nature – Promoting Passion

Promoting Passion Week 68: Try, Fail, Repeat

brookeshaden — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:13:21 +0000

I have been working myself so hard lately that I decided this past weekend was solely dedicated to creating. I went out on Saturday to a lake and did a shoot I had been planning for ages, but it just didn’t work out. It looked beautiful thanks to the mostly-diffused sun behind the storm clouds, but when it came time to edit, the pieces just weren’t coming together. From crunched shadows to awkward composition, I just wasn’t feeling it. So I began to create something else the next day. I decided that in my bedroom I would create a magical little world.

This is the original sketch I drew:

But then, after I shot myself laying down on the floor, I got some ideas. What if I did _______, or what if _________ was more like ________. And so the shoot spiraled from what it was supposed to be to what it could be, and I loved that process of experimentation. When it came time to edit, I was excited to start piecing everything together. But the problem was I had shot it so fast that I didn’t give myself time to think it through. In the end, the pieces simply didn’t match for me. The nude figure with the shadow on the wall seemed not to go together. The hole in the wall worked better, but still, the nude form wasn’t the message I was trying to send.

And so, I reverted back to my original idea anyway. However, I learned so much about myself by trying something new and failing that it was completely worth it. I was able to recognize why it wasn’t working for me and how to fix it. I might still use those images and concepts that I temporarily put on the shelf, but not in this picture, and not today. Because what I learned this weekend was to have faith in my message, and that I have control over how I put it out into the world.

What is the message you’re trying to send with what you create?
Share a piece that you feel represents that!

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.

Dreaming of Ophelia

brookeshaden — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 14:14:56 +0000

When I think about who I am, I fall back and forth between two different characters. One is vibrant and happy while the other is more fascinating to me. She is not who I am, but who I dream of. She is melancholy, a dreamer, someone who longs to live in a fairytale world. She is spirit and ash. She rides the wind.

I have been creating so many images lately with heavy compositing, and I was loving that experimentation. I have no plans on stopping, either. But in that haze of image editing I decided to try for a simpler composition and shoot in my favorite spot in the forest. I went with my friend Kyna to take some photos. We had tea and chocolate and then sat in the ivy, burning candles and playing with wax.

Earlier in the day we visited a local Goodwill and found many books for the photo shoot. I bought about 25 of them and decided to make do with those. One that we found, which was extra special, was a huge anthology of Shakespeare’s works, with illustrations. It was incredible timing, as I was fashioning the character of the image around Ophelia.

When we got to the forest I opened up the Shakespeare book and turned to Hamlet where I found the page you see in the final image. I put a vine in her hair and posed her quite similar to the woman in the book, and decided to go for a play on characters: one mimicking the other.

To read is to escape; to become someone else; to wish for a new life. So much of reading is becoming, not just imagining. We can feel what they feel, and in doing so, become those characters, even if for a brief time. Escape, release, and imagination. These emotions are what books are made of. Enchantment.

Who are your favorite storybook characters?

Promoting Passion Video Blog: Not Enough Time? Make it!

brookeshaden — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 14:52:02 +0000

Finding time to do what you love is always an obstacle at one point or another. We are all busy, and I don’t like to glorify busy-ness, but at the same time, it can creep into our lives unnoticed until suddenly we haven’t any time left for the things we love.

So, how do I make time to create whenever I want to create?

It isn’t always as simple as that. I am a full time business owner and photography is my main schtick, but I do a lot more than that. I love teaching and writing and trying new things. And this is the story of most people. We have love for a diverse group of things, and I am no busier than anyone else; yet still I sometimes have trouble finding time to take pictures. I feel certain that others have this problem too.

When that happens, I have one solution that I work for whenever times get a little too busy: I shoot multiple images at once.

This requires pre-production, or planning on the part of the artist to make it all come together. Chances are, no matter how busy you are, you can find one hour a week to dedicate to yourself. There are obligations we have that are 24/7, but finding that one hour a week can be all the difference in pursuing your passion or letting it sit on the back burner.

So, whenever I’m having one of those weeks, I stock up. I plan multiple shoots and I go out and get it done all at once. I will typically use the same model, easy to change wardrobe, and a location that offers a different scene per image.

An example is that I used to go to a park early in the morning with at least 3 images in mind to shoot. The light would be good longer because it was nestled in between mountains, and I would shoot one against the rocks, one in the stream, one in the forest, etc…The first time I did this the 3 images below were the result.

I did that recently with my friend Kelly and her husband Chris. They came out to visit and we went shooting in my favorite forest nearby. In the span of 30 minutes to an hour (my allotment) we shot two different pictures. I was showing them around town and doing touristy things, and I didn’t want to force them to do shoots with me the whole week. So instead I budgeted my time and we spent one hour shooting together, from setup to tear down, and it was a blast.

It was fast-paced and exciting and everyone had a job to do, so no one felt left out. Because the setups were so similar, yet with very different results, we could move quickly with little confusion.

Alternately, if I know I’m moving into a particularly busy time, I will get a lot done the week before and then pace out how I edit it or release it. For example, I am about to fly to India and then Dubai for three weeks. I have not a single day of down time in those three weeks, so I know that I need to be prepared. I want to be able to release content regularly, plus I have a weekly Monday video to keep up with! So I have already shot all of that before leaving, and I simply have to press the UPLOAD button when I am ready to share (on days that I have specified on my calendar, because I’m that much of a nut).

So if you find yourself short on time and you’re not sure how to get your ideas out, try to plan carefully so that you can shoot multiple images all at once without wasting time or energy. I love being productive like that!