hello lovely blackbirds, how are you doing today?  i am twiggs from {…a place for twiggs} and i am so happy to be here!  eadaoin asked me a few weeks ago to be one of the lovely guests to write & share something about creativity & how do i manage to keep creative. so… as you guess this was not an easy thing for me to do.  why?  because creativity is one of those things that can not be told to appear at 9am every morning.

for starters i did not consider myself as a creative person for most of my life.  i knew i had some ideas, i enjoyed doing things that involved images, but was not even into photography, though i had two cameras while i was growing up.  it all started when my father (not the real one, you see i have two fathers & two mothers, long story & no, i am not adopted!) gave me a canon when i was spending x-mas in ny with them back in 2007. and a few months later i registered on flickr.  and a few months after that i upgraded to a pro account.  my sweet mr twiggs offered me last x-mas my first lomo camera (i am not sure you are familiar with lomography concept, but if you are not, you should really give it a try!), which lead me to film, and a couple of months after that i started finding my way on photoshop & lightroom.

from then on it has been a pure delight exploring my skills, learning from other talented photographers i happily met on flickr and trying to figure out my way in photography, what i wanted to share with all the others that could be different.  i believe that i have yet an entire world to explore & learn. 

(the flying seaguls)

so, let’s get to the point?  how my creativity appears to me?  well, i would have to say that my creativity is like my holga camera (the lomo one), it appears only when it wants to.  though i have one major rule…, ok make it two, and these are the following:

1. always (and this is for real!) carry your camera with you (and i would happily carry them both but the holga is a little bit big);

2. do not force your creativity… empty your head, release it from any other things that may be bugging you.

(collection of blue bottles)

one of my favourite things is to wander around lisbon, where i live, and have both of my cameras with me… and alone. i am all about social gathering & love taking walks with mr twiggs, but when i am alone… there’s a different feeling… i can almost taste it on my mouth. however from time to time, i ask him for his help when he is around & i have this idea on my head that i really must try.

and then? after taking the pictures?  well… i use photoshop & lightroom… but things do not work as great as we wish for sometimes.  i try to respect that every time.  i sit on my living room table, also where we eat every day, and start working on them… often upload them into both programs, and start working… sometimes the result i wish for appears right away… some other times it is like trial & error for quite a while.  and as i am a night person i could work on this through the night… but i am also a working person, so continue to work all night long is not very smart unless the day after is already weekend. but what bugs me is that sometimes i am in this trial & error thing for a while… and then almost when going to bed, something hits me. and the results appear… just like magic.

 (mrs olive green)

oh, i almost forgot… i also carry a notebook with me!  this is my favourite notebook and i write everything on it… even my schedule for my blog, by hand… all the ideas, everything i see that can be inspirational or be good for what i do in the blog, i write it down.

and this is about it.  i am not sure i did my very best in sharing tips & ideas about creativity, but i think that it comes down to this:

1. always (and this is for real!) carry your camera with you (and i would happily carry them both but the holga is a little bit big);

2. do not force your creativity… empty your head, release it from any other things that may be bugging you;

3. wander around and do your favourite things to clear your mind & feel some pleasure in the smallest things. having a rested mind often helps with creativity;

4. take notes… &

5. enjoy the magic when the creativity flows in your head.

have a sweet day my dear blackbirds!

twiggs