Yesterday I went for a much-needed walk on the desert. There’s a high spot out there where I can see everything. I can see Mesa County Landfill equipment; the Bookcliffs and Mt. Garfield; the Grand Mesa; most of the time, the San Juans in the distance; the Uncompahgre Plateau; red rock sloping from the Monument to Fruita; and the lightness and darkness of the canyons of the Gunnison River as it winds west. It’s such a nice place to be.

To shoot this, I used that software for iPhone called 360° Panorama. It’s a very cool software and Rick Castellini posted some really cool shots he got in Arizona using this software. They were so interesting and fun, I had to get it for myself. I just now started playing with it, though.

Yesterday (Tuesday, January 26, 2011), I also had an opportunity to watch a webcast interview of Trey Ratcliff, a pioneer in popularizing HDR photography. It was such an interesting interview, wherein he revealed he has no formal training in photography, that he shoots what he loves and posts what he likes. It was inspiring to think that he had no formal training and he gets such great photos. He uses lots post-processing to complete his “art.” I like that a lot.

I recommend Trey Ratcliff’s website for eye candy, inspiration, and HDR tutorials. He has taken beautiful pictures from all over the world and displays them there. He also updates his site almost daily with new photographs. I believe his last major trip was to China in the summer of 2010, and I know from following him a bit on his blog, his adventures were interesting and varied. I could barely believe some of the landscape he photographed. Case in point: I Found Pandora from Avatar. This one captured my imagination the day he posted it. He’s posted some exciting offerings since. Look around! It’s amazing.

PhotoNetCast presented this interview and it is episode #56. It has not yet been posted. I haven’t viewed other offerings at this site yet, but they look very interesting and informative. If you’re like me, an inexperienced and timid photographer, you might find inspiration in Trey Ratcliff’s take on his creative process.

Anyway, yesterday was fun because I had, and took advantage of, time to look around and get some inspiration.

I need to make every day as inspiring.