I have pretty much always been a creature of habit. It is a character flaw of mine. I find something that works efficiently and I cling to it like Rose clinging to Jack at the end of Titanic....well, maybe that was a bad comparison, but like Rose, it is time for me to let go of my habits and find new things to explore.
Studio photography is something that I briefly dabbled in when I shared a studio with another photographer in downtown Athens. It was a great space with tons of room, and I liked having a place that my client's could go and we could be shielded from weather, bad lighting, and anything else that has limits when you shoot outdoors. Problem was....I really had no idea what I was doing. I look back at those images now, and from a photographer standpoint, they are cringe worthy. Now, I KNOW those are people's memories, and they probably like them just fine. I, however, have taken off my rose colored glasses off and seen them for what they are worth. Now, for not knowing what I was doing and just winging the lighting until I got it where I wanted is pretty okay for someone who has never done it. But, the problem was I wasn't shooting with INTENTION and knowing exactly how I needed to do it to get the desired result. Some photographers call this "Spray and Pray". 😂 Which is exactly what I was doing, taking a MILLION frames and PRAYING that there was something worth using.
I stepped away from that studio quite a few years ago, and since then have basically sworn off of studio photography. I just thought it wasn't for me, and that I needed to let other people who were stellar at it have it. I didn't have the room for a studio, I didn't have the time to figure it out, and I didn't want to. There I said it. 😂 I was a snobby "natural light only" photographer. And until recently, I kept that mindset.
Then something changed. I wanted a change. I wanted to explore some areas of photography that I had never mastered and try to make them what I wanted in my head. Why couldn't I keep a style like I wanted and still shoot studio? I didn't see why I couldn't, and why I had fought the idea for so long..... Well, I know partially because the money required to buy the equipment is a little more than I was wanting to spend at the time, because I knew to do it right, there would have to be some money spent up front. And, if you don't know my husband....he SUPER doesn't like spending money. And more specifically, the thinks I spend too much money. But, I do, in his defense. Sometimes.
I sweet talked him into letting me buy a simple setup, for which I could turn my unused office into a studio at our house. My office has only been a catch all since we built our house 2 years ago, and I really never spent any time in there until about a month ago. It was full of crap I didn't want to deal with and stuff that I didn't want to organize...so I just threw it in there and closed the door.
With this new decision, and the purchase of the equipment made, I started to get excited. I got in there on our Snow Days a few weeks ago and cleaned it top to bottom and started organizing all my stuff. Seperating things that needed to be for studio, and things that needed to be stored. I am really happy with the results! I started a stock studio wardrobe, with dresses, outfits, headpieces, and props so that people can choose from my beautiful stuff and make it easier on them
A few days later, my stuff came in, and I started practicing on my babies. The result is exactly what I have wanted in my head. A way to get simple, timeless, elegant portraits of my kids without a bunch of fuss. To be able to capture them just exactly as they are in that moment. Because they will never be that young ever again. That magic of that day and time will never be the same again. Magic in the ordinary. The ability to capture my preteen before she becomes a full blown teenager and no longer wants to be my only model, my son in his awkward but endearing years, my baby before she is a kid then a preteen then grown.
I want to be able to do this for you too. You will absolutely not regret it.
With all that said, I am having a one time sale on Micro Minis this weekend so that I can get some good practice in. This Saturday and Sunday, and I have limited spots available. Email me or message me on Facebook for more info. They will never be this price again. 😘
