I've reached a point with my photography that I feel discouraged. No, that's not the right word ... I feel ... dissatisfied with my limitations, I guess. Studio light is fine, I understand it and can manipulate it, but natural light is my downfall. I'm not very good. I spend way too much time fixing pics in Photoshop and RAW (I fear RAW has made me lazy). As I wrote to a friend:
"I feel like I have lost my way a little ... not with the artistic side because that always inspires me, (I am on a constant journey with that in a way, although I have so far to go), but with the technical side. I'm not talking studio, but natural light stuff ... I guess because studio pays my way I've been more concerned with that and have kind of walked away from natural light technicalities a little. I find that lately I spend too much time redeeming photos in Photoshop when I should have got them right at the time of taking the photo. I've reached a point where I want to knuckle down and start again and really try to attain some degree of real skill for the technical side of natural light for myself, even though I don't need it for my business. I really wanted to re-read Understanding Exposure but can't for the life of me find my book - I will do though, it will turn up. I plan to start from scratch and re-learn all of the basics and do more practising. I also need a lot more practise with my flash."
So that's what I'll be working on from now on - mastering natural light. So you can expect a lot of photos posted here (ha! I'm assuming I'll be creating good ones!) as I grow and learn. I'm excited but also a little daunted ... but the passion outweighs the trepidation. I am so grateful my friend Jeanette, whose work I admire enormously, is willing to help me along my journey. We met online when we were both trying for our first babies, and have stayed in touch ever since.
Now I need willing models! They are in short supply around here ... although I have plans for some of my friends ...
