – learn about the local history, and art. You stop to stare at the tiniest details wherever you go, you want to read the descriptions of every piece of art at the museum. You want to capture every beautiful moment as if everything is overwhelmingly beautiful, and you want to capture everything – but what if one day those beautiful surroundings became your home?
Florence is filled with art and beauty everywhere – and even if that is what makes this city such a lovely place to live in, after 10 years of walking next to Santa Croce and passing by the statues of Piazza della Signoria – I sometimes forget to stop and appreciate their beauty with the same amazed and excited eyes I had when I first arrived. Whenever I slow down, breathe, and allow myself to be present – I’m always grateful for it.
This blog post is about re-kindling inspiration – about giving yourself the opportunity to slow down, take a spin, and feel inspired over and over again. The result of me doing this recently inspired these new additions to my Florence Collection – photos that I’m so excited about, and that have been a long time coming. I hope you enjoy them 😊
Sanctuary
Santa Croce, Florence
One of my first prints of Florence is Hello Moon. It shows the beautiful Santa Croce church with an intense blue sky illuminating the church with its last hours of light. I’m so lucky to live right next to Santa Croce, however for years it was my only photo of Santa Croce available in my shop. One of my repeat customers actually mentioned that they would love to see more framed prints that had Santa Croce in them, so I took this as a message that I should find a way to get inspired again.
It honestly took me a couple months to get my life to the point where I could get into that creative mindset again, but once I took the dive I was SO excited. I was waking up at 6am for sunrise – heading back out to to shoot at sunset. For days I was non-stop, and I absolutely loved it. The end result is now I have a total of 60 photos available in my Florence Collection, with 3 new shots of Santa Croce as well. 🙂
One of the things I wanted to focus more on is the amazing statues and monuments that Florence has to offer. The Piazza Della Signoria is filled with mythological characters that symbolize the greatness and magic of the city. The Neptune Fountain takes an important part in this collection because its magnitude cannot be ignored. Representing the domain of Florence in the sea and as a celebration of the aqueduct construction, the Lord of the Sea stands out in the center of the plaza with its shining white marble, looking over small tritons. This attractive sculpture contrasts with the buildings in the background providing great material to create beautiful pieces of art.
If you walk a little bit around the plaza you will encounter my favorite statue of all in the Loggia dei Lanzi. Perseus with the Head of Medusa steps triumphantly on top of Medusa’s body, holding her head up high. The statue looks so real it causes me chills! If you ever come to Florence, I hope you have the chance to see it.
Perseus and Medusa
Piazza Della Signoria, Florence
I know being amazed all the time, especially by things you get to see every day, is not easy or necessary. Inspiration can certainly come and go, and can be triggered by a variety of things – whether it’s architecture, nature, or even just nice weather.
Here are some helpful tips about how to find inspiration and beauty on a daily basis:
- Find yourself a playlist that gets you in a creative mood.
- Limit yourself to one prime lens and give yourself a challenge to create art without your regular tools
- Find a place that you find interesting, and try to frame shots if you were varying heights (A baby, A toddler, A Teenager)
- Pretend you are a tourist in your own town
- Use lines in the road, in buildings, in signs – everywhere you can see and use them to frame your images – even diagonally. You’ll be surprised about what you can create.
- Experiment with neutral density filters during the day with long exposures
- Teach someone younger or less experienced than you how to take better photos – you’ll be amazed where your creative mind will take you when trying to give them tips.
Let me know your thoughts about this, and if you have any tips you’d like to share as well – please post them in the comments below!
If you liked this blog check out some of my previous blogs here!
<3 Scott
P.S
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