There's no doubting that this summer's Olympics were inspiring. Their tagline was "Inspire a generation", which I hope they did. Personally speaking, I don't find Olympians inspiring. I find it almost weird, them wanting to sacrifice so much just to be the best. I respect that they do it though, I guess.

What I do find inspiring and what I really respect is when people have a natural and creative talent. Over the last couple of weeks I've been amazed by a couple of examples of creativity. Not least because they're both by people I know.

The first case is my step-daughter's boyfriend who is currently at university studying animation. During his summer holiday he's been working on the following animated clip to accompany a song he chose.

The music isn't my taste, but the animation is amazing. Hopefully it's a sign that he has a bright future.

The other example is by a friend who does video compilations of his kids. Here's an example of one of a trip to the Olympics this summer.

This clip I found inspiring, as I knew, while watching it, that I too wanted to make the same type of video of my own life.

Deep within me  there's a creative person who needs an outlet. Often that's through my work. But then I can go long periods where work doesn't allow me any creative expression. This is why I need a creative hobby; something that produces an end product I can look at and feel pride in knowing I made it.

I've since invested(?) in a professional grade DSLR capable of HD 1080p video. Here's my first attempt at gelling together its output in to a meaningful montage (harder than you may think):

As well as allowing my creative side an outlet these videos serve as future memories. A video says so much more than a photo ever can.