bluejay – Promoting Passion

Promoting Passion Week 58: Start to Finish

brookeshaden — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 16:16:18 +0000

Getting to know your process is so key in understand how and why you create. After all, the finished picture is a representation of all the time and energy you put into creating it. It stands for more than the finished concept; it stands for your process. For me, a lot of great images are ones where the process is not wholly apparent, where you look and wonder how they achieved a certain look. Whether it is a Gregory Crewdson piece that has me wondering about the set that must have been built, or Jamie Baldridge image that has me wondering what is real and what is not, the process often plays a question in the final image.

In my personal journey of discovering how I like to create, I formed habits and practices that not only allow me to achieve certain looks, but more importantly dictate how happy I am going to be shooting something. If I can be in nature, I am having a good day! So when I create, I love to be in nature, shooting as much as possible on location. I love having all of the details written out beforehand so that when I create, I know exactly what needs to happen. I would say, with some confidence, that patience is not my strongest virtue. So to be able to go on location and shoot what is needed, efficiently, is a great joy to me.

I have 3 more images from this shoot that I am currently editing, but wanted to share with you, start to finish, how this image was created. It is part of a larger series that I’m still shooting this week, but it is a good representation of the intentions of the series as well as technically how they will be put together. This video explains it all.

I’d love to hear from you about a couple of things! First, what is your typical process like? Do you have a must-not-skip step? Or something that makes your process unique? And are you working on a series, or perhaps brainstorming one now? I look forward to being inspired by you!

Model: Kyna Lian

Assistant: Kelly McGrady

Music by Cyra Morgan “Hummingbird”, licensed from SongFreedom.

Promoting Passion Week 55: How Do You Create?

brookeshaden — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:27:04 +0000

There is nothing that I love more than being in the forest creating a self-portrait, because that means I am spending time where I feel most alive and I get to see myself as a character filled with magic. I want so badly to be a woodland creature, spending my time among the animals, communing with them. Self-portraiture allows for that to be a reality.

When I create I’m often running back and forth between my spot where I’m posing and the camera, checking things like focus and angle and composition. I usually find myself flipping my hair about, or tensing my muscles – bringing the character to life. Sometimes my shooting process is so quick that I invent other things to do while I’m out – a different take on a shoot. Sometimes I collect sticks or leaves to take home with me, though they never make it far into the house.

Editing is always such a journey, and I get lost in it. Hours pass and I have no idea. I forget to look up from my screen until my cat meows for food and I realize darkness has fallen, and the only light comes from my bright screen. I imagine how if I could see myself from afar, my face would be lit blue from the blue fabric I’m editing together. Everything in life is so cinematic, and I draw inspiration from that to go wild with blue in this edit – take it to the extreme.

I love playing with extremes when I edit, often adding a lot of saturation and pulling back later to finesse it. Sometimes I wonder how I find the discipline to do anything but shoot and edit all day long, but when I finish my mind returns to normalcy and I feel fulfilled – transported – alive.

How do you create? I would love for you to share your process with me, either in general or in relation to a specific creation. If you write a comment here, share a blog post on the subject, or record a video response I will be sure to choose one to feature – just make sure you share a link with me in these comments.

Photographing Jenny from The Bloggess

brookeshaden — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 11:55:17 +0000

A year ago I received an email asking if I would photograph someone as a gift – a single portrait of art that would capture her essence. A tall order, but one that I love attempting. I accepted, and then, I promptly did not do it. I was nervous to fail. I was nervous to meet everyone. In general, I was just being my usual scared self, when that version of me decides to emerge.

How serendipitous that turned out to be, for it is that understanding of darkness and seeing the light at the end that ties me so well to my new friend Jenny, who I had the privilege of photographing in April. When we met, and we sat down together at lunch and I got to hear her stories, I felt so connected in a way that I’m not sure I can describe – it was a completely silent recognition of myself in the way she lives her life…and while I cannot lay even an inch’s claim to how amazing she is, I can identify with the struggles we both go through.

It was only late in the process of going to photograph Jenny that I learned of what a huge presence she is in the literary world. As a New York Times #1 bestselling author and popular blogger (like…really, really popular), I felt like I was going to meet a celebrity. And after meeting her, I have that feeling even more so. Not because of her demeanor, but because of her humble way of almost rejecting the spotlight while refusing to be anything but herself.

When the shoot rolled around I felt so comfortable with everyone. I toured her house and marveled at the treasures they’ve collected over the years, and then shyly asked if we could tear down a particular birdcage that I had fallen in love with. When we got to the location, I asked if she could jump up into a tree. The answer was ‘no’, but not for lack of trying, as the tree was taller than she was. So her amazing husband lifted her up into it, and we got to shooting.

I explained the concept as best I could and, after pinning fabric all around her (I’m not sure anyone understood what I was doing), we moved the fabric about to create motion as I told her how to pose, and I got the shot quickly and swiftly. I lit some smoke bombs to photograph with the bird cage, capturing many different angles just to be sure it would fit together, and afterward, I said, as I always do: I’m not sure if that worked, but I’m going to try my best. And I meant it.

I got home and I did try my best, putting pieces together. And only when I felt as though the image conveyed the strong and beautiful woman that she is did I send it along. I was heart-pounding nervous for a response, and cried when she said she liked it. You can read her blog post about it here: Jenny the amazing Bloggess.

Promoting Passion Video: Free Your Imagination

brookeshaden — Sun, 18 May 2014 11:40:43 +0000

One morning last week I was sitting outside as the sun was rising. A bluejay followed me to where I was sitting and perched in a tree close by. We looked at each other for a long while until he flew off. A minute later he returned, this time with 2 friends. They sat all around me that morning and I felt so at peace, feeling accepted by nature and the beauty within.

I took that inspiration, and one of the birds that I photographed that morning, into a story idea. I felt, so much that morning, like my imagination was being freed. I felt as though those birds symbolized so much, and I wanted to put that into a photograph. I went to work creating this picture with origami birds.

I had never created origami before, which is very challenging, and even more so when using thick construction paper, but I made it work after twenty minutes of frustration. When my little blue crane emerged, who I lovingly named Cranium, we went shooting. The shoot itself was very calming. I kept finding myself staring into the distance smiling at nothing in particular. I was just happy to be creating.

The song in the video (Conquering Heights by James Dooley, courtesy of Song Freedom), seemed the perfect fit. It matched what I heard in my mind that day. I love how birds can be such a symbol of freedom, and the vibrant color of my little bluejays felt like a fairytale. I always equate that color blue with a serene and magical fairytale, and so I too felt like I was part of another world. Even shooting, in that less-than-glamorous location, I could feel I was somewhere else entirely.

I hope that you enjoy the video and that you feel inspired to free your imagination.