I live in Oregon, which is a grand place to be if you love nature. When I moved here 12 years ago everything was new, and everywhere I looked there was something exciting to photograph. But like just about everyone who has posted so far, over time I guess I've become more jaded from seeing the same things over and over. It's pretty depressing when you decide to drive around for a day looking for good photo opportunities, and then come home empty-handed, having found nothing to inspire snapping the shutter.
But though Donald dwells in inspiring Scotland (aren't we all enthralled by his images of the countryside?), I think he's hit the nail on the head with his thoughts about projects. For several years much of my photographic effort involved capturing images to go into a book that I was working on. But once it had been completed and published (link
here, for those who may be interested in looking at the photos inside), it became more of a struggle to find interesting things to shoot around the neighborhood. Not impossible--it still is Oregon, after all. But I think an interesting project can help put a guiding rudder onto the motivational ship, no matter where you are.