Make your own path

This week was extremely busy for me, both personally and photographically. And all week in the back of my mind I knew I was going to blog about it. But after the photos had been edited, I sat down to write and drew a blank. I knew I had the photos I wanted to share, but the words just weren't coming. I took a break, read other blogs and still couldn't come up with anything to write about. That was interesting atleast. And all the while I kept thinking to myself, where does everyone else find these great ideas. And then it hit me, they don't "find" them. They make them. And while it may have been the result of some other inspiration, they made their own path. And it was at that realization, that I knew what I was going to write about.

Making my own path.

In the beginning of my photography career (think last July) everyone always told me to find my niche, find my niche, find my niche. But at the same time, everyone was telling me to try everything. Try this, try that, try this new product. And it got quite confusing at times. And being the 20 year old hot shot I thought I was, the last thing I had was patience. I wanted to be famous, like yesterday. I wanted my big break to be, like yesterday. Unfortunately, that all takes time.

I listened to an interesting interview today based soley on making your own big break. (Or a series of several little small breaks) And it hit me, I had come quite a long way in just a few short months. But those of you who know me, know that I am never satisfied. I always want something bigger, better, shinier, or in this case, more successful. And this interview really inspired me to stop waiting for someone to come to me with a big break. But to make it happen for myself.

Last week I talked about my love for natural light. And I also mentioned the fact that I have always dreamt of being a commercial fashion photographer, but always shyed away, simply because I love shooting natural light and lets face it, most commercial photographs are lit with lights that could light up a small town in Africa. And then it hit me. Why can't I shoot commercial photographs that are naturally lit. Could that be my niche? A natural light commercial photographer? Sure, you could argue that some commercial lifestyle photographers shoot natural light. And you would be right, but the majority of those shoot primarily with large studio strobes. It was that realization, coupled with the mindset of creating my own big break that lead me to this blog post. And to the notion that in order to be successful, you have to make you're own path. Making your own path is never going to be easy. Its going to be way more work than if you were just traveling down the same path everyone else was. The one where the grass has been matted down from the hundreds of those who have travelled down that same path before you. The one in which all the bryer patches had already been pulled. But, the reward from making your own path, and then looking back and saying, "I did that", is a far greater feeling than the alternative. And this doesn't just relate to photography. But to any career, and to life in general.

I'm going to work hard these next few weeks, and hopefully I will have something to show for it. I'm about to make my own big break.

Ok, enough of my rambling. On to my busy busy week.

We had a group of students visit this week from Stellenbosch University, or Uni, as they referred to it. I always enjoy getting to know people from a culture different than mine. And South Africa is one of those places I've always wanted to go. So it was a natural that I was extremely excited. Although I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked, due to the whole school/work thing, I was able to get to know the students pretty well. It was an absolute delight having them here, listening to their stories, sharing some of our own, and just looking at things from a different perspective.

Once we all got a little more comfortable with each other, well, thats when I pulled out the camera.

The first night I was really able to bond with the group we went to Mary Mac's Tea Room in mid-town. In order to give our visitors a true southern experience we thought it was fitting. And being from the south, I was introduced to a whole different level of southern food. We started with pot likker and cornbread. A definite first for me.

In order to digest all that food properly, we were subjected to quite relaxing back rubs. Another first.

A couple of nights later we were all treated to another true southern tradition. A shrimp boil. Yet again, another first for me. At this rate I feel like I was one of the South Africans visiting for the first time.

After we all ate way too much we took a couple of group pictures and relaxed. And thats when the fun began. Each party began sharing stories and the laughs and smiles just came naturally after that.

And this one I like to call "PERFECT"

I had a great time getting to know all of the students this week and hopefully this won't be the last time I see them!

Prom Pictures. With a twist.

What a busy couple of days it has been. Luckily, part of the reason why I've been so busy is due in-part to having to take some photos. . . of something I said I would never do.

Prom Photos. There, I said it. Yes, I took prom photos. I broke one of my laws I said I would never break. But, 6 months ago, I also said I would never shoot a wedding. And after my first wedding, I'm hooked. I've done a lot of soul-searching over the past few weeks. Trying to really get a firm grasp on what my 5 year, and 10 year plans look like. Graduating from college is definitely the first on that list, but thats where it got blurry. Debating whether to pursue photography full time, or get a "real" job and do photography as a side gig. I knew that in some way, shape, or form, photography was going to be an essential way that I live my life. I just wasn't sure how the puzzle pieces were going to fit together. I still don't honestly, but I do have a pretty good idea as of what I would like to do, and accomplish. At this point in time, I want to look to devote myself to photography as much as possible while still in school, with the end goal of one day being a full-time, self employed, freelance photographer. Specializing in wedding and engagement photos.

Crazy, I know. Especially because when I first started out, I thought I wanted to shoot the high glamour world of fashion photography. And while I still do, I just love the fact that I can shoot primarily natural light with some manipulation and really focus on the emotions of the subjects, rather than extremely expensive lighting setups. I love that wedding and engagement photos really capture a person's personality and emotions so eloquently. I would still love to shoot commercial fashion, but at this point in my career, it looks as if I am going to devote myself to capturing emotion in my photographs. All while still utilizing amazing light. The natural kind. Atleast, for this week. Haha.

Anywho, onto the photos. I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph Lauren and Dylan's senior prom this past week. AND, I shot at THE coolest location I've ever shot at, without a doubt. An airport. To make it even more exciting, the owner of quite a fancy jet (think "fly like a G6") told us we had free reign to take photographs with his one of many jets. Unfortunately, it was parked in a spot that wasn't quite conducive to the style I was shooting for. I typically love shooting INTO the sun and getting blown out images with some interesting flare. But for this shoot, I wanted to shoot very soft, diffused light on the subjects. So for that, I went in search of the perfect spot(s). And I found them! My favorite of the day was probably one of the hangars that were left open. It had beautifully diffused light, and a dark background. Giving the effect that I lit them with strobes.

These first photos were shot in open shade given to us from the hangars. I loved the white background and the soft light.

Some of the photos taken in the hangar/light setup

After that, we walked around to the other side and there was a beautiful breeze-way. That much like the hangar, had beautiful light as it was in full shade, as well as a dark(er) background. The light was magnificent a Lauren absolutely killed it here. Killed. It.

This one is for the girls...

I thought I was cool getting a limo when I went to my senior prom. I would've rather walked into the sunset staring at this!

Biffle Shoot + A little rambling + a picture or two

When our 2011 Spring Break was coming to a close we decided to head out to the beach one last time in order to document not just a trip, but a friendship. Typically I have to make funny faces, lame jokes, or just act crazy in order to get my subjects to loosen up to allow their true personalities to come out, but these two were much different. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had been sticking my camera in their faces constantly for the past few days.

As a photographer, you would think that I would know the value or the significance of a single photograph. A split second in time. But for quite awhile, I lost that mindset and had taken many of the photographs and the times in my life for granted. Maybe it was laziness, but I always seemed to use the excuse, "I don't feel like lugging my camera around." (Im thinking about picking up a Black Rapid Strap to alleviate that). After the recent tsunamis and earth quakes in Japan and throughout the world, I've seen countless amounts of photographs from the aftermath. And those photos, along with this trip, have made me more aware than ever of the amazing value a single photograph can contain.

I was shown a Facebook post from Ashley, one of the young ladies in the photos below, from a photographer that went something along the lines of "so you can make a photo black and white/over exposed/add vignette in post/over saturate/take a picture with something out of focus, and you think you're a photographer". It really got me thinking about my photographic "style", if I even have one. It made me ask myself whether the images I was creating were only appealing because of the editing is post, or due to the emotion that the image evoked out of the viewer. I've looked at the work of many of the great photographers that came before me, many that shot film, and I am just amazed. With film, theres no photoshop, there is only the raw image. And yes, you could make the argument that film has a larger dynamic range than the digital sensors in todays cameras, but still. The emotion that the photographs create along with the emotion the photograph captures is simply amazing. And that, to me, is what seperates a photograph apart from just a picture.

Now, I'm not saying all photographers should omit photoshop/lightroom/aperture from their digital workflow, but I am going to make a conscious effort to create emotion evoking photographs rather than just snap-shots with fancy editing techniques.