Perfect Practice
It's something that could never bore you. When you find it, you want to build your life around it. You build a giant fort and invite everyone you know inside so they can see how cool your fort is and then they'll ask you to teach them how to build one of their own, giving you the satisfaction of knowing that your fort was so cool that someone else wants to build one too. That's how I define a passion. Some people never find one in their lifetime, but others find too many. I have two: travel and photography.
For as much as you can love a passion, I think it's good to take a break from it every once in a while. Do something new so that it never loses its fire. Falling into a routine is the quickest way to cramp creativity and when that happens, it's easy to take beauty for granted. In travel photography my fire is fueled by that rush of stepping off the garden path into something outrageously new. I'm lucky that this innately inherits an affect of constant change but it's still easy to lose sight of why you love it.
So now every time I feel my motivation damper just a bit, I try to turn to something new. I like a challenge. For someone who recognizes how much she hates routine, this has been a huge part of what keeps me glued to photography. I thrive on change and this month, something new means portrait photography. That may not sound like much of a stretch but it's always something I've struggled with; personal connection, storytelling and movement based on real life. I majored in breaking the laws of physics, so real life sometimes doesn't work the way I want it to.
After a few sessions with friends, I can already say that both my pre- and post- methods have changed for the better. I like to fly blind and learn things the hard way, so figuring out this whole people thing has been a thrill for me.
I don't think I'll ever call myself a portrait photographer, but I'm excited to continue growing as one. It's a valuable thing to learn a new trade because even if you don't end up sticking with it, you learn a lot about yourself.
I still have a lot of portrait-related ideas floating around up here, so if you're interested in modeling or learning with me, send me a message and we'll talk about Life, the Universe, and Everything.