Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Before I got too enveloped by some domestic distractions over the past week or two (moving my home office, caring for a sick dog and tending to my pregnant wife) I read a great post by Jay Goodrich titled “Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?” I’ve had this blog post open for a couple weeks and I’ve reread it and rewatched the video numerous times.

Clearly if I kept this blog post open on my computer for this long it struck a nerve. Laughably it struck quite an odd nerve in me too. As a child of the 70’s I wasn’t exposed to 600 cable channels and simple things like the advent of color photography and color movies captured my imagination. With no video games at hand I often watched TV with an interest in a variety of old movies & sitcoms. At the time there seemed to be an equal number of black & white shows on TV as there were color programs. Between this and looking at old photo albums the world seemed to magically turn color only a short time before I was born. The more contemporary programs I’d watch were mostly sports focused and fed a youthful addiction to memorizing baseball & football team rosters and stats.

What does this have to do with Jay’s post? My “child of the 70’s” brain instantly thought of two programs that inspired me early on and later have surfaced in my photography efforts. Any guesses to the programs?

ABC’s Wide World of Sports
Replace “sports” with “photography” and “athletic” with “photographic” in the opening sequence of this show, as seen in the video below, and you’ll step a little closer to my mindset and inspiration. Photography has always been a technical challenge, and for me a sport unto itself. Plus who can forget/love the classic quote “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. If you want to know what goes through my head when I get a shot or miss a shot the imagery of that sequence is what plays in my head every time.

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
As if I haven’t dated myself enough, most of my earliest exploration to the world of wildlife was through National Geographic magazines and books. When I first caught a glimpse of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom I was hooked. It was fascinating to see 1) diversity of animals 2) wild animals in context to man made objects (ex. a Rhino slamming into jeep/rangerover) and 3) the active efforts of conservation.  My interest in exploring nature (studying ecosystems, understanding animal behavior, even learning about geography, etc.) can be traced back to programs such as this.

By today’s standards these shows would hardly grab the attention of most youth, but back in the day they were inspiring. Little did I know that they’d inspire so deeply or for so long.

So to pass on Jay’s question...

Where does your inspiration come from?

On a side note: I received a nod in a recent 50 Amazing Nature Photography Blogger posting. Worthy of checking out for other great sites.

Technorati Tags: photography, inspiration, sports, wildlife, 70’s, television, Wide World of Sports, Wild Kingdom