Creative Live and my first Critique!
The last 3 days I spent a whole lot of time watching a Creative Live class: Modern Storytelling. It was an amazing 3 days for me, it has completely changed my views on what I see as a photographer. The instructor was Kirsten Lewis, and she just melted my brain. I haven't felt this inspired in a really long time.
Things I learned from her:
1. If the color in your photo doesn't have anything to do with what you are trying to convey, make it B&W
2. You must be YOURSELF. If you want to shoot a certain way, do it. Don't follow trends.
3. The moment is what you want to capture. How people are in real life. She mentioned her absolute hatred of the typical 'khaki and white shirts' at the beach, because "When do you all ever dress a like in real life?!"
After the first day I was kinda torn. I'm not going to lie, I really love the trend with newborns, all wrapped in pretty blankets and propped up. I think it's beautiful. But Kirsten had a point. That swaddled baby is asleep. There is no story there. It doesn't convey anything other than 'aaw..' and then it's quickly forgotten. She mentioned that she actually does 'newborn' shoots when the baby is a couple weeks older. When they can interact with their parents and be a true part of the story. I was sad. Do I have to choose? Can I only do the swaddled baby or the story? But I don't think I have to choose. At least not yet.
But what was really exciting is that during class she pulled up a picture of mine that I had submitted for critique.
Guys I about pee'd my pants when I saw my picture up on the screen. She saw it, laughed and proceeded to tell me "You need to make this a true black and white, not blue tinted. This area (the top left corner) is distracting. But you captured the moment. You made me laugh. I like it'
BOO YAH! Man oh man guys. It felt so good. I really respect Kirsten and admire all that she does. To have her tell me that I took a good picture.... 5 Gold Stars for today!
Thank you everyone for all your support with everything since I started my little photography business. It means the world to me.
Things I learned from her:
1. If the color in your photo doesn't have anything to do with what you are trying to convey, make it B&W
2. You must be YOURSELF. If you want to shoot a certain way, do it. Don't follow trends.
3. The moment is what you want to capture. How people are in real life. She mentioned her absolute hatred of the typical 'khaki and white shirts' at the beach, because "When do you all ever dress a like in real life?!"
After the first day I was kinda torn. I'm not going to lie, I really love the trend with newborns, all wrapped in pretty blankets and propped up. I think it's beautiful. But Kirsten had a point. That swaddled baby is asleep. There is no story there. It doesn't convey anything other than 'aaw..' and then it's quickly forgotten. She mentioned that she actually does 'newborn' shoots when the baby is a couple weeks older. When they can interact with their parents and be a true part of the story. I was sad. Do I have to choose? Can I only do the swaddled baby or the story? But I don't think I have to choose. At least not yet.
But what was really exciting is that during class she pulled up a picture of mine that I had submitted for critique.
Guys I about pee'd my pants when I saw my picture up on the screen. She saw it, laughed and proceeded to tell me "You need to make this a true black and white, not blue tinted. This area (the top left corner) is distracting. But you captured the moment. You made me laugh. I like it'
BOO YAH! Man oh man guys. It felt so good. I really respect Kirsten and admire all that she does. To have her tell me that I took a good picture.... 5 Gold Stars for today!
Thank you everyone for all your support with everything since I started my little photography business. It means the world to me.
I don't think you need to choose. I think you should be skilled in both types of newborn shoots because you might get a client that LOVES that swaddled look, but someone else wants to wait until they are a bit older so you can get eyes opening and little smiles and such. Part of this is also what the client wants. Now if you were purely shooting just for yourself and your artform, then you could choose one or the other. Just make sure you add your touch to things: sun flares, bokeh, brilliant eyes, etc. everyone has a special touch. You're doing do great at what you do. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous because you are out doing it. I want to do it so bad but can't get over taking the leap. So proud of you!
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