pull over!

mike grabbed this shot of me- I was helping him focus for his self portraits- you know you love my hat!

On Friday I helped Mike with his latest shooting assignment. Jean and Mike are going to be entering some pieces in a juried art show as part of our photography sessions. What a great way to conquer so many things that we all want to do! Here is how we got started:
1) research the guidelines of the show
1a) come up with a realistic timeline- when to be done shooting, printing, framing etc. Give yourself more time than you need
2) look up the juror or jurors- check their styles out, see what they are all about
3) come up with your concept. (for this show they ask for 3 pieces that are a portfolio of work)
4) Schedule your shoot!
5) Keep post production in mind, it helps to visualize your finished product- or fly by the seat of your pants and be spontaneous, both approaches can work!

One of the first things that I told Jean and Mike was that they needed to have some of their work framed and hung in their houses. Looking at your own work every day is the best way to kind of secretly build self confidence and validate yourself. So part of this was going home and seeing where you have space to hang stuff, and what you want to hang. Come up with a concept, could be something personal- like portraits of your kids, or pictures of your favorite things. Could be still lifes of flowers you grew in your garden (I had shot a whole series of that b/c I was such a proud mama gardener!) The most fun part is coming up with the idea- and it is also the hardest part- narrowing it down... But we did.

Think you're done then? Now comes the fun part! Post production! There are so many different directions to go in that this can prove to be as overwhelming as coming up with your idea. Try some different things! Don't be scared to really put yourself out there- what's the worst that can happen?

I am really excited to see their finished products! When it's all said and done they are both going to have some killer stuff to have in their houses!