create – Promoting Passion

Promoting Passion Week 65: Proofing Images

brookeshaden — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:20:36 +0000

If you create works of art that will eventually be printed, it is important to know how to proof your work. From understanding colors to making sure what you envisioned actually turns into your vision, it can all be rather boring yet still necessary. I personally have always been a little bit neurotic when it comes to proofing my works. I want to make sure it all looks the same across each medium. So here are some tips to proofing your work before you hit “print”, and even after.

1. When creating a new piece of art, don’t publish just yet. Sleep on it! We get so immersed in our craft that we sometimes forget to step away and look again with fresh eyes. We begin to perceive colors based on the previous changes that had been made instead of seeing it anew, as our first reaction to the color. Lightness and darkness can be perceived differently based on what we had been looking at prior to the art, so this is also helpful to step away from and see differently.

2. When thinking about composition, which is not as easy to see with a fresh set of eyes, consider mirroring your image in Photoshop. Simply go to Image–>Image Rotation–>Flip Canvas Horizontally. This will mirror your image and trick your mind into seeing everything in a different way. Suddenly the light will look different and the whole composition may seem off-balance, as one example. It is the perfect way of seeing your creation from a whole new perspective.

3. Look at your art on different backgrounds. Try a white background and then a black and see if it changes how you view the work. You might find your image to be better suited to a white background, or you may appreciate seeing more details when it pops against the black.

4. Upload your image to social media – privately. In Facebook, I open my messages and send myself the picture. No one else can see it, and I can see how the image looks both in thumbnail form and sized for the web. I can also see if social media is distorting the image at all – either through compression or hue/saturation/lightness shifts.

5. Look at your image on multiple monitors. I personally always look at a “finished” piece on my desktop, my laptop, and then my phone. Each has a slightly different color profile. My laptop is less saturated than my desktop, and my phone is somewhere in between. It helps to show you what others might see based on the monitor they have, and could even show flaws in the piece when looking at a less saturated screen.

6. When printing, if possible, look at your image on your printer’s computer. I don’t live near my printer anymore, but when I did I would sit with him (mostly in my earlier printing days) and see how my image looked on his monitor, knowing that it would print similarly to what I saw on the screen. Recognizing differences between your computer and your printer’s computer is good to know, since you can then calibrate your monitor to match your printer’s.

7. Create a small proof when you feel you are ready for print. A “proof” is a smaller version of the actual print you want in order to test colors, lightness, etc.. Most good printers will offer proofing services, and if they do not, you might want to ask specifically for that service or find someone who will proof with you. This allows you a first glimpse at your work in person, and helps the printer know what changes need to be made.

8. Create the actual print in the size you desire. Here is an admission – I don’t proof my prints anymore, or at least not regularly. My printer and I have worked together for five years now, so he knows very well what my prints should look like. He knows that if something looks too green, I won’t like it. He will reprint without even asking because he knows my work intimately now. Whenever you feel comfortable, print your image and be proud!

9. Ask your printer to save that proofed file. Once you get the print you like, save that image on his computer so that in the future, should you need to print that image again, you do not have to proof the image again. The printer can always print from that proofed file, until the next image comes into play and the process begins again.

Model: Mika Mae Jones
Styling/Dress: Michelle Hebert
Makeup/Hair: Mariah Kraft

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.

Artist Retreats 2015!

brookeshaden — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:53:05 +0000

By far the most meaningful experiences of my last year have been at artist retreats. I have not just made new friends through them, but new families that I can grow and share experiences with…so much so, that one of the groups I met in France last year is traveling to Iceland together this year! These events are my heart and soul. I decided to host only two this year so that I can focus on making them extra special. I can’t wait to see how they unfold!

The first one is in France (Flayosc) May 21-25, 2015. We will be creating art in the chateau I visited last year and couldn’t get enough of, so I decided to go back. In a strange turn of events, I met a man in a grocery store parking lot who was originally from the U.S. and he owns a retreat center near the shooting location, so we booked his property to stay on during our time there!

The second retreat is an hour outside of Milan, Italy from July 6-10, 2015. When I found the mansion we’ll be creating at there was no way I could turn it down. I immediately exclaimed: “I hope someone comes and shares this with me!”. The house that is booked for our living accommodations is super luxurious (totally opposite of what I’m used to booking into!) and I can’t wait to see it in person.

Flayosc, FRANCE Milan, ITALY
May 21-25, 2015 July 6-10, 2015
$2,450 $2,800

www.brookeshaden.com/workshops

Both prices include all expenses while at retreat (living, food, locations, transportation, etc…). Travel to our living accommodations is the responsibility of attendee.

The difference between the retreats is that attendees share rooms (2 per room) in France whereas each attendee gets their own room in Italy.

The information packet details everything from our itinerary to addresses and info about the content of the retreat. If you decide to join me, be ready for an adventure and discovery of inner-inspiration. And lots of hugs. Always lots of hugs <3

The FRANCE location:

The ITALY location:

Promoting Passion Week 28: $15 Challenge

brookeshaden — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:55:36 +0000

I put a $15 limit on myself and went out to be inspired. From a thrift store to a convenience store, I found wardrobe and props that I could use in my image. I used absolutely nothing in the shoot that I didn’t purchase that day by putting found objects together to create a scene. It was an incredibly fun, liberating, and challenging way to shoot.

There is inspiration all around us, and I see no reason why we can’t grab hold of it and let it do it’s magic. Inspiration is not something that should be saved for those who have big budgets or expensive equipment. Take what you have no matter how much or how little that is, and create. Free your mind and soul. Let your voice be free.

If you do take this challenge, come back here and leave a comment with the resulting image that you created…or if you aren’t a photographer, take the same challenge but create something else entirely…an arts & crafts project, a piece of writing, a painting, etc…Create….because it will awaken something beautiful within.