The best way for me to dive further into photography or just refresh my creative mojo is to get into the calm, curated space of a fine art museum. There's so many wonderful photo driven shows around the country now, many of them coming down Monday. So bring your sketchpad and get lost in some remarkable images that will inspire your own photography.

There are contemporary and historical artists showing all over the country in photo shows right now. Often museums have a free night once per month, so do a little research and get yourself out into the art. Fine art photographs can teach us so much about subject, content and form. I love bringing a sketch pad and attempting to analyze why the photos that really grab me do. What is going on with the composition? How is the lighting? Is there anything from this photograph I can incorporate into my own work? It's surprising how many ideas have been reinterpreted and reinvented within the history of photography. What a joy to bear witness and fill up on images.

Here are some current shows worth checking out:

• Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life: International Center for Photography, New York City

• The Shaping of New Visions: Photography, Film and Photo Book: NY MOMA

• Herb Ritts, LA Style: Getty Museum, Los Angelels

• 70 Years: 70 Photographs: Portland Art Museum

• Sky Scraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity: Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago

• Juvenile-In-Justice: Photographs by Richard Ross Nevada Museum of Art in Reno

• Snap Shot: Painters and Photography: Indianapolis Museum of Art

(Images: as linked above)

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