“Um… DUH, Madeline!”

This was the motto for month three of my 365 project.

In a good way, though. Definitely a good way. I learned a lot of things this month that, now that I look back on it, I wonder what took me so long to figure it out. I have realized that when you’re self-taught, sometimes you learn how to tango before you even know how to walk. Sometimes it’s a wonderful thing, though, to realize that at least I’m up and moving and I’m happy with my progress!

Anyway, there were ten things that stood out to me over the course of the last thirty or so days, so I thought I’d share:

 

     1. It pays to stick through with things

As you’ve seen, this past month I finished Daughters of the King. After working on it pretty consistently for the past three years, I feel such an immense sense of accomplishment from crossing that finish line. I know I poured my heart into this project, and did everything I could to make these images the best they could possibly be. Finishing something like that, getting that feeling when you finally hit “POST” on that last image, is so, so worth the effort…

Now on to the next series!

 

 

     2. Figure out your lighting before hand

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved dark images with distinct sources of light. Beautiful, wouldn’t you agree? However, this little girl never actually photographed these sources of light in camera (in real life), but rather spent HOURS creating them artificially in photoshop afterwards (and then getting depressed that they never looked right… and then asking her incredibly patient cousin, Stephen, to help her fix it). So Stephen, I’m sorry I always make you fix my problems. You really are the best big cousin-brother!

 

 

     3. Look all the way through your SD cards before formatting them!

This one was an instance of learning the hard way. An instance of “I know I backed up all my cards onto my hard drive, I’m not going to take the time to check before I format this card”. Because apparently I was in too big of a hurry to take three seconds to check my card before I clicked “delete all” and a week’s worth of photos for my 365 were gone. With no backups anywhere. Yes, my gut sank all the way down to my pinky toes when I realized it. Looking on the bright side, I just finished shooting round two and the process was much more streamlined the second time around!

 

 

     4. Use a tripod when doing video

The amount of time I spend in iMovie using the “stabilize video” feature is kind of ridiculous (although I truly am glad they have that feature because otherwise my videos would probably give you motion sickness just sitting on your couch right now.)

 

 

5. In a studio setting, make it brighter than you think you need to

Another thing my cousin has been telling me for weeks now that I just started learning this month. Face palm. Seriously. In the past, all my indoor photos have felt… well, like I was in the final match of a tug-o-war championship, the image and myself pulling and pulling against the other, both of us equally determined to not end up in the mud pit in the middle. Sometimes I won and ended up loving the image (hello my pretties: here, here, and here). Sometimes I left with a bruised creative energy and a crappy photo (erm…. Not such a fan of how THIS one turned out, unfortunately).

 

 

     6. When doing crazy makeup, a gentler hand is called for.

This month I finally learned not to be so heavy handed with the crazy makeup. Apparently somewhere along the line a disconnect occured between knowing that every-day makeup shouldn’t be caked on, and fantasy makeup should? For months I have caked on white or gold facepaint, thinking it was getting cracks and splotches in the makeup because it wasn’t thick enough. Turns out it was because it was TOO thick (just like normal makeup). Duh!

I have some photos being released soon with my newfound technique and  I am really, really excited about these! Sneak peak: it includes white hair and blue cheekbones. 🙂

 

 

     7. Everything takes longer than you think it will (or at least, then I think it will).

The number of times I found myself at the sewing machine, scrambling to finish a project just minutes before I was due to be shooting with that costume, or the number of times I found myself editing an image I had planned on sharing three days ago are far, far too many to count. I like to think I have an optimistic outlook on life. In the case of how much time I have, I should probably learn to be a bit more pessimistic… if not realistic at the very least.

 

 

     8. iPhone’s are wonderful for making spotlights

This month I experimented with using my iPhone flashlight for a lot of things: catch lights to light up the eyes, illumination where I would later be adding a glowing object in photoshop, fill light on the face. It made my photoshop process SO. MUCH. EASIER!

 

 

     9. I really need to buy a remote.

This one is pretty self-explanatory (and I think was probably on last month’s list…. Just because I learned it doesn’t mean I implemented…. Guilty as charged…). I’m not sure running back and forth between the camera, trying to get settled into position before your timer goes off should count as exercise, but right now it definitely does. I guess I’m grateful for the extra calories burned!

 

And the most important thing I learned:

10. I don’t love photoshop as much as I used to! (Collective gasps, please).

BUT! Surprisingly, I am totally, 100% fine with that! Now, I’m not saying I hate photoshop. Far from it. I still love it. But this month I finally acknowledged something that my mind has been whispering to my heart for quite some time now. I love the creative process. I love drawing the costume sketches, sewing the costumes, doing the crazy makeup, and make the props by hand from scratch, not in retrospect with a computer program. But I also love touching up and adding a little bit of magic with photoshop afterwards. I guess I’m realizing that when before my work depended so heavily on the post processing, now I have found a passion for the work that goes into an image before I even pick up the camera.

 

 

Sometimes it seems a little daunting to think that I have roughly 250 more photos to take before this project is over. But then I remind myself to take it one day at time, one week at a time, and one month at a time. One of my favorite parts is compiling my favorite images from the last month and seeing what I have to add to my portfolio. I’m only about a quarter of the way into this project, but so far I have enjoyed the ride.