A little less than a year ago, I remember having a conversation with a good friend of mine about my “vision.” She’s an amazing wedding planner here in the valley (KDP Events). We were at a networking event, surrounded by the OG’s of the industry and I was lamenting about how hard it was for me to “pick a voice.”
“I love it all!” I told her. And I did. At that point in my career, being relatively new, I remember thinking that every other photographer's image was amazing! I loved the editorial, “edgy” element of the digital Phoenix photographers I had started to follow. But I also loved the light, airy, romantic images, I saw being produced by really talented Scottsdale, film photographers.
“How can I choose?!” I asked her. How could I chose my path if I loved it all? She smiled at me and said. “Don’t worry about being anyone else. Just be you. You’ll figure it out.”
At the time, her words didn’t seem too prophetic, but this past week, I’m telling you guys, things are starting to get oh-so-clear.
I’m a lot like pretty much everyone else in the free world. I browse through Instagram, I throw a heart of posts I think are beautiful and I usually move on. If an image is really spectacular, I’ll check out that person’s feed and give them a follow if I think they are super talented. I did that months ago for a wedding photographer duo I found out of California; Lin and Jirsa.
Well, social media being what it is, and Facebook being the uncanny, digital stalker that it is, a few weeks ago, Creative Live popped up on my feed. If you’re a photographer, or any other type of digital artist, you need to scope out this site. It’s got a ton of modern, cutting-edge training from the movers and shakers in multiple industries.
So I decided to buy a course on Creative Live, mainly because Lin and Jirsa were giving an engagement session course! But the one I fell in love with was the training put on by Rocco Ancora and Ryan Schembri.
Over the past several months, you’ve probably heard me gushing over Jerry Ghionis and his incredible work with light, shadow, and all things that fall under the “fine art” category of photography. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Rocco and Ryan are also from Australia, they also are obsessed with chasing interesting light, they are best buds with Jerry, and they have now been added to my circle of guru’s that I have fallen head over heals for. Not only have I fallen for their work, but I’ve fallen in love with the concept of “interesting light.”
Now, instead of viewing hard, strong, directional light as something to run from, I’m running TOWARDS it. With each new shoot, I’m thinking about Caravaggio, and Baroque painters, and how I can create images that aren’t just “pretty wedding photos” but that are works of art, all on their own. I literally dream about this type of light now, and have a hard time sleeping before a shoot, because I’m wondering about the light I’ll encounter. How much fun is a growing period like this!? I can’t wait to create more images this year. And to grow. I hope it’s as dramatic and evolving as the last! Stay tuned : )
