Picture It - Lynne Garner

As a serial blogger (I contribute to this blog, The Picture Book Den, Awfully Big Blog Adventure, The Hedgehog Shed and Fuelled By Hot Chocolate) I was finding it increasingly difficult to source images to support my posts. So at the beginning of the year I decided I'd reconnect with my camera and start to create my own library of images. So for the last few months I've tried to keep an eye out for things I could use as a visual in my posts. Here are just a few of my images so far:


Possible use:
Time  - making time to write 
or how to deal with time in your story  

Possible use: 
A post about reaching a dead end in your story
or feeling you have come to a dead end with your writing

Possible use:
Perhaps a post about getting bogged down with your plot
or making your characters 'journey' more difficult

Possible use:
Maybe a post on finding a new direction for your writing
or perhaps for your character

Possible use:
Possibly a post about giving your character a choice of paths
or finding a new path as a writer 

I've really enjoyed this process, for two reasons. The first being I now have a great excuse for taking my camera out with me. Secondly, I've discovered as I'm looking for images I'm also being inspired with new ideas for both my blog posts and my stories. 

So if you have a camera (or a camera on your phone) keep an eye out for possible images and take a quick snap. You never know this process may inspire you as well. 

Comments

Chris Longmuir said…
You've given me something to think about, Lynne. I never thought of using my camera this way!
julia jones said…
I don't have a phone that will take pictures and was so slow understanding how easy a point-an-shoot digital camera is. The discipline of producing a monthly blog with pictures (thank you Susan Price) has made me change. Nothing as imaginative as your images Lynne BUT (a) I was able to use my digital camera to take photos of all the decaying 100 year old illustrations I needed for Fifty years in the Fiction Factory and (b) the photos I took completely casually on last year's sailing holiday turn out to be sufficiently good quality to be used in this month's Yachting Monthly magazine - and I can be PAID for them.
madwippitt said…
Liked the footpath pic - did you bump into any lost and confused ramblers? Or have they just given up on finding their way home and gone feral?
Susan Price said…
Feral ramblers - I love that idea.
Lynne - those are some fantastic images!
I was put onto digital cameras by my 77 year old aunt, who now owns four of five different digital cameras. She and my partner get into excited discussions of zoom, ISO and pixel numbers.
I just stick with my little point and snap, which I can carry in my pocket. I use it a lot for blogs.
Lynne Garner said…
Julia - great to read about your holiday shots. It's amazing how you can turn a few casual shots into something that can pay. Two years ago a few shots I'd taken of the dog after her operations appeared in Dogs Magazine.

Madwippitt - As with Sue I love the idea of feral ramblers. Sadly I didn't come across any but it was clear to see who had fought their way through the mud because they were in mud up to around their ankles.

Sue - You can get some fab shots on a point and shoot. And between you and me all my shots all get a little TLC in Photoshop.
Bill Kirton said…
A great idea, Lynne, and I bet, as readers of the blog looked at each, ideas for stories started nudging into their minds. That's certainly what happened as I read it. Wouldn't it be interesting to post just one of them and have people submit 500-word flash fiction stories inspired by it. Great displacement activity.
Lynne Garner said…
Bill - you read my mind. I've been out taking shots of things left lying around for my next blog post to see if it stirred any stories. Wasn't thinking they'd write 500 words but just what the images 'said' to them.