Hello, theoretical readers! It’s been a long time, but things are finally coming together. I gave up my real life job (which sucked!) and I’m concentrating on photography and various designy things as work now. This means I get to have a regular blogging schedule, hooray! No more abandoned-looking blog for me!
In that light, here’s a little look at what I’ve done lately:
Baby photography! In an attempt to build an interesting and diverse portfolio, and perhaps find work in one of the local studios, I’ve been trying to do as many kinds of photography as I possibly can. I’m especially interested in portraits (of all styles), and super especially interested in maternity, newborn and baby photography.
There isn’t anyone local to me who provides that sort of service, and despite not being anywhere near professional standards, I’ve already had people interested in my work. I’m amazed that there’s such a huge gap in the market, I know that locally there are at least 30 professional wedding photographers (although professional doesn’t mean there are 30 GOOD wedding photographers), and I think there are 4 studios in my small town alone, so goodness knows there isn’t a dearth of people able to wield a camera. The only thing I can think of is that maternity photography isn’t as lucrative as wedding photography. At least, it wouldn’t be if there were as many maternity photographers as there are wedding photographers in this area.
I was hired to take some engagement shots, but since the clients requested I don’t put their pictures on the internet (and I’m inclined to honour that request), there are no sneaky peeks for you! They’ve also hired me to shoot their wedding, which was surprising to me because I didn’t feel like I was doing so well with the engagement shoot. Apparently, though, they loved the finished images, and want their wedding shot in the same style. Hooray!
In an attempt to better understand how to use my camera, and how to make beautiful photographs, I’ve been experimenting with various compositional techniques, and attempting to capture interesting images of things I wouldn’t normally photograph. Here are some of those images!
Insects are something I generally avoid thinking about. The idea that there are thousands of times more insects in the world than humans is something I find slightly creepy. Macro images of insects, though, I suddenly find fascinating. I think because we don’t, for the most pat, get to see details like the hairs on the legs of insects, or their weird eyes, or the intricate markings on them that we sort of… dismiss them as not really real, and uninteresting. They’re full of weird little details, though, and as you get closer and closer they get more and more strange and brilliant to look at.
Flowery macros! Until recently, I assumed that in order to take extremely close-up, or true macro images, one was required to buy extremely expensive lenses. Not so! Apparently, just reversing your lenses can make for the most gorgeous pictures.
All of those images were taken using the technique I linked to. The first is a piece of popcorn, the second, another fuchsia and the third is a collection of tablets.
As well as photography, I’ve been trying my hand at some graphic design. I wasn’t sure I was doing very well with it, but with some encouragement and advice from people far more talented than me, I managed to produce something both I and my client were happy with. I can’t show you images just now, because the piece I designed isn’t even in publication yet, but as soon as I get the go-ahead, I’ll pop it up here.
That’s the general summary of things I’ve been doing since my last update. Next time, I’ll be talking about why “professional” doesn’t mean good, an upcoming maternity shoot, and knitting hats for newborns. Hooray!
