If you live and create from a place where you feel comfortable, doing only what you know how to do, doing what you've always done, how do you ever expect to grow?
While down in Vancouver this summer, the opportunity to try out fashion/glamour photography came up and I jumped at the project instantly. For the first time, the vision, hair, make up, location and model were already decided upon and all I had to do was show up. There was going to be two looks: A sleek/urban/natural look, and a glamorous/vibrant/resort look. I was far more comfortable with the sleek option because it more closely resembled my style of shooting and editing, and at the same time looked forward to trying out something new with the resort look.
After a comedy of errors, we only had time to photograph one look and to my slight dismay, the glamour option won out. We were racing against the setting sun, there were hundreds of people around and were in a corner of Vancouver I haven't shot in before, but the shoot went as well as it could have. Afterwards, I had thoughts of "Did I do enough?", "How many photos are even going to turn out?", "Should I have tried different angles/settings/flash/accessories/locations/poses (etc.) instead?", and many more doubts along those lines for the few days before I would return home and be able to download the shots. Thankfully, those doubts subsided once I got the images onto my computer.
This shoot definitely pushed me out of my creative comfort zone.
All the decisions were made for me, plans had fallen though, our hairstylist didn't show up, the location had its difficulties, and I was trying to capture and edit a style that was foreign to me... And yet in the end, I was able to deliver a set of images that the clients loved! It felt good to be challenged. On all fronts. I loved exploring a new style and the pressure of the situation made it impossible to overthink anything in the moment. Yes I had my concerns afterwards, but for the few things I could have done differently my gear picked up the slack. A shot could have framed differently was easily cropped with no quality lost because of the amazing 36MP sensor of the Nikon D810. If a shot was too under/over exposed the dynamic range saved the day. Every. Time.
Ultimately this shoot gave me two things: It recharged my creative batteries by challenging me into a new realm, and it gave me a renewed appreciation for my gear. I know Nikon's market share is tanking lately but oh man do I love my gear.
Photography: @lizacurtiss.portraits
Model : @margi.nova
HMUA : @makeupbyhappi
Location : Vancouver Waterfront
Gear : Nikon D810, Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art, Sigma 20mm 1.4 Art
