All Work and No Play

   So, finally, finally, finally I got a chance to sit down and edit some of the shots from my first free art study session.

   In order to help me learn and grow as an artist, I am in the process of randomly offering free sessions to the public, and the public in return giving up their own time, to help me experiment with different photo techniques that I have been wanting to try out, all based off a lighting book I purchased a few months ago.

   My first experiment was solely about light, that is where these shots stemmed from, and before I knew it, I had learned a lot more than what I had expected and my assignment for lessons learned had went in a whole new direction. As far as I am concerned, the outcome- success. 

The first goal with this session was to really just take my time. A lot of session people book with me they are worried about getting the "biggest bang for their buck." They move quickly. They want to get their child in as many different poses and outfits in 1 hour as they can. It was nice to actually take a good amount of time to just stop and say, "Ok, let's try this, let's try this again, try it one more time until you nail it," and focus on getting a few solid, solid shots vs a whole slew of ones that I feel like are good, great, but not a true reflection of how far we could have REALLY pushed the bar had we taken control of our nerves and used the proper amount of time.

   When I say we took took our time, I mean it. The models (who were beyond perfect for this task- thank you Hannah Mae and Alexx, and their mom of course too- Amy) spent a few weeks chatting back and forth about pose ideas, wardrobe, location options, makeup and hair. There was then the prep time to get it all together, and then once the actual day came around the morning consisted of a lot of time crammed in my bathroom carefully painting on their face makeup and styling their hair as big as possible. The concept grew from my love for fashion.

After we were physically ready it was time to go in and start shooting. The girls did some stretching, some warm up poses, and then we started. This is where we took even more time. We didn't change our wardrobe after about 20 some shots, we didn't move our location, we didn't change our backdrop. We merely kept shooting bc I didn't feel like we had truly NAILED it yet. So we kept going. We took a few 20 more. At the end of the day, in fashion or advertisement or even family portraits, you only need one strong image to help you say what you need to say. Why not make sure that one image is exactly what you want and it speaks not only loudly but aggressively, bc no one else is ever going to see those 100 other outtakes, 20 other good enough shots, or even the other 2 that made up the top 3. It's the one shot.

      After a good hour or longer of shooting we broke down, the girls changed, and then we went out for ice cream, which, I can't be sure, but I'm almost certain was necessary for the creative process! ;) Then I waited for a gap in my work schedule before I even started touching the images. This is where goals and lessons changed, and even more time was spent, which people don't realize.

   Once I began sifting through the photos what I learned the most was if you want different results, you need to try out different methods, even if they make you uncomfortable. During this shoot, I wanted good light, but I wanted different light- that was the second goal. Good, different, moody light. At the end of everything I noticed- I was so worried about keeping the situation controlled, I forgot to move things around and play with the light, things were...typical of my usual work. Did that mean the whole experiment was a waste? I hadn't achieved my MAIN goal... so.... what was I going to get out of it?

   That's when I decided to push the bar on my editing.

   Usually I am fairly realistic when it comes to post. Why? I have no idea. It just feels right, and safe. I never liked taking photography to a level of graphics. Art is art. Graphics is graphics. And Photography is photography. But.... bc the main goal of this session had went out the window anyhow, what did I have to loose? The session was free, I wasn't meeting any expectations for clients. So... I played. And as the old saying goes, and I have learned the hard way, "All work and no play makes AJBC's portraits dull." Ha! 

   And due to that, I can say my first attempt at these free sessions, although priorities shifted, was what many would call a beautiful mistake.

Editing. It's not an "option"

   Edits. Post. Frills and Fluff.

   For those of you who are unfamiliar with digital photography and how it works, editing is basically the manipulation or enhancement of a photo.

   And right away, maybe you're thinking to yourself, "I don't like it when people make their photos look fake," or "I don't need all of that done."

   Well, believe it or not, almost 99% of the professional photos that you see have been touched in some way, whether it be to do something completely fun and unnatural, or maybe just to add a pop of color, add some crispness, fix a blemish, or remove something distracting in the background. You may not even notice, but more than likely, it's been touched, and for good reason.

   Take the above photo for instance. If you were to view the photo on the right (the after photo) first you more than likely would think it was in it's natural (or close to natural) state. Good. That's exactly what I want you to think when viewing my work. I don't want the main focus to be the edits. I want the main focus to be the subject- these beautiful wedding flowers in their rustic setting.

   Now, how would you feel if I would have presented to you the actual original photo as my final product? I think you would be pretty disappointed. The overall feel is drab, the flag, flower pot, and beam are distracting, and there's a small bit of light sneaking through the bottom of the photo where the pinic table stops. With a little work, this photo came a long ways!

   Another thing you may wonder is, "Why take a photo like that in the first place?" Well, most of the time I try avoid doing countless hours of work in post, but sometimes, you have to.This was a quick shot I got bc of lack of time, the picnic table was the closest, rustic, elevated object to me, and there was no time for flash equipment. Instead of junking it, I took some time, played with it a bit, and am very happy with the final result. 

   Long story short- this is a perfect example as to why you want a photographer who is willing to do edits and go the extra mile for you (if need be.)

(Please keep in mind- just getting the photo right originally, with out edits, is the way to go and my personal practice, but sometimes, it doesn't always work out like that, and this example is perfect for getting that point across!)

   Which brings me to my next point- why I say no when clients ask me if they can have ALL the pictures from their session, even if that means they are unedited and why you, as a client, should not be willing to sacrifice edits (or be willing to perform your own) to save money.

   Let's say I DID give you all your photos from your session, unedited, bc maybe we worked out a deal that after viewing all of them you could pick which ones you want me to edit. That seems fair and reasonable, at first. But now think about this. What if you were to go through your photos and come across the above photo on the left (the before)? Chances are you would bypass it bc of the distraction and not even think about what "could be" and be too fixed on "what is."

   That's 1 reason why I don't offer that option. I want your portraits to be viewed how they were meant to be seen- as little piece of art, your art.

   And speaking of art- although your portraits are your portraits, they are also little pieces of me and my artistic view of the world that I am releasing to you to enjoy. With that being said, that's also why I don't allow other people to take my images and edit them to save money, or for any other reason. Each image is special to me and I personally tweak and meticulously perfect each one as I see fit. Some images may have to be worked on for awhile, some images are done within mere minutes. But the point is, they have passed through my fingertips and exited them the way I intended.

   The above set is a perfect example of just that. This image was taken at another wedding I photographed in April. The weather was chilly, there was a chance of rain and we were all happy to run inside after the outdoor ceremony. The bride's mother had put a rosary outside bc it is said that they will ward off rain (and it worked by the way!) When I got to the editing process the image was nice but it needed some "uumph" so I added some nice warm colors (the photo on the right is the result.) I love warm colors. At the last minute though, I thought about it and realized, that image was not an accurate depiction of the cold day we endured, and I changed the edits to cold tones before finalizing the image. Yes- I personally like the image to the right, but that wasn't the point of the photo. I want the bride to remember the day as it was and how the rosary did it's job well! Had I allowed someone to take my image and edit it to their liking to save them money, or for whatever reason, my work would be floating around in a way that doesn't represent my view or artistic view point.

   So, with out further ado- go for the edits. There's a reason why they are there. And if there isn't a good reason for them, well... that's for a another blog. ;)

Your life, Your backdrop

   When I first started photographing children and families I would regularly offer the option of the client coming to me, or me going to the client. I've had very, very few people take me up on the offer to come to their house for several reason- "my home is not elaborate enough" "there's nothing special here" "I think the studio would look better." So after awhile I just stopped suggesting it and started building up my studio stock of backdrops, fake floors, and props.

   Now, two years later, I'm here to tell you that you need to start looking at your house, your yard, your garage, your basement,  and everything around you differently. Your house IS good enough, it DOES offer something special, and the best part of it is, you are comfortable in it!

   First, let me give my opinion on studio backdrops, because I DO use them, and I will continue to use them. They are beautiful, they come in every pattern / color imaginable, I can fold mine up and set them up virtually anywhere, and anyone can buy them. Wait. Stop. Did you really read that? ANYONE can buy them.

   SO what does that mean for a client? Well, it means if you have a specific request I can basically get anything you want, and so can the girl down the road, the guy at Wal-mart studio lab, and the top notch studio down town. That means your portraits that you are spending your hard earned money on have the chance of looking just like the client before you, and the client after you, in several different studios, in several different states. Is this a huge deal... yes and no.

   No because I use a lot of the same backdrops for several different clients, changing the props, changing the poses, and making it special and unique for that specific client. Some backdrops can look exceptionally modern, and clean, which is great, and a lot of the props / backdrops / fake floors that you can get now are so cute and well made that you don't even realize it's a backdrop.

   Now for the Yes side of the coin. Yes because, you have another option. You have the option of getting yourself photographed in an environment no one else has access to. Your home. Your property. Meaning no ones portraits are going to look just like yours, giving you the 100% personalized and customized experience.

   Let's start with the most obvious. Unless you live in an apartment, you have grass, even a small patch, like the photo above. It's simple, it's colorful, and it's natural. And you didn't have to drive anywhere!

So, everyone has grass, right? That's easy. But what else? Well, how about trees, bushes, flowers, a fence? The photo to the right is taken in a tiny backyard, but it allows the subject to relax, move around, and not have to worry about "I need you to move to the right, you're not on the backdrop anymore" "Could you move just for a second, I need to readjust the backdrop" "I would love to get this angle but the studio doesn't really allow me to do that." I don't know how many times I have felt limited bc of a backdrop.

   Now lets talk really, really off the wall options, like, a garage door for example. I know. Just the thought might make you cringe but look at the photo to the left. It was taken in front of a white garage door on a simple silver chair and the other being a craftsman work bench stool. Not elements you would think would be beautiful with 2 young girls in summer dresses, but it works, well. The garage door panels add texture and the stool allows for different height levels with the subject.

   So if a basic garage door could work for portraits, think of what you would do inside your house! If I'm buying fake walls, floors, and props to use in portraits, why not just use real ones? I am assuming everyone has a couch. Hate the appearance? Do you have blankets to put over it? Not only would that make it any color you can imagine, it would also give it a cozy and plush appearance. What about a staircase? Ok, so there are things hanging on your wall, take them down for the time being, and now you have an interesting piece to work with, with all kinds of different layers and textures, like the image to the right. A fireplace? Book shelves? A blank wall and cool dining room chairs? The possibilities are endless... Those options still considered "too elaborate" for your home? Even a plain wall with everyone sprawled out on the carpet is ok.  Mostly because you're in your own environment, which is a huge advantage for not only kids, but adults too. You don't have to worry about anything, you know your own rules, the kids aren't in a foreign location and uncomfortable or scared, and I just stumbled upon a huge gold mine of new "prop options" never before seen in my portraits. You also don't have that stiff look on your face as if you're outside of your element because you are right in it.

   Once you start looking at things not as if they are "studio quality" but they are yours, and they make up who you are, then you'll be able to understand why your home can be just as good as studio shots, if not better.

Home is where the heart is... and I've left a little piece of my heart in a lot of places!

Vacation.

You just HEAR the word and your ears get excited.

Every year my husband and I try to plan 1 big, relaxing, site seeing adventure we look forward to. Through out the year we may take small weekend trips or extended weekend trips due to holidays somewhere near us or venture up to the U.P. but we always try to give ourselves a bigger goal for the year!

The first year we got married we ventured to The Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was a city where you felt at home at. It was a place you could connect with nature, yourself, and your thoughts. It was a place we couldn't wait to return to! The next year we thought we would try something new, but when it came down to it, we couldn't bare the thought of not going back to the mountains, so we went back, except this time in a camper. We did this agin, and again, and again. FINALLY, after 4 years of it we decided THIS year we would try something new! But.... what? What's better than the mountains, the uncrowded hiking trails!? Perhaps..... warm weather? Florida? Really..... Florida?

As a child my parents and I had went to Florida EVERY Spring Break. I've been to Florida 13 times in my life. When I was younger the sun, the malls, the pools and beaches really had my interest, now that I'm older I couldn't be less enthused over that scenery. So.. what were we thinking!?

As we began to plan our trip we realized, if we were going to drive the long 21 hours, why not make the gruesome trip more bearable by stopping at some cool places along the way? Not once in my 13 year to Florida had we ever done anything except drive straight through. Surely there had to be SOMETHING ELSE hidden in between us and all those other miles.

And so it began.

We made our first stop near Red River Gorge in Kentucky.

Pretty much what did make up the town was closed for the season and what was open for the season was a good 10 miles away and consisted of one Mexican restaurant and a Dairy Queen- perfect. We don't go on vacations to be surrounded by people. We go on vacation to be, basically, smothered by each other. haha. Back at home our lives are hectic, we're busy working, we're always trying to finish up projects we've started that are way over our heads, and it's nice to step away from that and just enjoy living at a more simple level. We spent our few short days in the mountains driving around to site see off into the middle of nowhere, hiking on top of natural arches, in between rock crevasses, and looking over the edges of mile long drop offs. We knew we were "down south" when upon our hour long drive into the middle of nowhere we came across someone's "home" that welcomely had spray painted on the side of it "Stay the F**K out or get shot."

Once it was time to travel on we packed up, drove for the

day, and landed in-

 Savannah, Georgia!

All we knew about Savannah is that it's a beautiful historic city full of mossy trees. Me, who loves anything aging, intricate, and old and my husband, who loves all things history and trees, it seemed fitting enough. I can not explain to you what an understatement that was. As SOON as we entered the city I asked Jake when we would be able to come back! The cobblestone roads, the attention to detail on the preserved buildings, the huge engulfing trees, the city squares..... I can't reminisce about this city without feeling sad that I can not visit it everyday.

Our few days in this historic wonder were spent merely roaming the streets, enjoying the shops, learning it's history, and talking about what aspects of the town we would love to be able to enjoy in our own town, maybe one day!

So, finally, it was time to travel on, and what beckoned us in the first place, was now about to be in our reach.

Florida.

Now, I'll be completely honest. I'm a geek. Me and my husband both are. We like to daydream, imagine, create, think of the impossible and plan the ridiculous, so when we heard Harry Potter was now at Universal Studios, we had to go. We had to experience what it was like to walk the streets of magic and play where anything was possible. So- that's why Florida was on the list, and yes, the sun! Well, once we got to Florida we got about 2 days of sun and when we left it was a whopping 35 degrees. But, we enjoyed it while we could!

We experienced the magic of Harry Potter, the silliness of Suess' Landing and more. The attention to details in these theme parks could honestly consume your life. We took in so much but at the same time, still missed so much! These streets are transformed into different worlds and that's what I love about them!

After that we took it easy. Enjoyed the beach, searched for shells, and watched the waves crash over the surfers.

When the weather reached MI standards we left.

And where did we stop on our travels back home?

The Smoky Mountains!

Never experiencing it in the winter before really made the trip special and unique. You enter into a green wonderland, covered in ice and a skiff of snow. It's the one place I feel completely at ease all the time, whether I'm in the city, on a trail miles in the woods, on top of a mountain cliff, or biking next to a bear...

A few days later we got in the car and drove back to the box we built for ourselves that holds our everyday schedule and our dreams mapped out in books. We were home.

If you've made it to this point, I applaud you. As much as I feel as though my vacations and travels are like a fairy tale come true, they are merely just stories and pictures for you, but if I can stress one thing after all these stories and tales is... go. Just GO. Explore. Take an adventure. And it doesn't have to be miles away. It could be 10 mins down the road, it could even be in your back yard. But take time out of life to actually think about it... We live so quickly. Isn't it time you slow down and figure out why?