Can dinner give you a creative kick in the pants?

In the winter, after business has slowed, and when the weather is crappy many of us tend to get in a creative funk (as noted eloquently a couple of years ago by Photographer Zack Arias).  Inspiration seems hard to find in the dull rainy days of  January.  My summer work is long gone, my winter ski photography season is not up to speed, and I have a lot of time to sit around the office, and worry about how I'm not getting anything productive done .

Last year was better, the Winter Olympics were here, and there was lots of cool and interesting work for an architectural photographer.  This year, not so much.  I have been spending my time working on a website re-vamp, organizing photo archives, getting offended over taxes and budgets, but not shooting, or doing anything else creative really.

But this isn't really a post about photography.  Today I'm just talking about inspiration.

I was driving home from approving some test prints from "the LAB" in Vancouver, thinking about how miserable the weather was and listening to the CBC.  About half way home a documentary piece came on the radio.  It was about the origin of pasta in Italy, recordings of Italian Mamas talking about making pasta by hand, and making fun of North American macaroni and cheese.  They were talking about making sauces, and using a few simple ingredients to create the best meals.  I'm a huge pasta fan, and soon my mouth was watering.

It reminded me of when I was in Italy a few years ago, and I had quite possibly the best restaurant meal of my life, home made Gnocchi Pomodoro.  It was simple, elegant, and delicious.  I was in a tiny restaurant, which in all fairness was actually just over the border in the Italian part of Switzerland, in a place called San Nazzaro.  This part of Switzerland pretty much is Italy, but with better chocolate for desert.  I was in a tiny, quaint little restaurant they call a "Grotto".  The place literally had 4 tables for two, that's it.  It was like eating in someones living room, and the service was like they had know you forever too.

Back to reality, I was driving a curvy mountain road in the sleet, slush and snow.  But I was inspired now, I wanted that meal again. I wanted that delicious hand made experience. I wanted some Gnocchi Pomodoro!  I have never made gnocchi pomodoro, but that wasn't going to stop me now. I pulled into the grocery store on the way home and picked up some roma tomatoes, some herbs ans spices, an onion, and some fresh but packaged gnocchi (best I could do on short notice).  By this time I was excited, I skimmed some recipes on the interweb, and got to work.

I grilled the tomatoes, chopped the spices, boiled the pasta, and assembled a very respectable and yummy replica of my great italian meal.  I queued up an episode of Mad Men (which inspires me in many ways) and felt the need to enjoy my gnocchi with a cocktail.  It was awesome.

Here's the lesson I learned:  Inspiration is everywhere.  If you are focusing to hard on trying to come up with inspiration for photography (or web design, or video, or story ideas, or anything)  you can easily miss everything else that is going on.  I didn't wake up and plan to get excited about making dinner, but it happened when I least expected it.  Today someone else's inspiration (to produce a radio piece about pasta) inspired me to try something new, and now I will apply my new experience to what I do in the future.  If you drink in the experience and passion of others, and combine it with your own you can find inspiration anywhere, even in your dinner.

Once I started cooking, my internal photographer took over, and so I have images to share.

Here is my un-authentic, but quite good recipe for...

Rustic Gnocchi Pomodoro (feeds 2)

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 - palm sized roma tomatoes
• 1 - small onion
• some - mushrooms (I used white button shrooms, but get creative)
• Basil, Oregano, Parsley - put in what you like, I like lots
• Salt and pepper
• Olive Oil
• Gnocchi (I used a package of soft fresh gnocchi I got form the grocery store, or if you are really inspired, make your own!)

GET COOKING!

1. Slice the 6 tomatoes in half and place them on a cooking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with Olive oil, and bake in the over at 375° for about 40 minutes.  If you find tomato seeds too bitter, take the seeds out before roasting.
2. Finely chop the onions and sweat them in a pan until they are clear
3. Finely chop the mushrooms and add them when the onions are ready (I like to add a bit of wine to de-glaze the pan, and cover to soften the onions and shrooms)
4. When your tomatoes are ready, put a pot of water on for the gnocchi, add a small handful of sea salt to the water.
5. Take the tomatoes out to the oven and carefully peel off the skins, they should com off quite easily. (careful, they're hot!)
6. Add the tomatoes and some chopped herbs, and a dash of salt and pepper to the onions and mushrooms, smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and simmer.
7. When you water is boiling, add the gnocchi, when it floats, it is ready
8. Strain the gnocchi and add to the pot of sauce, and stir.
9. Serve hot with some grated parm, or pecorino cheese, and some snippings of basil.
10. Enjoy with your favourite person, or beverage... or both!

A while back I finally got a chance to get out ans shoot with my 10 stop neutral density filter.  It allows me to take photos with 30 second - 2 minute long exposures in daylight.  you can see my first attempts in the original post here.

I bought this filter to experiment with, and to use for personal work, photos that might end up as art, or shots that might be just for me.  I had fun experementing, and was pretty happy with the results.  I left the filter in my most used gear bag, and forgot about it for a while.

When my brother asked me for a ride to the Vancouver Airport a few weeks ago, I grabbed my gear, remembering that the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Speed Skating Oval had recently been completed near the airport, and was supposed to be a unique and spectacular building.  I thought I'd take a look at it after dropping my bro at YVR.  Great Architecture always intrigues me, that's why I became an Architectural Photographer.  Sometimes I just go out and look at buildings, sometimes I photograph them for fun, even if it's not a work assignment.  When I arrived at the Olympic Oval, the conditions could not have been better.  The light was in just the right place, still quite low in the sky, but with a bright daytime look.  The blue sky and clouds mirrored the brilliant colours of the ice blue architecture, accented with orange wooden beams for a dash of contrast.

In a case like this, I have to take photos, I don't have a choice.  It's like an addiction, looks.....soooo.....goood,........must.....take......photos....!  It's the same feeling that would compel a tourist to take 2 dozen shots of a beautiful sunset, even though each one looks just like the one before.  It just looks so good.

I took about 150 frames, wandering around, exploring angles, different lenses, from far and near, low and high.  I was just about to pack up and move on, when I remembered the 10 stop ND filter in my gear bag ( I use a Lowe Pro Photo Trekker in case you were wondering - Free plug for Lowe Pro cause their stuff is so good, and has a lifetime warranty)  It was a pretty windy day, so the clouds and trees were moving quickly, if I made a long exposure I would probably get a unique look to the architecture image. And did I?  Yes. 

Now, I'm not the first to take a daylight long exposure of a building, and I won't be the last.  But, what I did was add a technique to my photography style quiver.  I learned something new by experimenting, and applied it to my personal style.  I really love the results, they add an bit of artistic flair to a standard assignment result.  I will experiment more with the technique, and refine it, learn how to use it as a tool to provide my architectural clients with a better, more unique product.  I will definitely use it on assignments in the future, for the right clients.

The take away here? No matter what your discipline, your style is not static, it grows and evolves.  If you try something new, and it feels right, then go with it.  Experiment, learn, apply, repeat.

I have been playing around with some time lapse photography in my spare time. Trial and error and online learning.  As an architectural photographer, it's something I could see offering to my clients for the right exterior projects.  This one was just for fun, and is far from perfect, so I played around with some "Tilt-Shift" depth of field effects.  Let me know what you think in the comments. Don't forget, if your connection can handle it, click the HD button to see it in the best quality.

The time lapse sequence was photographed the Sasquatch Music Festival, this year on May 24th.  It's a shot of the Main Stage at The Gorge Amphitheater, in Washington State.  Probably the best place in the entire world to see an outdoor concert.  (more...)

Photographing Architecture is a big part of what i do, and seeing new and creative architecture regularly gets me excited for the future.  There has been a real move recently towards increased housing density.  Vancouver, BC is one of the most vibrant cities in the world because of its density.  I have been to cities like Dallas, and recently Phoenix that are practically abandoned on a Sunday, because there is very little residential housing in the core of the city.  Vancouver on the other hand, is always alive. Before I lose the point, the trend in residential, since no one is making any more land has been to go up.  This does some great things. Aside from creating metropolitan vibrance, is keeps people living closer to where they work, shop, and play, reducing the need for transportation.  It does mean however that more supplies need to be shipped in from out of town.

photo from http://www.verticalfarm.com

Several innovative architectural designs offer a vertical solution to the urban food supply.  The one above is "The Living Tower" designed by SOA Architects in France. (more designs by other architects here)  Essentially it's a farm in a high rise, using clean energy to grow fresh food for the city centre, reducing transportation costs for produce, eliminating growing seasons, and even cleaning city waste water to provide fresh clean drinking water a s a by-product.  Imagine a farmers market on the ground floor, where you can buy hydroponically grown fresh food that was harvested 15 minutes ago. Not to mention it's an architectural photographer's dream!

While the logistics are not simple, and solutions are more complicated than producing a great looking rendering, it's the innovative thinking that gets me excited.  Solving problems through original architectural design could someday revolutionize the way we live, interact, and even eat.  Personally I'm looking forward to seeing, eating from, and hopefully photographing an amazing vertical farm in the future!

Checkout http://www.verticalfarm.com for more information.