Other days, it is the last thing I feel like doing (always a good time to do my accounts!).

I’ve learnt with time, that there are a number of ways I can recharge my creativity. Those ways include:

1. Changing my visual surroundings is a great way of getting me visually excited again. It can be as simple as walking / riding down a road I have never been down before, or taking a trip to some place new.

2. Getting out of my comfort zone and shooting a subject which is totally new to me, definitely gets my photo mojo going.

3. Reading and looking at great photography, both past and present.

It is this last point, which brings me to the book, Face to Face: Ocean Portraits.

A book such as this, really gets me inspired. This book combines two things I really love in life – photography and the ocean.

For me, this type of book is like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. Turning the pages and being presented with stunning photography, both old and new, complete with the back story about the subject, is a real reminder of my love for photography.

Examining the photos; reverse engineering how they were shot; studying the nuance’s of the subjects…it all helps in sparking my own photographic ideas. In short – a book like this makes me want to grab my camera, walk out the door and go shoot something.

As for this book, it is produced by Polarworld Publishing. They are a boutique publishing house with an amazing catalogue of books. The first book I purchased from them, was Face to Face: Polar Portraits. Like Ocean Portraits, it is a stunning book mixing beautiful portraiture from the Arctic and Antarctica with informative text and a look at past and present day photographic techniques.

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Comment on Facebook

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Total inspiration.

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“To be honest, I’m not a big fan of civilisation”

Jeff Johnson in a recent interview in Surfer Magazine.

I would have to echo Jeff’s comments, especially when it comes to living in a place like Bangkok. Give me the wide open spaces of Antarctica or the Arctic any day.

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One of the things I really like about the WPP contest is that working photographers can enter bodies of work that haven’t been published. While any photographer can publish a body of work on their own site, gaining a wider audience is the name of the game.

Below are some of my favourites from the 2010 WPP contest:

Sports Action First Prize Singles | A true decisive moment with stunning composition and all the elements of cricket.

Sports Action First Prize Stories | Fantastic sequence of imagery, with each image standing on its own, yet contributing to the entire story. Some incredible points of view here.

Sports Actions Second Prize Stories | Great composition and subject matter. Craig Golding has been producing outstanding sports imagery for a long time now.

Nature Second Prize Singles | Amazing depth and perspective. I want this on my wall.

Nature First Prize Stories | Paul Nicklen South Georgia series clearly shows his depth as one of the top polar photographers in the world.

CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT - Contemporary Issues Third Prize Stories | Slaughterhouse is probably my favourite. The composition is really something in this series and the subject matter is compelling.

These are just my favourites. There is plenty of great photography in the results. Make sure you spend some time having a look.

Congratulations to all the winners. The bar gets higher each year.

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