Sometimes it is hard to know what to shoot that will be new and/or different. We tend to get in ruts and just shoot the same thing over and over again because it works. That may be okay for a strictly commercial venture (but it can soon get old). Or maybe we just find ourselves with a model in front of us and a set, but no idea what to do to make use of that set.
What I often do, is to go through my old files of photo sessions I've had and look at grab shots, outtake shots, idea shots, etc to see if I can get ideas for the next shoot. I often annotate such shots, and print out a copy, so I can use it to direct the model. Following is an example, of what I call a concept or idea shot. It was something I was playing around with on the set, but didn't have time to carry to completion (there were three models, and I had to get a certain set of photos of each). But during the shots used to get the lighting setup and the WB set, etc, I took this one:
As you can see it had a dirty mirror and no real point of focus. So I annotated things I'd need to pay attention to when I actually use the idea later.
I also get photo ideas from old books. For example, I usually carry a copy of the Gil Elvgren book that has copies of all his pinup illustration. There are hundreds of fantastic ideas that you can adapt and use.
Where do you get your photo ideas? Do you have some concept shots you're thinking about or working on? Share them in this thread.
Cheers,
rfs