NEW DIRECTION

I'm working with one of my friends with some interviews for his column in a local newspaper and blog. This is the first of the interviews I will be photographing and we went with a Mexican visual artist called Joaquin García Quintana. His work is wonderful; out of this world. We had a wonderful time in his studio, he talked about many different topics, especially about Diego Rivera, and also about his philosophy in general topics that made me feel great about some things I've been struggling lately. Hopefully this isn't the first time I get to hang out with him because he's great in every sense!

I think I will be doing this work with my friend often. He wants someone to go with him to his interviews to photograph and use them in his posts. I'm so happy he chose me to work with him. So anyway, just a couple of days ago I decided to stop trying to get clients and stuff, I'll just simply stop and work on my own. Well, since then, I've got a couple of messages asking me about prices and stuff, but the most recent was from yesterday. A local University wants me to shoot some photographs for the publicity of the school. I'M SO SCARED, I don't think I have the tools to work on something that I feel it's bigger than me. I think I'll end up calling it off... I don't want to do a bad job.

PHOTODOCUMENTARY WORK

Some shots from my recent comission. I still don't know if I'll get paid for these, even so, I think these are good for me to practice on limited light situations. I'm supposed to be the still photographer for this play that is going to take place in April, so I'm expecting to get a lot of practice from this experience. Apparently the director and also the creator of the play was very pleased with these shots even though they were just rushed and without any context on the play. I'm midly pleased but I still have a long way to go.

HAVING SOME LESSONS

On Friday I had a photoshoot with two girls as you can see. It was the first time I had clients that were completely strangers to me. I was very nervous, very anxious, and I wasn't feeling very well that day due to sickness. I was blocked at some point but I'm satisfied with some of the images. The girls had some posing ideas so I mostly followed them. We shot indoors too but I actually didn't like those shots because I still don't have the adequate lightning equipment to support the one I already have. Also the light conditions inside were limited and I forgot to bring my tripod with me so I didn't have valuable shots there. I'm still having focusing problems with my f/1.8 and I think the major issue is that I need to get my glasses. I can't see anything through the viewfinder and at times it's impossible to know if everything is in focus or not (yes I've tried changing the +/- thing that's there on the side of the viewfinder).

Thanks to this new experience I realized that the best idea when having new clients is to get together and talk first or at least exchange some e-mails before getting together. Getting to know my clients will probably help me to be more open and loose when getting to the photoshoot day. It'll make it a better experience for all of us I think, so I guess I'll start doing that. Another realization was that I probably shouldn't rush over things, I tend to shoot photos very fast without thinking and I think I'm still not that skilled to do something like that, I should be more analytic with the photos I take. The thing is, when shooting someone I know I feel comfortable enough to take my time but when I shoot a stranger I feel like I should do things efficiently and for some reason I feel that people will feel uncomfortable if I take to long or something, but I should probably explain them that if I take my time it's because I want to get the best shots I can.

Whether my clients feel satisfied or not, I think the most important part for me as an aspiring photographer was that I learned a few lessons. Obviously if they don't feel happy I'll be extremely ashamed and frustrated because of a failure but the brightside is that not everything will be negative, as I said, I learned a few things about all this. Now I need to apply what I learned in this experience and make the next time better for me and for my clients.

Like my Facebook Page

2013 MIGHT BE A GOOD YEAR

So this year seems to have started great. I finally got a job at the University and I'm super nervous! I'll be the studio steward that  means I'll have to take care of all things related to materials used by art students. My "supervisor" who's not going to supervise me at all (?) explained a lot of things in such a short amount of time; I couldn't remember most of it to be honest, especially the indications given to me towards the ceramics and photography room. I'm so nervous since I've never taken ceramics or photography course, I know nothing about maintenance of all the equipment, clays, and materials... I really don't want to screw up. On the other hand, I'll get paid, and a very fair amount, which will allow me to upgrade my equipment very, very soon and I couldn't be more excited! Plus, I'll get to know about materials, processes and just anything related to art off the record without having to take the classes.

I also might be comissioned to do some photodocumentary work for a local theatre association that will be presenting a play in April. I'm very nervous because of the low light conditions I'll have to endure with my limited equipment, but hopefull by that time I'll have some new gear to use. Hopefully. 

I can't wait to start working and also, I can't wait to get my first payment. I have a lot of things I want to do and I will finally be able to plan these out! If everything turns out well, by the end of this year I'll have:

      -Canon 5D Mark II

      -Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8

      -Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM 

And I'll might be able to schedule for a photography seminar here in México in December. Save for a trip to SE Asia for 2014, and whatever comes next.

I feel silly for planning ahead and having all these high expectations but I think it is a good strategy for me in order to give it a 100% at the job and everything else in general.

Anyways, here are some photos of my niece Matilda:

Like my Facebook page

TRYING TO LEARN

So I'm constantly being asked about the way I do things, whether it is traditional art (pencils, watercolors, etc) or photography. I sincerely believe there is a fine line between asking for help and trying to emulate someone's work. Don't get me wrong, it is very flattering but for someone like me who barely has a style of her own and only recently started to put my work out there is a risky point; someone's basically asking me to tell them how to put my personal style in their work. I mean, today you can find a decent amount of information for almost every question there is; here are tons of tutorials you can read and many resources related to photography and post-production that my knowledge is short compared to people out there mastering all of the things I'm still learning to do. It is hard, it really is, but I had to do it for many years and I don't understand why people are reluctant to do so and that's what irks me at certain point. The level of committment is not the same and that's okay, I understand, but I will not be able to teach someone to do something in less than an hour and I cannot stop to teach someone for months about something because I also have some things to learn and do too!

In any case, my post-processing is not hard, I just manipulate the curves and selective color. It's not hard, it's nothing out of this world. I choose my colors according to moods I want to portray within the picture and often try to be as harmonious as I can when picking these colors, but other than that, there's no big trick, there's no secret. It all depends on what I find aesthetic and what not.