I often read about photographers who struggle to stay inspired. I can relate to this big time. Living in southern California provides endless opportunities for photographers, yet all too often I find myself struggling to find something “new” to photograph. After living here for so long, everything (even incredible things like oceans and mountains) can, at times, seem the same. Obviously, this is a motivation or perspective issue more than anything. Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day walking around the beautiful city of Santa Monica. I was excited at the prospect of finding something interesting to photograph. I had my faithful 5D MII with me and hoped to capture something unique. Being that it’s now mid-summer and the weather is nearly perfect, Santa Monica was absolutely packed with people. I mean packed! The Santa Monica pier was so crowded that you could hardly take a step without getting to know someone personally. Even those swimming in the surrounding ocean were approaching aquatic gridlock. The downtown streets and restaurants were the same – wall to wall people. Just about the time I had given up finding something to photograph that didn’t have 83 tourists standing in front of it, I looked skyward and noticed this cool formation of birds gliding by. A quick snap of my shutter and I had the inspirational image I went looking for.