Next month I will be embarking on a two year long journey to obtain my Masters of Fine Arts in Electronic and Photographic Media. This is sure to be an interesting chapter in my life, and I am immensely excited about all of the possibilities that stand in front of me at the moment.

As I have written about in the past, I have a number of key concepts that I wish my work to revolve around. These are mostly internal things that I dream up and attempt to realize in my work as an artist. But, the difficult component of my work will always be trying to find the core subject matter--the story.

I have thought long and hard about this one. I have done my research and searched for ideas. I have talked with people and looked in the oddest places for that spark that I need to get a project of this magnitude going.

I haven’t quite found it yet. But, I am not too concerned. I know that once things get rolling I will come up with a project that will develop over time into something that I am hopefully very proud of in the end.

But, how do I go about doing this? I find a good deal of photographers wonder these same things. Where do I begin? How do I get started? What should I be making photographs of today?

Well, each person will have to answer these questions on their own, but I do have some tips to offer. Below I am listing five sources of inspiration that I call upon on a regular basis. I am sure there are many more I haven’t mentioned here, but these are my top five.

Get off your computer -- I cant stress this enough. Sometimes I find myself glued to my computer for days on end--even weeks. Take a break from learning the latest Aperture trick and reading your favorite blogs (unless it’s this one ) and turn your computer off. That’s right, I am not talking about stepping away from your desk, or even putting it in sleep mode. I said turn that thing off, shut it down and let it cool for a while. Your computer needs some time to rest every once in a while, so give it a short vacation. Don’t turn it on for at least the rest of the day, and go do something else.

Go to the bookstore -- Peruse the art magazines at the bookstore. You can grab a cup of coffee and explore the store. But don’t “read,” just look at images. Try “Art in America “or “Aperture” (the magazines). Skip those photo magazines that have all the latest camera reviews and go for the big art magazines. Just skim through the pages and absorb the imagery. I like to pull a few books from the art or photography section as well. Retrospective books are great, just as long as they aren’t tutorial type books. Museums offer a pretty nice environment for this type of thing, but for some reason I just love to be able to sit with a coffee and flip through the pages. It’s very personal, and you don’t have to feel like you are trying to understand the art in front of you, while the security guard watches your every move.

Pick another medium -- It doesn’t always have to be photography. You would be surprised at how much you can increase your understanding of light and photography by drawing a sketch. Pick up some pencils and a nice pad, or some charcoal or whatever and give it a shot. Music, painting, sculpture, or even cooking will all do wonders for your creativity. What’s more is you wont be worried about what camera settings you are using or how you are going to back up your library after you import your cards. Just walk to a park and draw something.

Write -- I consider myself a photographer and a writer these days. Writing is one of those things I can do that helps me de-stress. It also does wonders for my creative “flow.” It doesn’t matter what you write, or what the purpose of the writing is. In fact, you really don’t need a purpose at all. But get some thoughts down on paper and then forget about it. Do this all the time, whenever you have spare time. Try and write something at least once a day.

Your old work -- I am constantly trying to move forward, but to do this I love to start by looking where I have been. One of my favorite tools for doing this these days is Aperture’s All Projects view. You can scan over all of your images in chronological order from the time you started shooting digitally. It’s a wonderful visual diary of your digital life. I also find myself breaking out old prints and slides and taking a walk down memory lane. It reminds me of simpler times when all I really cared about was trying to get an exposure right, or keep my lens in focus. It makes me excited to see how far I have come and at the same time it humbles me in a way that is really hard to describe. On occasion I find an image that I haven’t seen in years and decide to make a new print, and that is always a fun thing.

Well, I could go on and on here forever, but these are some of my favorites. If you find yourself in a creative rut these should do the trick, but even if you feel like things are working just fine, I highly recommend to do them anyway, prophylactically, as needed. Believe me, the side effects are well worth the benefits!