Artist Block ~ Travel for Inspiration.

Artist gathers inspiration from everything around them. Travel is the best way to spark your creative mind. Immersing oneself in a new environment is like spraying gas on a fire. The photo above is the Bramante staircase a double helix staircase located in the Vatican museums in the Vatican city-state. The canopy located above provides the necessary light to illuminate the stairs. the staircase is located at the end of the museum visit and all visitors leave by this route. I never realized how rare the photo I took was until someone asked me where are all the other visitors?

I travel the world. My husband is from Tel Aviv a very small county. As with many people born in smaller countries than the United States, travel is a way of life. Unlike the USA, many smaller counties don’t have vast climates and topography. Want to see soaring mountains living in southern Europe require a trip to northern areas, like the Swiss Alps. Want some beach time, jetting off to a coastal area in warmer weather is required.

The photo above is from Mount Zion Cemetery, the graveyard where Oskar Schindler is buried. I have mastered taking really amazing pictures of cool staircases.

 

My travels take me from the beaches of Mexico to the Middle East and many places in between. I always have a camera with me, not just my cell phone camera. I have made one too many trips depending on camera phones only to discover upon my return the pictures were beyond salvage. While I don’t paint life-like paintings. It is still heartbreaking to only have a few great shots from a trip. I have a few tips for travel inspiration photography.

 

First, invest in quality equipment. I know cellular phones today have some amazing cameras, but you still should purchase accessories to improve their overall quality. There is nothing worse than a video that is shaking and jerky. Videos should be smooth and fluid and several gimbals are made for cellular phones. Prices vary from as low as $30 to top of the line around $200. Features may include a tripod stand, extension stick, charging dock, and face tracking mode.

 

TIP: DJI OM 5 Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer which has a 3-Axis phone gimbal, and it's small.

 

Secondly, invest in a full-size DSLR camera. I do travel with a DSLR camera, 5300 Cannon. I have several lenses to capture different lighting and distances. I love fisheye photos for the cool effect they produced before lens correction modification. I also use this camera to photograph my art for selling purposes. DSLR cameras today also have video features to add another angle when filming creation videos.

The photo above is using a fisheye lens of Gordon Beach in Tel Aviv, Israel. The curve of the horizon is really awesome. I am able to make it flat with a single click in Lightroom as seen below.

TIP: Shooting creation videos from two or more angles will greatly increase your demonstration options for final edits.

 

Third, invest in photo software. This comes in handy for both travel photos and art photos. I use Adobe. Lightroom keeps everything organized with minor editing. Photoshop is used for major corrections. Rush is used for editing videos for Youtube and reels on Instagram. I also shoot in RAW to have further editing and correction abilities. The photo to the left is from the abandoned Perrier estate Essene on Ambergris Caye. the iPhone picture did not even come close to capturing the beauty of this forgotten wonderland.

TIP: Newer cell phone cameras offer photo capture in a RAW format, but you will need to make the selection in the phone settings before photographing.

Most of all, don’t spend every moment behind the lens. Enjoy the adventure. Capture key moments, objects, and places. Even a day trip to the countryside or city next door will spark your creative juices. Sometimes I find new inspiration just driving to downtown Dallas and seeing all the new buildings that have been built over the past few years. Travel doesn't have to be far and break the bank.