Learning how to find your inner motivation for photography can be a tricky thing. In fact, most people never really think about it. Honesty, I think it's one of the most important things you can understand to help guide and improve your photography.

Here's why.

Different Photographers Have Different Types of Motivation

If you listened to the podcast (of course you did), you'll understand that Lee and I are quite opposite in our approach to photography. She's an extrovert and I'm an introvert.

Yet she likes to work alone in her photography. It's something private for her and she gets her best reward when she has her own space to think without anyone else getting in the way.

I'm an introvert. Oddly enough, I really enjoy photography for collaboration and social engagement. Perhaps that's why I'm drawn to photography. I've learned that I can't create the images in my head without collaborating with others. That means reaching out, developing relationships and finding people who can help me develop the crazy ideas in my head.

More often than not, I discover that we can all work to create something better than any of us would do on our own. That gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

Why Do You Need to Find Your Inner Motivation?

If you think about it, there are really only two kinds of motivation – positive and negative. Put another way, pain or pleasure.

I'm of the opinion that photography should't be a pain, though sometimes it frustrates me. When that happens, I start to question why I'm even bothering with photography at all.

Photography shouldn't be a pain in the neck.

So what makes the difference between knowing when photography is fun or when photography is painful? In my experience, photography becomes painful when:

* We don't know what we're doing

* We don't know how to do what we want

* We don't know what we want

Take a good look at that list. Perhaps you have more to add to the list, but there's something in common with each of those pain points.

Ignorance.

That's because ignorance is painful. Knowing that ignorance causes my frustration, I try to eliminate anything unknown in my photography projects.

Why Are You a Photographer?

Let's start at a very basic level. Ask yourself why are you a photographer? What is it about you that makes photography something enjoyable or interesting?

Lee mentioned on the podcast that she's always been one to express herself visually. She's an artist and started drawing at a young age. Over time, she learned how to visualize her compositions and create it. Photography became an extension of that inner motivation to create something visual.

She started getting interested in photography to capture memories, as many of us do. However, her desire to improve her photography changed her initial concepts from portraits to other types of photography.

That wasn't without some angst along the way. One day Lee was taking some travel photos and Tové made a heartbreaking comment.

You used to take photos of me.

Lee felt horrible when she heard that, and she never saw it coming. She used to take photos of Tové all the time. As a young girl, Tové used to photo-bomb other people's pictures because she just thought anyone with a camera was trying to take a photo of her.

Meanwhile, Lee's photography evolved as she realized there was potential for art in addition to capturing family memories.

Inspiration is Not Motivation

There are a lot of photographers who claim that they want to inspire you. Trust me, that's impossible. It's a nice sentiment, but nobody can inspire you.

Inspiration is an internal process based upon a trigger. You and I may view the same photo. Whether we're both inspired or not has nothing to do with the photo, but rather with our own motivations. The trigger may cause us to feel something or act creat...