Busy but not productive

Despite appearances to the contrary, I have not forgotten this blog.  I’ve just had an extraordinarily busy – if not productive – month.  Weird, isn’t it, how being busy does not necessarily mean you’ve been productive?

I’ve been working on a freelance graphic design project – laying out a children’s book for its author – that tied up the first three Sundays of this month.  Graphic design is not my first love, but it brings in money when I can find the work, and that is a good thing.  It’s also not particularly noteworthy work to go into a photography blog.

I’ve also been working hard on putting together a shop on the Etsy website.  It would be a way to fund some of my photography by actually selling it to people other than the ones who have me take their pictures.  I won’t pretend it’s been successful, but I’m adding to my selection every day and taking notes on what may or may not sell well.  Note cards are a potential good seller, for instance, but I have to find the way to produce them that doesn’t cost more than they will sell for.  Not spellbinding stuff for a photography blog.

And there was the photo shoot that the client thought he could short-change me on.  My photo shoots are charged based on a two-hour minimum.  If the shoot is over in one hour, you still pay for two hours of my time.  Trying to talk me out of this – especially after you’ve agreed to the terms – is not a good idea.  I stood my ground, I got paid, and ultimately, the client is happy with his photos.  If there is a lesson there, I guess it is that you should never compromise on the important things.  Your time, your effort, and your results are worth a certain negotiated amount, and you shouldn’t settle for less.

Throw in a wedding, making prints as gifts, mailing things, replacing four tires on my car, and the absence of a very important person in my life, and things were just really busy.  With all of this going on, I haven’t spent a lot of time shooting for pleasure, which makes me a little sad.  I guess all work and no play really makes Travis a dull boy.

From My Perspective

Perspectives are weird things.  Depending on your perspective, things can look very different, be it in unimportant things like religion or politics, or in the really important stuff, like photography.  Being in the right place at the right time, being willing to engage your model, and not feeling bound to conventional poses can help you capture truly compelling images of your subject, and in some cases, can even help you to capture the essence of their personality.

Case in point is a photo by my friend Anna of my friend Grace:

Grace is a delightfully quirky young woman with a playful side, and this photo captured that perfectly.  My own attempt (below) caught some of that playfulness, though not nearly as dramatically as the image above

By snapping the photo of Grace lurching at the camera, Anna used her perspective to really capture Grace’s playfulness, and made a better image. 

Meanwhile, feeling inspired by the interesting perspectives one sees when multiple photographers are hanging out with each other, I tried a couple of experiments myself:

Here Anna takes her leisure on the grass.  And here’s Brandon, taking his leisure on a lawn chair.

Portraiture has a lot of good guidelines, but occasionally, stepping out of the lines and trying something new will yield a surprising and fun result.  So shake things up occasionally; you never know what you’ll discover.