Last week I was in Chicago where I taught a class about storytelling and gave a lecture about “permission” and it was an absolute pleasure to be there with that group. I left feeling energized and inspired and ready to take on the world! Since I’ve been back, I really have! I’ve been making more connections with charity organizations, setting to-do lists and marking everything off, and feeling generally productive yet calm. What a way to feel. Sometimes I forget that all of that good feeling is harnessable and that sometimes it takes a mental shift. Hooray!

While in Chicago I photographed this image! I have certainly seen large key images before. I recognize the key to be a universal symbol as well as one that is easy to grab onto and create with. After all, it is timeless and beautiful and textured. What photographer wouldn’t love that?! Well, I can think of a lot, but this one does! I’ve created large key images before, but this one was special because of who I created it with.

My friend Jane Love came and modeled and she is always an inspiration, so I dedicate the finished image to her. Not to mention to all of the people I connected with. I felt like we were all unlocking things within ourselves that I hope will only go deeper as time goes on.

I wanted to share how this image was put together since it was shot for a class. This isn’t a portfolio piece, but it sure was a blast to create, and with really minimal elements, too! I created two GIFs because it was a two step process. Originally I was going to try and keep the subject on the same background she was photographed on, but decided the ground wasn’t dynamic enough (I have a thing with mowed grass) and so I moved her to a more wild looking New Zealand field.

What have you done recently that made you feel connected, inspired, or motivated?

Isn’t int incredible how much we can do? I haven’t scratched the surface of what could be done to bring my imagination to life, and thinking about the possibilities makes me giddy with excitement. I can go out and create something singlehandedly that could express what words cannot. I say “I” selfishly as I write on my own blog, but of course I mean that to extend to all people with any craft. Photography allows me a medium in which I feel comfortable working. But I believe that anything in life that allows you to feel complete and understood is an art form.

Creating this image was fun and simple. I love pictures like that. No crazy setup (aside from dragging all of these vines into an abandoned seminary). No strange Photoshop work of putting body parts together. No flying girls or anything “fancy”. Just a girl standing trapped (or maybe willingly blended) into the scene. It felt, to me, the right kind of simple for what I wanted to say.

What does your fantasy world look like? If you could wake up and see anything, hear anything, smell anything…what would it be? Do you work to create that reality?

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You can watch the creation process of this image, and some of the editing slowed down, on my creativeLIVE class “Master Your Craft” – you can look at both of my cL classes in the STORE on this blog.

Special thanks to Jane Love for modeling, Nikoma Souza for hair/makeup, and the whole creativeLIVE team for just plain being amazing and allowing me to do this.

I can’t help but love to use butterflies in my work because of this exact sentiment. The idea of metamorphosis is so often pushed past because, well, who has time for it? Many do not have the luxury of reflecting on life and making solid changes…or at least it seems that way. It doesn’t have to take long at all, but it should happen. Because if we aren’t thinking about being someone better than who we are now, where is the growth?

This relates so well to any type of creative endeavor. For me, it’s photography. I create best when I am growing and when I understand who I am and what I want to say. I could never understand that if I didn’t take time to cocoon myself and reflect and ultimately, grow.

I will never take my best picture because each one moves me further in the direction of my dreams, which are always growing and expanding.

Just like these butterflies coming from the imagination and moving outward, so do the ideas and dreams in my mind. They spread their wings and move on to further reaches of the world to make room for more. We are always moving forward, and keeping all of those butterflies trapped within will only kill them.