Artistically Placed

     Recently I have decided to quit all general public photography and just focus on my Fine Art pieces. In the beginning I only shot inanimate objects or animals, mostly still life. Once I progressed into more creative photography I had other friends doing similar things to what I was producing. We would all share ideas and work together as a team until all of us found our style and kind of went our separate ways photography wise.

From my old Sony Alpha 300. One of the first photo shoots
I did. July of 2011.

Same girl but I used my Canon EOS 7D.
September 28th, 2013.

     Being around these people helped me a lot with getting my name out there and it gave me practice with models as well. Eventually I started to slip into doing "normal" portraits of children, adults, families, and within the last year I've added weddings. You can tell the obvious change from when I first started to what I produce now but it got to the point where my heart wasn't in it anymore. Doing this type of photography is not what I ever intended on doing in life. While I love shooting weddings and I still have a lot more to learn, especially with indoor photography, I still can't get myself to completely just love it.

     When I do my fine art pieces I lose myself. I forget time exists and I don't stop. I don't feel temperature when I'm shooting... I just have my mind set on what I want to accomplish and forget the rest. I've stepped on glass, falling through wooden floors and stair cases, and I've even been destroyed by insects just to get that shot I envisioned. My models, when I get great ones, go through so much for me as an artist as well. A shoot I had last August is a great example of what my models do for shot as well. We went to an abandoned house and one of the areas that was the most beautiful to me had the floor completely missing minus the supports. At this time I was still using my Sony camera so unfortunately we didn't get a great shot but I still have that image in my head and one day I'll get it! I spend hours on my editing and making sure it's exactly how I want it. My love for my creative pieces far exceed any kind of emotion I could have for normal photography.

     One of the biggest reasons I stopped, well I think my lack of passion is the main thing, is the way people treated me. Not just me but photographers in general. I've had people complain about my prices being too high, too cheap, not enough photos but when I did give more than expected they complained about them all looking too much a like. I've had other photographers try to drag my name into the ground just because they messed up something or I took "their" client. I've had people threaten to sue me over photos and I've had people complain about the times, locations, just anything people could complain about... they did it. It got to the point where it made me hate photography. I dreaded doing these sessions and I dreaded editing the photos from it. The difference between my regular works and my fine art pieces is apparent. I wouldn't even pick up my camera to just photograph anymore. That wasn't me. I completely stopped doing my fine art pieces and fell behind in what I wanted to achieve with my photography which is art. I was trying so hard to make other people happy that I wasn't making myself happy and in the end these people don't care about me, they just want my services and then they're done with me. I know that's an emotional approach to the situation but if I'm not happy then this isn't where I need to be.

"Self Reliance" Taken October 25th, 2013. Canon EOS 7D.

    Now that I quit that type of photography I feel like I can breathe again. I can be myself and create. Let my mind and heart be exactly where it needs to be. I feel refreshed and whole again. This is what I want to do and I have big dreams and one day everything will happen for me. I just have to wait until it's my turn to shine.