Last Day

Today was my last day at my internship and I was left with a bittersweet feeling. I am sad that it is over but am proud of the work I have done and the improvements I have made in my photography and am so grateful for the chance I had to work with Heidi. In the beginning of this internship I had no idea where I fit into the "photography world." Although I have a better idea of what I want my photography to look like, I don't think I will ever know my exact placement. But that's the thing; in photography (or with any art), there is no right or wrong answer. There are no "placements". Your art is yours and is unique to you. There is only one place for your art, and that is the place you choose to create.

Day Twelve

Today was probably one of my favorite days. I didn't do much other than edit, organize and upload more pictures but I got the chance to talk more with Heidi and look through old pictures that she has taken. It was nice to talk to Heidi and get to know her more on a personal level. It was also cool to look back on her personal photos and see how she has progressed in photography but also to see how her family has grown. Yes, this sounds cheesy but it reminded me of why photography is SO important. Photography isn't just meant to make people feel something, it is also meant to capture life moments so you are able to look back and see where you have been, what you have accomplished and remember the simplest times with the ones you care about. Photography captures a beautiful moment that is gone forever.

Day Eleven

Today I played around with "filter" affects using different objects like mirrors and the light off of the table. This was fun to experiment with because not a lot of photographers use this and it is an easy way to make an average picture more interesting. I also began to upload pictures onto my website. Looking through these photos gave me a sense of accomplishment. I could see the improvements over the last couple of weeks with not only my editing shills, but the quality of my pictures.

Day Ten

Today was a lower key day than others. I continued editing some pictures from my photo-shoot that I did Saturday and began to "sort" the photos into categories for my online portfolio. In addition, Heidi and I finished up my photography book and ordered it. Now, this may sound like a very calm and relaxing process, but that is quite the opposite. Let me rewind to Saturday at 4:30pm.

Once everyone arrived at my house we headed out to the field to take our pictures. Most photo-shoots start slow with some small talk to make it more comfortable for the "model", but not this one. We started with me counting to three and before I knew it bright red, yellow, green and blue powder was being thrown up into the air and onto the other models. As they threw the powder at one another Heidi and I began running around and even laying in the mud to capture the colorful storm. As we finished up with the powder, we moved onto the paint. Levi and Jenna grabbed their bottles of paint and showed no mercy to one another. When we finished the photo-shoot and began to head back, I looked at the ground and could only see bright patches of dirt and colorful streaks of paint in the dead grass. As I walked into my house, I followed a bright trail of shoes, umbrellas and clothes finding everyone huddled around the sink. Luckily it didn’t take long for people to clean up and they were out of there leaving me to the editing. On Sunday I headed out to Heidi’s house to finish some of the editing and to begin working on the book. Seven hours later after editing, resizing, cropping, selecting and organizing photos I left Heidi to order the final product. Thinking it was done, I came in this morning to finish editing and to play around with filters and lighting effects. However just a short while after my arrival, we got an email saying that the positioning of the photos in the book were just a little off and we would have to resize and position all of the photos again (which took another good two hours). Although this seems very tiring and tedious (which it was for the most part), I realized that this is a lot of what a photographer does (if not most of their job). I also learned that even though the process was very frustrating and stressful, you can’t let it get the best of you. You have to enjoy the process and enjoy the work you are putting into it. Otherwise you lose the appreciation for the art you have created and are going to share with others.

Day Nine

Today I finished working on my "logo" for my website and business card and continued taking and editing pictures. I also began to learn about how lighting works when using flash. This is a very important skill to understand because if misused, your pictures won't turn out well. There is a fill flash that lightens the shadows on the objects face which is connected to the body of the camera. However this flash tends to create unnatural and washed out tones in a photo. In addition to the fill flash, there are off-body flashes that are wirelessly connected to the camera that can be placed and moved throughout the room. These off-body flashes are more commonly used because they do not create such a harsh tone on the objects face and creates a more "balanced" look. This is just the very basic of my understanding but I hope to continue to learn more as I continue into the last week of my internship.

 

The first photo is a picture of the heart rock with a full fill flash on it. The second photo is where I used the flash but put a barrier between it and the object to bounce the light off of. When I created the barrier,  it made for a normal and balanced picture.

Day Eight

Today I gained a greater understanding of how Heidi's business works. She explained how the cost of her travel works, showed me the expenses of the programs she uses, explained the pricing of photos and expounded on why they prefer to have a smaller number of clients. Heidi explained to me that even though they have higher pricing than most photographers and a smaller client list, they enjoy having fewer clients and obtaining a bond or even friendship with them, rather than having a very large client list and never really getting to know them personally.  In addition she told me that she likes to take 2-3 weeks for turn-around time on her photos to ensure that she is doing her best making each photo unique so every one tells its own story and has its own emotion encompassed in it. This was really interesting and refreshing for me to hear because in our modern and fast paced society, it is so easy to lose site of why you are doing something. For Heidi she likes to slow down and take the time to remind herself why she is doing the task at hand and ensure that she is giving her clients not only the best photos, but the best of herself as well. This is something I believe we should all be reminded of and a skill I hope to improve upon as I advance in my photography and continue with my every day work at school.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” -William A. Foster

Productive

Today I surprisingly got quite a bit accomplished. I finished editing all of the pictures I have taken, Rachel and Ashley came to check in, we found a location for my photo-shoot, we further planned for my final project and laid out what needs to be done before the project, I learned how Heidi shows her clients their photos and the purchasing process and I got the chance to take more photos. Coming out of today I am looking forward to this next week and a half and am very excited for the project that we have come up with.

Day Six

Today was another low key day. I continued editing more pictures for my portfolio and worked on planning for the photo shoot I will be doing this Thursday. I look forward to this upcoming week and for Heidi's return.

The Not-So-Busy-Days

As Heidi is traveling, I have come to understand what it is really like to be a photographer. I think a lot of the time people (including myself) imagine photographers just taking pictures and that's it. But that is not the case. On Thursday and Friday I spent several hours just taking pictures and editing. As I was editing I found myself thinking "so this is what a photographer does". As a photographer, our job is to not only capture a simple moment in life, but, as Heidi puts it, we want to give them (the client) the best version of themselves. Editing is equally as important as the photo. Editing allows you to fix the not-so-perfect parts of a person and, more importantly, allows you to convey a tone and emotion that sometimes the picture itself cannot express. In other words, photography does not just imply taking pictures, it involves taking that single captured moment and turning it into an image that embodies the person and captures the emotion of that moment creating a photo that people are happy and proud to look back on.

Day Four

Today I continued to work on editing and taking photos and planning for my project. As we planned for this project I realized how much goes into a photo session. Not only do you have to find a time that works for everyone, but there is a lot of thought behind where it will take place, how long it will take, what attire people should wear, what time of day (have to carefully think about lighting) and what "new" vision you can take on a photo shoot so it is more unique. Nonetheless I up for the challenge and am looking forward to this upcoming week.

Day Three

Today was a good and simple day. I learned more about different types of lenses and the effect they have on each picture. I also focused a lot on editing. Heidi showed me her tricks when it comes to editing pictures and explained the different "types" (heavily edited, lightly edited, filters etc..) of editing there are and that each photographer edits differently. With this in mind, I used some of the photos I took yesterday and began to edit photos for my portfolio  Though the editing process is somewhat slow now, I can already see myself improving.

Day Two

Today was another great day. I started creating my own photography website and logo with Heidi. After, I went into town and started taking pictures of random moments in life. As I was looking around for photo opportunities, I realized that there are a lot of simple acts in life that are stunning.  There is something beautiful to me about kids laughing, friends talking and a man walking his best friend in the sunlight. This was a good reminder for me to slow down and try to enjoy the small things in everyday life.

First Day

“Starting this day, she was no longer going to be quiet, a wallflower no more.” - Magenta Periwinkle

Today was the first day of my internship. Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect and was a little nervous. But as my mentor, Heidi, welcomed me with a big smile and hug I knew there was nothing to fear. We sat down at her kitchen table and I started showing her some of my pictures. As I shared my pictures and how I got into photography and why I liked it it so much, it led into a long conversation of where we both find our inspiration and this later led us to what type of photography Heidi enjoys taking. As she showed me the types of photos she takes and the various other types of photography out there, I began to ask myself, "where does my photography fit into this?" Although I have not found an answer to this yet, I look forward to discovering this through these next weeks.