What’s Inspiring Me Right Now || #2
Pasley Island, British Columbia, Canada || summer of 2018
Oh hey guys! Long time no talk. If you’ve seen my most recent video, you would know that I took this summer off of work to enjoy my very first full summer in Canada in 6 years. Isn’t that insane? I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend it up at my cabin on the Sunshine Coast with my extended family. Thanks to it being quite an isolated place in some aspects, it gave me plenty of time to reflect and become inspired again by some incredible people and projects. This summer has brought me back to a more creative place, so I thought I would share with you guys the people who’s content helped me get there.
Anna Koliadych. (DearAnnArt)
If you guys follow me on instagram, than you would know that I picked up watercolour painting this summer, and I have been absolutely loving it. One of my New Years resolutions was to get a hobby that had nothing to do with work, so I could have a creative outlet that didn’t face the pressure of trying to make it profitable. Pasley was the perfect place to do this, and I spent most mornings painting whilst siting enjoying the sun. I even started a painting instagram! It’s through my explore page on IG looking for inspiration of what to paint next that I found Anna. Her page is filled with easy step by step tutorials that have made learning how to watercolour so much easier for me. I was so inspired by her that I went on to buying her online classes. They were so affordable, and I can genuinely say that they have made me such a better watercolour artist, and have made my understanding of layering my paints so much clearer to create dynamic paintings. You can see some examples of things I’ve painted from her class here and here if you’re curious. I’m right now participating in her #dearannart_autumn challenges over on my painting instagram and it’s been so much fun. So if you’re looking to get into watercolouring, I highly recommend checking out her instagram and her classes!
Nikonos project.
Two of my biggest loves in this world are shooting on film and the ocean. With that being said, my new obsession with the Nikonos Project should come at no surprise. So what exactly is the Nikonos Project? Between the years 1963-2001 Nikon manufactured a fully submersible 35 mm camera called the Nikonos. The Nikonos Project owns a small collection of these cameras that they lend out to photographers all around the world to bring together a collaborative collective of film shots. The photography coming out of these artists is incredible. I first heard about the project through one of my favourite photographers Andrew Kearns, who has a beautifully series on his instagram highlights using the Nikonos camera. Ever since then I have been stalking the #nikonosproject hashtag, in awe of all the beautiful surf photography coming out of it. I have always had a dream to take a year off in my life, go to Hawaii or Costa Rica, and spend everyday learning to surf. Discovering this project has definitely fuelled that fantasy of mine. I am also looking into maybe purchasing a Nikonos of my own, as I think it would be such a cool thing to have when up at my cabin or on holiday at a warm destination.
charlotte turner.
Is this cheating if I have the same person twice for my only two “What’s Been Inspiring Me” posts? Maybe, but I don’t really care. As I’m sure all of you know, Charlotte is one of my best friends who I met through social media and lives down in Auckland, New Zealand. Her blog is always one that I love and get constant inspiration from, but the reason she get’s a spot on this list again is because she has just recently started vlogging, and I am so incredibly stoked that she is. I recently made a video about my frustrations with social media, numbers, and feeling pressure to make a certain type of content. This summer I took a step away from YouTube because I was in this funk of anxiety over creating videos. Her starting to vlog is exactly what I needed to get me out of it! To see her come into the game unapologetically just for the love of YouTube and nothing else has reignited my love and desire to create content and has reminded me why I started my YouTube channel in the first place. After seeing her pick up her camera, it definitely inspired me to pick mine up again and start creating more vlogs.
Francesca Page.
I feel like we’ve got a bit of a theme going on right now with painting and oceans! I just had to include Francesca on this list because her artwork genuinely blows my mind. Francesca is a A 22 years old scientific illustrator who specializes in marine biology. How. Fucking. Cool. Is. That. I discovered her work through her #200Sharks project, which she started after discovering that Every 60 seconds it is estimated that 200 sharks are lost due to man kind. She is working on painting 200 different types sharks to create a collective to honour that and educate people on beauty and diversity of this species, and I just think that is so cool. As a divemaster myself, I resonate with her feelings of the ocean being her underwater playground, and wanting to share the beauty and magnificence of it with the world. Her paintings are so incredibly detailed, and you can feel her love for what she does oozing out of her work. Right now, she is also working on a project called Archive Blue, where her next 100 paintings will be a new ocean creature all suggested/commissioned by her followers. I love seeing artists collaborate with their audience, and I personally ordered a painting myself the second she announced it. She’s one of those instagrams that I actively go out of my way to make sure I check her stories and posts everyday so that I can see what she’s creating, and I highly recommend you check her out.
Henny tha bizness.
Earlier this year, I got myself an 12.9 inch iPad Pro in hopes that I could use it to streamline my work flow and potentially lessen my load of stuff I bring with me whilst travelling. This was hands down the best purchase I think I have ever made, and I have absolutely loved having it with me whilst on the road. But with that being said, I still have felt like I was facing so many limitations when it came to editing video… until I discovered Henny Tha Bizness’ youtube channel. Ever since this video of his on how to edit video on the iPad came up in my suggested feed on youtube, I have been binge watching all of his videos on the iPad. Henny is a grammy award winning music producer, so he also has tons of videos on producing music on the iPad as well. But his tutorials on Lumafusion and file management in general on the iPad has completely reignited my love for my device and I have been exclusively editing everything on it recently. So if you, like me, have an iPad and are wanting to take your workflow to the next level, or even if you are thinking about buying an iPad, I highly recommend checking out Henny’s youtube channel.
sony alpha.
I have a confession to make… when Sony’s full frame mirrorless cameras first stepped on the scene back in 2013 I turned my nose up at them. I was a Canon fan girl to the bottom of my heart. I remember adamantly saying that whilst they were powerful in their own regards, they didn’t compare to my Canon 5D III and I would never switch over and I continued to believed that… until Sony released the A7R III at the end of last year. Since then, I have been toying with the idea of making the switch over to a mirrorless set up. The features offered are comparable to the Canon 1Dx II but at half the price and more than half the size. You can probably start to guess why it’s become a favourite of travel photographers all around the world. Sony Alpha’s instagram I think speaks for itself, and every day I look at it and feel inspired to want to pick up my camera and start shooting. Since following them, I have been pouring over as many Sony Ambassadors as I can, looking inside their kits, watching reviews, and trying to learn as much as I can. Their sensors render colours in such an incredible way that I can instantly tell when someone is shooting on Sony. The cameras also inspire me to want to shoot better and more cinematic videos. Whilst I haven’t made the switch yet, you might just see me do so in the near future. Typically my inspiration comes from the art I see people creating, but sometimes it’s a tool that is the driving inspiring force… this camera is one of those tools.
Those are just some of the things that have been inspiring me recently this summer, and I hope you can find some inspiration from these as well. But I would love to know, who (or what) is currently inspiring you? let me know in the comments below.