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I belong to a small group of Southwest Florida photographers that meets once a month to encourage inspiration in our field. The group hands out a theme once a month. We are given one month to come up with an image that reflects that theme. When due, we meet over dinner to reveal our theme image and to receive constructive critiques on the image itself. Although intimidating to receive critiques, my biggest jumps in learning have come from those moments when I've allowed other peers to constuctively critique my work.
This months theme was titled "in dreams." WOW! Talk about a tough one. I had a hard time deciding how I was going to deliver the "in dreams" theme. Finally, I landed on a dream catcher idea. I decided to make the dream catcher my solid focal point within the image. Here is the exact photo that I submitted:
Aside from the good food, constructive critiques, and just the overall comradery that comes from this group...I'm grateful for the inspiration and the creative juices that flow because of the group. The theme challenges you to come up with "something" and it's incredibly interesting to see how everyones interpretation of the theme are conveyed so differently each month. I've discussed how I'm a self-proclaimed "life learner" here on this blog before. Well this group continues along the grand scheme of that life learning process - always teaching me something new. I'm so thankful for my peers here in my area. A big group of us are getting together on the 22nd of this month to teach each other some new things and then gobble up a great lunch afterward. The photography industry is very cut throat, very brutal, and extremely competitive. I'm beyond blessed to have such awesome peeps/friends here in Naples whom I can bounce ideas off of, learn from, help teach new things to, and just vent and laugh with. It's tough in this field to find competition who truly realize that there is enough business out there for everybody and that you don't need to "hate" on one another. Thank you God for dropping me within a circle of industry peers who invest in me, whom I invest in, whom we can send referrals and extra business to, and whom have become dear friends now thru it all.
In the end, this months theme just confirmed to me the fact that I'm living "in dreams" here on this earth. In my dreams that is. By the grace of God, I'm living out my dreams every single day. I'm thrilled to have found a craft that makes me tick and makes me yearn and crave more out of life. I'm thrilled that this craft creates a drive for me to educate myself more and more with each passing second. I'm thrilled that this craft has placed incredibly awesome people in my life and allowed me to cross paths with amazing individuals/clients not only here in the U.S. but also from other countries and other areas of the world who put a real price on photography and value it as art. I had a new client bring me to tears the other day on the phone when she described word for word to me what she felt when she found my website and viewed my images. She expressed her need to document this time in her life as she is pregnant with her first child. By the time I hung up the phone, I had to pray to God to bring my head back to normal size and my world back to reality. She had pumped me up so full of compliments and left me so sentimental that I could've quickly thought I was "all that" if I would've allowed it. Truth is...as a life learner...I still have so very much to learn and am definitely not "all that." However, my industry peers who are now friends are "all that" and I love them all for helping me to become a better photographer with each new session I commit to. You know who you are. Either way, I was so honored to speak with a new client who truly valued my work as art and who put a price tag on her memories. She'll never regret it! Ever! I'm soooooo looking forward to capturing an amazing maternity shoot for her and her husband. What an honor to be able to document this chapter of their lives.
Lastly, a huge thank you to my model, Rebecca, who helped me pull off this months theme. I couldn't have taken a bad photo of the girl had I tried. She is stunningly beautiful and such a sweetheart. Until next week, I pray that everyone has a Happy Easter and that your weekend is filled with lots of love from family and friends. If asked, are you living your dreams? If not, have you thought about what is stopping you?XOXO, Angie
I remember when I started out in this business I swore I would never become a "flash" photographer or mess with studio lighting. I loved natural light so much that I let any other type of lighting source intimidate me to the point of convulsions. I've since had the opportunity to work with a couple of different lighting mentors and the outcome is simple...I love having a variety of options when working with clients. There was a day when I would have said...natural light or nothing. However, with knowledge comes growth.This image is just a small snippet of a shoot to come. I'll share more photos later. However, this is sweet Li Li (my friend and fellow photographer, Deb's daughter). We broke out the big guns (lights) when in Atlanta a few weeks back and had a great session in a nearby field. The skies were very gloomy on this particular night so I was unable to get a ton of "texture" in the skyline. However, this beautiful child more than made up for it. The sky also gave us a nice almost strange glow in color as the sun did set. Fun times for sure. Stay tuned for more to come. PS...This one was an out-take but I thought it fit the bill given today's date...
XOXO, Angie
I worked with a beautiful girl a couple of weeks ago on a rustic nautical themed model shoot. It was a blast to say the least. We did an early morning shoot near lots of water in very humid heat. In turn, we got ate alive in a very short time period by "no-see-ums." (basically like mosquitoes here in Florida) Those suckers can attack you in mere seconds and before you know it, you look like you have the chicken pox EVERYWHERE! They're bad! Even with the dreaded bites, the shoot ROCKED! Gabriella needs no introduction. She is clearly stunning...
At times during the shoot we had an overcast cloudy sky but at other moments...the sun was out in full force. No matter what the sky gave us...we made it work.
The location I chose for this shoot worked out perfectly to fit the nautical theme. I had never been to this spot before this day - it was referred to me by a friend. I'm so thankful she lead me to it because it was GRAND with a capital "G!"
I adore these close ups of Gabriella. Did I mention how beautiful she is??? If I didn't, have a looksie for yourself...
Thank you for allowing me the time to work with you Gabriella. The session was FAB!!! Keep in touch as you travel back to Colorado. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer.
Big hugs, AngiePS...I apologize for the "soft" looking images here on blogger lately. For some reason blogger is having issues again with making pictures looked blurred once uploaded onto their sites. It drives me crazy. Please bare with us. Hopefully the problem will resolve itself soon. Rest assured, these images are crisp, sharp, and clear in real life. :)
