Oh, hello. I won't even attempt to make excuses for my long hiatus from blogging.
To be honest I haven't been shooting a whole lot, but its okay! No, I'm not quitting photography. I'm just re-evaluating my approach to my work and it also goes along with my personal life.
The goal: Simple. Minimal. Quality over Quantity.
I don't want to produce hundreds of frames per session anymore. I want to focus on singular pieces that will be appreciated on their own... or paired but most importantly....appreciated!
So while on my break to re-evaluate I decided to attend the annual Pittsburg State University seminar: Perspectives of Photography. I've never actually gone to a workshop or seminar for photography before so this was a little bit of a leap for me to do alone (I know lame it was only an hour away in Pittsburg, but still!) I grabbed my bag, booked my first hotel room alone for the first time and enjoyed the break from my everyday routine.
The first course I attended, "The Psychology of Sales in Photography" was probably my favorite course from the entire seminar. Hosted by David and Whitney Scott of Whitney Scott Photography [
See their work here], the pair casually talked with us about how we can serve our clients in the best way possible. No, none of us are sales people, shocker. We are awkward artists that just want to make you feel things, so we didn't walk out of there ready to intimidate our clients into submission, but instead ready to make our clients experience a smooth ride. I could have listened to them all weekend to be honest, but then again David and Whitney are a husband and wife duo with little ones so I feel like I could relate to them on that level. :D
My second course was a Fine Art Photography shoot with Brian DeMint. [
See Brian's work here] Brian is known for his mixed media, overlay, style, of fine art photography and it was a pleasure to work with him and see how his process develops as he prepares for a shoot. Brian usually prepares his models himself, creating head pieces and gowns on the fly with whatever supplies he can find.
Overall the seminar went well and it certainly lit a fire in me to expand my horizons and try something even bigger in the the upcoming year. Maybe something that will challenge me creatively even more...we shall see.
In the mean time, enjoy my shoot with Brian DeMint from Day 1 of the seminar. I ADORE the way some of these turned out, with a gritty emotional feel.
Love, Shelby
Styling: Brian DeMint
Model: Autumn Lasley
Processed with Morgan Burks Autumn Action Set and Film Grain Textures
