Inspiration: Aaron Nace
Name: Aaron Nace
Occupation: Photographer
Hey My name is Aaron Nace. I am a photographer and digital artist. I specialize in bringing the impossible to life through photos. While I do a lot of personal work, my company focuses on teaching other photographers and artists how to create images. It is quite often that someone will have great ideas, but just lack a little technical knowledge to make those ideas a reality.
I find inspiration for my art just about everywhere. I draw from personal experiences when thinking of concepts or ideas, but I have a little trick to making things interesting. Basically I start out with a random title, song or object. Then try to think of the weirdest thing possible involving that idea. once I have found what I feel to be weird enough, I bring it back to normalcy through some basic rules in creating an image. These Objects and rules are what guides me and makes me want to create better images. Here is a short list of things i love:
- Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
He makes the top of the list, as he started it all for me. Rembrandt worked in a time in which rules were not yet formed, he created the rules. He is the original painter of light and has a better understanding of light that any other painter I have ever seen. I have one tip to creating an amazing piece of art, try to do what Rembrandt did. Copy the lighting, composition, colors, tone, contrast, and you will have an amazing image every time. - Erwin Olaf
Erwin Olaf is my favorite modern photographer. He plays with emotion like Rembrandt plays with light. Erwin Olaf’s photos are all perfect. Erwin changed for me what photography could be. It is an amazingly hard thing to make an emotional piece of art out of a photograph, and he does it flawlessly and consistently. - Music
The music I listen to greatly influences my art. It seems most decent photographers i know have a love for music. Ansel Adams was a concert pianist. At the top of my list are Sigur Ros, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sarah, Rilo Kiley, Johnny Cash, Ratatat, Christopher O’Riley, The Shins, Nina Nastasia, Laura Veirs, Cat Power, Sia, Tilly and the Wall, and Iron & Wine. - Fashion
I studied Design and Fashion in University, and they both continue to play a large part in my life. I am often inspired by amazing clothes I see, and I believe firmly that the best way to ruin an image is to dress your suject in a graphic tee. Unless you are trying to sell graphic tees of course. - Lighting
One of my favorite parts about photography is lighting. A photo is nothing without it. Studying the light in other’s photographs is probably my dorkiest favorite pastime. This website breaks down light by great photographers, and is an awesome reference for anyone who is serious about creating images. - Humor
This is probably one of the harder subjects to nail down, but I try to create a bit of humor in just about all of my images. Sometimes more successfully than others. If I can make myself laugh when I look at one of my images, I am a happy boy. - Location
There are only so many photos that can be taken against a white backdrop. People do it because it draws attention to the subject nicely. They also do it because it means not leaving their studio, and even if they do leave they are just surrounded by the same thing every day. I battle with this constantly. This is why I use Photoshop and post processing to take my subjects to other places that might normally require a huge budget and a lot of planning. I can be in a rain forest in the morning and in Tokyo at night. - Trying new things
I will be the first to say that most new things I try I suck at. But as long as I enjoy the process of getting better and realize that i am learning, it is always worth it. Especially in art, people tend to stagnate because they get good at one thing then don’t do anything else because they will suck. It is important to me to not let the fear of being bad hold me back.
Fantastic Inspiration!