Two Inspiring Photos from the Week
and how they made me feel more expressive and authentic
I used to see editing RAW photos on my laptop as a tedious journey of striving for perfection, but I unexpectedly found new creative fun and freedom in using tools that previously intimidated me.
Let’s take a look at two images that I shot this week and how each of them slightly adjusted my creative direction and gave me a whole new environment to think about my images as starting points to more creativity in the edit bay later.
These two images build upon the style that I initially stumbled upon earlier in the month here and developed further last week here.
Previously when I was shooting photos it was an effort in capturing a very distinct moment with authenticity and clarity, but using some of my new photographic techniques I have relatively little idea how an image is going to turn out when I’m in the actual process of shooting it.
Let’s take a look at the first image this week that made me think slightly differently about my photography and how it allowed something new to be created later from that inspiration.
jumping into the unknown with color
In some of my last posts I’ve talked about how I actively choose to jump into the creative unknown throughout the process of my creativity.
This week I was left with a new challenge. It wasn’t in finding creativity in my photography, but instead in how I edit my photos.
When I’ve approached my editing before it felt like an exhaustible dive into perfection. It felt like the image that I captured was good, but I needed to FIX IT to make it better. And worse, the time that I put into it felt like a diminishing return.
I was editing on efficiency, giving a little more light and clarity to my images but not feeling like it was a new creative process so much as the last holdover from my last photoshoot.
However, when I was editing this photo, I was pushed to explore it a little bit more, to dive into other color settings in my image editor and infuse new creative energy into my editing.
Using this new lighting and photography style, I’ve been able to create more vibrant images that retain a soft smooth feeling while maintaining the authenticity of the person being photographed.
When I applied my edits to this photo I was left feeling that there was more opportunity to it. In the past I might have met that feeling with frustration and futility, but this time I felt different. I felt curious.
I knew what I wanted. I appreciated the soft nature of the image that I was able to achieve, but the colors felt a little flat. They didn’t feel like they were representative of the kind, gentle, compassionate, and vibrant energy that was present when the image was taken.
I could see it in my imagination, but now I wanted to see about creating it. For the longest time, this color editor was too intimidating to me. Adjusting one hue of red would have a knock on effect of other colors eventually creating a mess of colors removed from the original image.
But this time I went back to a set of tools that previously felt intimidating and instead started to play with them.
What I found was a completely new experience. Where this tool felt intimidating before, it now matched up differently to the RAW images I was using the tool on.
Previously I would have been using this tool in an image that felt natural or to a scene that was based in reality, but with my new images we were starting from a point of creative freedom. Where before the unnatural shift felt like a cumbersome and limiting change now felt like a dynamic paintbrush to paint something completely new.
Within a few seconds I could subtly see the image I wanted coming to form in front of me.
All those things I felt as faults turned out to be exactly what I was looking for; I just had to change the type of images I was giving it.
Following my post about a story circle, it was time to take this new knowledge back out into the world.
going back into the world
With this new knowledge in hand I did another photoshoot with a friend. This time in his own studio space where we could make use of his lighting that he uses for sound bath meditation livestreams.
I went into this photoshoot with a new vantage point on how the light could be played with in the room, on the camera, and all the way through post production to accurately represent how I felt at the time of shooting it.
We were talking earlier in the week about my previous insights of seeing my photography similar to breath work (previous post here) and we just wanted to see what would come about if we set that as a more guided intention.
As we continued shooting we started to pivot more into his own form of frequency modulation and music making.
Now, during the shoot, it felt as if I was seeing his talents differently and that I had a new way of showing the emotional resonance I was feeling in the room. In addition, I was actively creating another rich and enjoyable experience for me to cherish in the not to distant future.
This image is something that I could not have taken until a few weeks ago, and could not have got the resulting image until a few days ago.
More important than the creative expression, this new discovery feels more authentic to the ways that I actively choose to see the external world. Although the images might be more wild and surreal, they actually feel more accurate to my own experiences.
When I talked to him about this photo afterwards I didn’t quite have the words in my mind that I know now, but thankfully I hang out with the right people that can help me see through to the important parts.
Just remember, we’re all looking for a little more confidence in our creativity.
There’s magic in actively finding yours.
Go do the thing.
Make it weird.