First sign that you're running low on photo inspiration: you start taking pictures of your shoes.
This is by no means an original idea, I've seen it done several different ways, but the concept is enthralling (not to mention the picture itself). I don't consider this to be a spectacular work of art, it lacks originality and content, it is not a technically challenging image nor is it a photo that takes your breath away. If nothing else, it is simply the absurdity of the photo itself that sets it apart as an image of interest.
When taken at face value, it is a dull image, containing nothing more than two tennis shoes, a shadow, and a bunch of gravel. Spectacular. Yet it is not the elements of the picture alone that bring interest to the image, but rather the concepts behind it, the mystery, the intrigue, and puzzlement that the viewer experiences upon discovering that the owner of the shadow has no mass, that the shoes, seemingly solitary in the scene, are in actuality worn by a being unseen by the naked eye.
Such is the beauty of photography. It is not about elements alone, but about story. One can take the most mundane subjects and bring them to life in one click of the shutter. So what makes a good image? Is it all about composition, lighting, subject, aperture values, etc.? Or is there something deeper to an image that catches a viewer's eye, something beyond the obvious?
So this week's answer to making your photos more interesting? Take pictures of invisible people! ;-)
