I've been in a less inspired mood lately…a sort of creative block almost. I know it's normal and it happens to every creative brain out there, but it's still extremely frustrating. It happened to me before, it will happen again, the thing is to work through it… And I'll tell you a few of the things I do, or the websites I visit to stay inspired and to jumpstart the creative side of my brain when I'm in such a block.
1. Pinterest - Good old Pinterest…I've spent so much time on it that it's almost a classic. I love it, it's great for ideas and inspiration and for putting together mood boards and styles for photoshoots. I didn't really focus my social media activities on Pinterest, but it's great for that too. Oh yeah, and tutorials too…I sometimes use it alternatively with Google.
2. Creative Live - Well, you see, one of the ways I stay inspired is through learning new things and doing tutorials. Creative Live is a website that offers online classes and workshops for aspiring creatives. They have two ways in which you can watch the classes: Live streaming, for free, on demand access, for a price. And they really have cool classes too, but they are long, full day workshops. But what I do if I find a class that I'm interested in, I let it play in the background while I do other things such as editing or preparing my gear for a photoshoot or cleaning my studio.
3. Behance - Behance is a social platform for showcasing creative portfolios. There's a lot of sites like that for photographers, like 500px, Flickr, etc., but Behance is a community for all types of creatives, from photographers, to graphic designers, retouchers etc. I love it because I love visual creativity. I love graphic design, I love fonts, I love photo manipulation and retouching, and of course, I love photography, but I like to get inspired from other creative forms. I didn't spend much time on Behance lately, but it's been one of my inspiration sites for a while.
4. YouTube - On the same idea as with Creative Live, my content consumption on YouTube generally revolves around tutorials, talks, lectures, inspirational stuff that people like to talk about. Before Creative Live (oh ya, and Lynda for a brief moment), I used to listen to YouTube tutorials and inspirational stuff all the time. I still do. If you run into me doing groceries and listen to what's playing in my headphones, you'll probably hear some Gary Vaynerchuk keynote or some Ted Talk. I also do a lot of tutorials…go YouTube University.
5. Magazines - I have a subscription to Next Issue, and I like to browse magazines mainly to look at photos, keep up with visual content trends and get inspired. I have the app on my iPad and it's a cool way to stay inspired while in transit or travelling. There's also this other magazine I've been buying: Renegade Collective. It's a lifestyle magazine from Australia, and its content is a mix of inspirational stories, business advice and creative tips. I always keep a few copies on my coffee table.
