white noise

It's my turn to write a post. Should be easy since I haven't blogged in weeks. Photo sessions have been stacking up. But for some reason, words remain illusive. There are so many of them swirling around, shape-shifting. When I try to define them, they all rush down at once forming a bottleneck in my mouth. I try to string a few together for a sentence. But it feels inauthentic. Delete. Out comes another that feels too vulnerable. Delete. 

Then it occurs to me that it's okay to let things be undefined. Maybe it's even essential, like making room for white space. Like making room for air...and the unpredictable loveliness that only happens when you're open to it. 

I felt myself start to let go, and that's when I heard the mermaids giggling. Right down the hall, they'd been there all along. But my noisy thoughts had been drowning them out. Such beauty under our noses, always waiting patiently to be noticed.

What about you? What's hiding right under your nose today?

tricky

In general, I think my "method" for shooting is mostly about flying by the seat of my pants. So I'm usually stumped when people ask for advice or tips. I want to say something profound. But my truest response is more like, "Ummm...just take your camera out, and see what happens"...Especially today when digital cameras make the learning curve SO much faster than it used to be.

BUT stop the train! Today, I actually have a solid tip to offer. (woo!) :)

I started noticing with photo sessions that as soon as I said to my clients that the shoot was over, they would instantaneously relax. It was like a universal "Phew it's over; I can stop performing". And by this time my camera would be all packed away in my bag, missing it all. WELL...I finally wised up. I hope my clients aren't reading because now they'll know about my trick. But lately, I've been holding onto the camera to catch all those relaxed ("after"-the-photo-shoot) moments. They often turn out to be the best shots of the day. Like this one. It was the absolute last frame of the series, taken right after I said, "That's awesome, we got it, you're done." And SNAP. The most gorgeous, relaxed smile popped out. Just like magic. 

What about you? Any tricks up your sleeve? 

hitting the wall

It's hard to admit this, because I don't want to come off as being ungrateful. I feel exceedingly lucky and blessed to be doing what I do for a living. But being a photographer is a bit like being a ballerina, or a writer, or anything else that most people tend to do as a fun hobby. It's assumed that nothing could be better than turning that "fun hobby" into a living. The hard part is trying to keep your "fun hobby" from turning into a job. Then there's the expectation that you should be motivated by a ceaseless fountain of inspiration. Sure, we can write all day about the ebb and flow of creativity; and about how it's a normal part of the process. But the truth is that we know (especially if our livelihood depends on it) that our work needs to be constantly evolving, changing, and growing. This is a lot of pressure when you look at your work and feel nothing but apathy. And frankly, that's how I've been feeling lately. Like I've seen it before. Done it before. I don't think it's horrible. But I'd rather curl up on the couch and eat a bowl of mashed potatoes. You know? So that made me try to think back to a time when I felt most energized. It was a few years ago when I'd finally made the leap from film to digital. What's ironic is that my work was, well...let's just say not anything I would post on my site today. Some of it was straight-up crap. But I was SO excited by it. I'd stay up late watching photoshop tutorials, and reading everything I could get my hands on. The process was new; and apparently new = fascinating. Which makes me think that inspiration has very little to do with the quality of one's work. Instead maybe it's fueled by the simple process of discovering something we didn't know. In other words, maybe inspiration comes as the natural result of LEARNING. 

What about you? Have you ever hit the wall creatively? What did you learn about it?

exploring

"Photo shoots" are a strange concept when you think about it, aren't they? People invite strangers with cameras into their homes, hoping they'll be able to capture and solidify a bit of what they feel for each other. We all know inherently that our dearest moments are fleeting. And so we expose ourselves. Because it's worth it. Because if it works, we're left with pieces of actual paper...pictures that feel permanent; depicting, and proving our most sacred connections. Our minutes which were once evaporating, now feel solidly tangible. Even framed. So as photographers, we know this is the expectation. We know people want us to fish out all the real bits of their lives. We love what we do, and we want to do a good job. And if we're not careful we can become on-a-mission about it. And that's when the magic bleeds right out of your work. Because finding moments is like chasing a rainbow. The second you feel like you know how to get there, is the second it disappears. That's what keeps it adventurous: the idea that some things cannot ever be planned or plotted. They can only be revered and explored. 

What are you exploring lately? We'd love to see.

re-make

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod and iTunes. I love being able to cherry-pick only my favorite songs. But a sad bi-product of having such freedom is that we don't get to appreciate the incredible art on the album covers. There are so many amazing ones, right? So I had this idea a while back to do a series of photographs that would be inspired by iconic album covers. One of which would have to be Abbey Road, by The Beatles. So my friend Tara and her adorable family came in for a family session the other day, and they pulled it off perfectly! I love how it turned out. And I love how Art expresses itself individually, based on who's behind the camera, or paintbrush, or computer screen, or crayon. 

Do you have any images to share that were inspired by other artists, inside or outside the realm of photography? If so, we'd love to see! And also, what's your favorite album cover?