Studio...

Recently, I had the pleasure of photographing a friend of mine before she left town to go back home.

It was my first time in a studio environment in a very long time and I have to admit I felt a little bit rusty.
If there were any problems with the shoot, it certainly wasn't with my model, she was a breeze to shoot, really easy going and willing to get into the poses I asked her to, all of which makes for a very smooth shoot.

I love using a soft box when shooting, whether it's beauty lighting or Rembrandt, it softens the light, beautifully, as it hits the model and compliments what's already there.

As for my skills, I still feel I have a lot more to learn.

No Prize...

Once again, another year has gone by where I haven't placed in any of the categories of the Photo Life Magazine Image International Photography Competition.
And, I was so sure that this year was my year.

I have always been plagued by self doubt and a serious lack of confidence when it came to my artistic work, be it photography, writing or otherwise. I feel it is the thing that has stymied my progress more than any other in my life...yet, with every new entry I submit, every new rank I make in the top whatever categories they have, I feel that much better about my work, and about my ability to do it.

With this last year of crop, I've been forced to take a harder look at what I've submitted to these competitions and reevaluate how good my work really was. I have to step back and see with a new eye just what I was missing in my entries. Basically, I have to step up my game.

These are some of the images I submitted this year:

 




























Agreed, they aren't the most spectacular of images, but I still feel they aren't bad, either. I feel as though they still have some weight to them, some value. If anything, it may be the technical aspect of them that might be my undoing...
Anyway, there's always next year.
I'll do better next year.

Happy New year (No More Excuses...)

I just recently bought another brand spanking new piece of photo equipment, a background support set.
I bought it a couple weekends ago and today, the second day of the new year, I've only just put it up.
And, so far..., I've draped my semi-wet laundry over it.
...this does not bode well...

But, first-let be back up.

The last year and a half has been an incredibly, hellacious time for my family and I. With the sudden death of my mother it's fair to say that 2015 was not kind to us at all. It showed us things we didn't want to see or were ready to face, and through it all I found my spirit animal in the form of dollars and cents by way of credit and debit.

My first purchase, in preparation for my best friend's upcoming wedding, was supposed to be a brand new lens-and that's all. But fate, as she is won't to do, had a lot more to say on the subject than I had anticipated, and went ahead and made other plans.
Hence the new camera I bought, instead. Plus a new lens.

In the following months I kept buying all manner of things, some of which I needed, some of which I wanted-and it took me me a good few months to realized this-just because of the sheer pleasure it gave me. Instant or otherwise, I felt good, no matter how short lived the feeling, it was the best I'd ever felt in months.

So now, here I am, with yet another purchase and yet another year of hoping that I can finally do something with this craft that I'm so inextricably bound to, that I truly love so much, and which gives me such great pleasure and happiness.

This year, like all the others, I'm hoping to make my own acquaintance. To finally meet the real me and see what she's made of...

This year...