I’ve always loved that my name is Brooke. I’ve identified with streams and creeks my whole life, felt such an affinity with little moving rivers. I love creating in water. I love the shock of it, the abnormality of it. I love the organic movement, the softness of it, the tremendous power of it.

Create in or with water for this challenge. I’m especially eager to see what this brings.

I’ll pull some of the art that I see this week to feature!
Use the hashtag #PromotingPassionChallenge so I can find you!

Here is some food for thought. Enjoy the challenge, and remember to push yourself creatively!

“I’m going to jump in there,” I told myself.

The day before these things always seem like a grand idea, the type that happens in movies but rarely in our real lives. A fantastic gesture, a willingness to take hold of your own destiny. Movie characters amaze us in this way. We strive to be more like them, but rarely do we go through with it.

I wondered why I was doing this. I wondered if it was really worth it. I wondered why I ever put my self through these situations. Yet still, I set up my camera, put a beautiful dress on, and steadied my breathing. I didn’t want to jump in that water. I had no desire in that moment to do it. And that is precisely why I knew I had to.

And so I jumped…or rather, waddled awkwardly across the rocks that stood in my way at the shoreline. And when I got to where I wanted to take a picture, I sat down in the water, splashing my way in, and took a deep breath before laying my head back. I was only in that freezing water for a minute, or maybe even less. It was almost too much. It tested me. It pushed my limits. And then I was out, getting back to dry land as fast as I could, the first rays of sun just barely kissing the mountain peak in the distance.

Even after we drove away and left the lake behind us my toes were still burning from the cold, and I thought, at first, that I didn’t enjoy the experience. I don’t like jumping in cold water. But then again, that was never the point. The point was not to enjoy myself or to feel good or to buy into another guilty pleasure. The point was to create an adventure, to push myself, and to do something that I would remember. All of those things happened. And in doing so, my definition of who I am as a person expanded. Suddenly I was who I had been, and now I was more, too.

If I had slept in that morning, not gone camping the night before, and waded blindly through my morning routine, would I have been fundamentally changed? Probably not. But now, because I created an adventure, I wrote new lines in the story of my life that are worth reading. And I am a better person for it.

I challenge you to go jump in some water – any time of day, any body of water – be as creative as you like. Video tape yourself and share that video with me, and if I receive 50 video submissions I will donate $100 to one of the charities listed on this site in the Giving Back section.
Use the hashtag #PassionPlunge.

Unless you can’t function at your optimal level because of it. Disorganization is something I have challenged head on this year. I redesigned my office so that everything has a place. I organized my email so that I answer them quickly instead of waiting sometimes months in between. I have list apps on my phone and desktop to keep me on task, and I have a nightly and morning routine that keeps me organized as well.

Those have been huge changes for me, and the results have been spectacular. I no longer panic about missing emails or wonder as I fall asleep what I need to accomplish in the morning, and those small changes have been really big for my well being. Just by having my emails caught up on and always having clear goals planned, I have decreased my stress. I have more free time, I worry less, and I enjoy working more.

Here are all of the changes I made. The video also shows my new office, and I included some “extras” (re: ridiculous) clips at the very end. Apologies for the focus issues in this video. I think I need glasses.

1. Wake up early. When I am up early, I feel an odd sense of pride, as though I have already accomplished my first mission. I am taking advantage of my most productive hours, no one else is awake then, and I have time to fall into a routine.

2. Drink water. This is another one of those things that makes me feel motivated and healthy. I drink 3 liters of water a day. I drink one of those liters before I do much else in the morning. It energizes me and allows me to feel accomplished.

3. Stretch & meditate. I do this each morning in the open air and it makes me feel invigorated and alive. My body hurts less throughout the day (the Fibromyalgia can really make my joints hurt) and I feel inspired by the time I sit down to work.

4. ToDoist. This is an app that I have for my desktop that allows me to write out, per category, what I need to get done and then check it off the list when I finish. It also has tons of other features I haven’t even tapped into yet. Absolutely adore this app to pieces.

5. Email organization. I have my email categorized into three main folders: My immediate folder. Anything I put in there needs to be dealt with within 24 hours. My pending folder, where emails that require follow-up go. And my assistant’s folder, where emails that deal mostly with scheduling go. If I hit inbox 0 for my personal immediate inbox everyday, I feel significantly less stressed and I sleep better. I try to do this in the morning before any other tasks so that I am still excited to complete the other things on my to do list.

6. Happiness & resolution documents. I keep two text files on my desktop. One says “Happiness” and the other says “Resolutions”. The happiness document lists all of the things that makes me feel healthy and happy on a regular basis so that I can always check in on it to make sure I am doing what makes me feel good. My resolutions document simply lists all of the things I want to accomplish this year. It is always in sight and I can keep on track that way.

7. Inspirational quotes. The image on my desktop background is always rotating through inspirational quotes that I’ve downloaded in image form. Mostly from Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland, these quotes remind me all the time of who I want to be and inspire me to reach for more.

8. Hard drives. I keep my work backed up on two hard drives that are almost always at my computer plugged in. One I travel with and the other stays put. Because I have them out in the open, often plugged in, I never have to worry about finding a document because they are all, essentially, already on my computer waiting to be found. I organize my images based on folders of: YEAR — TITLE.

9. Uniform password. For my passwords on my computer and social sites, I have a root word for my password. Take LANTERN, for example. And then I add on a signifying word to that for each website. Let’s say we are signing up for Flickr, you would write LANTERNFLICKR so that you never forget your password and so that they are always different. I have two base passwords – one that my assistant and husband know, and one that is for personal use only.

10. Colornote. On my phone, just as I do with ToDoist on my desktop, I use a to-do list app. This allows me to write out a checklist or text document that I can later transfer to ToDoist if I am traveling.

11. Inspiring workspace. I have never had a space of my own that I have found inspirational, so this year I redecorated. I got new desks, a filing cabinet, and I even decorated my walls. I filled my office with props that I have used in photo shoots and hung my work on my walls (other artists coming soon). Everywhere I look there is a touch of something personal and special, and it makes me feel excited to sit down to work every day.

You can check out the video for what my new office looks like.

How do you keep organized? Any special tips that make you feel extra healthy, productive, or motivated?

“I was told the other day that I should start to produce some other art: being aware of not getting to comfortable with my style, that I am always doing dark stuff and should do something else. I would assume that you have faced a similar comment in your career and was wondering if you could share you’re opinion on this question – either in a future blog post or here.”

That email got me thinking about criticism, but specifically how frequently people seem to tell artists what to do with their work. I really like the relationship between artist and public, if we could call it that, which social media provides. I welcome all feedback – good or bad – and try to learn how to receive it with grace. However, I’ve only gotten to that point by being able to understand a few things about myself and my creative process.

1. Understand what YOU like about your art. Be able to define that for yourself, be it in a string of words or in an artist statement.

2. Understand WHY you are creating art you are creating.

3. Understand that for each opinion, there is an opposite opinion. Listen to your own.

4. Growth is a natural part of the human experience. We grow and change as we feel the need. If you are holding yourself back out of fear, you know it. Change it. If you are truly happy with your work, keep going. Happiness is key.

5. For each friend lost, a potential is gained. The same is true of internet followers. Do not let your art be dictated by the opinions of others.

6. What is the goal of your art for yourself, and what experience do you want to give to others? My goal personally is to create worlds I wish I could live in. If I feel that way when I picture is completed, I have succeeded. My goal is to get others to question something about the world or themselves by seeing something different to everyday life. I do not get to decide if I have succeeded on that front.

7. Art is interactive. If you are sharing your art, you are inviting opinions. Let them come. Others interacting with your art create something even more special.

Have you ever faced a problem with criticism?
How do you deal with criticism?

Thank you Gabriel Isak for the email and for creating such incredibly beautiful art!

Model (top right): Olivia Clemens
Model (bottom left): Kate Berman

When I finished editing the image on air, and the cameras went off, everyone in the room let out a big sigh. We all knew it didn’t really work out but we were happy we tried. When I got home from Seattle I decided to start editing it again. I tried twice more and it still wasn’t coming together. That was when I took a slightly different approach.

I started choosing new shots to work with – a higher angle of my subject as well as different house shots from the kiddie pool so that you could see more of the house under the water, thus adding to the believability effect. Those changes made a world of difference for me, fixing some perspective issues as well as changing what was a very static shot.

I have been on a book kick lately, really wanting to experiment with how books (stories, really) can transport you to another reality. Books are old, universally recognized, and provide an amazing symbol for anyone to latch on to. There are many different emotions attached to books, but one thing remains the same. If you read, you take your imagination to a different level. What an amazing metaphor for creating.

I ended up using all of the same techniques to edit this image when I was home as I did during the CreativeLive editing segment for this picture. Some of the featured tools were the Background Eraser Tool, Curves Adjustment Layers, and changing of the Lighting Dynamics. I think something that brought the image together for me in the end was the choice of clouds, and really creating a light source as well as light variation so that some of the image was in darkness and some in light.

Thankfully the light for this image was quite natural, with no extreme highlights or shadows, so changing the light slightly was not a problem. Of course, I can’t say if the image did ever come together or not, but it did satisfy a dream I’ve had. I always know when a picture is finished when I feel it matches what I saw in my imagination…so I want to thank you for watching and for supporting this photo shoot through your encouraging words as well as to CreativeLive for setting this up for me!

10 years ago. I was picking out colleges. I intentionally looked at schools that had private housing so I didn’t have to room with someone.

5 years ago. I was just about to start my business and decided not to deal with clients for fear of puking all over them.

Today. Still feel a little queasy, but doing much better. Let’s talk about why.

Another way that I dealt with anxiety was to begin telling myself that no one cares about me…in the best way possible! It is easy to become self-absorbed and think that everyone is judging us, when in reality, that is rarely the case, especially from strangers (at least in a meaningful way).

I began teaching workshops 4 years ago. About three years ago I was asked to do my first speaking gig. It was at After Dark photo convention. This last year I’ve been to a number of different conferences and schools to give lectures. And next year, my focus will be on motivational speaking for schools and businesses. So the big questions is…WHY!? Why would I do that when I’m scared to death of social situations.

The answer is twofold. One reason is because I wanted to push myself. The other is because I believe everyone has a story to tell. If I didn’t tell mine, I would be quite the hypocrite. And I would also be holding my desire back to teach others.

It isn’t the lectures that scare me, or the stages, or the crowds so much as it is the personal interaction just before the lecture begins. There is an in-between moment when you aren’t quite saying what needs to be said, going through a PowerPoint presentation, but instead you are just YOU, vulnerable and in front of everyone. This is the same feeling I get when talking with people I just met, at a party, or anywhere, really! It is the human connection, and I’m just plain bad at it.

These are the lessons I’ve learned in those 15 minute “in-between” times, after I come out from hiding in a bathroom stall and before I begin giving a lecture:

1. No one cares about you.

I know I’ve talked about this before, but I can’t stress the importance of it enough. In the most inspiring way possible, remember that it is highly unlikely that anyone’s opinion of you will guide your life more than your own.

2. What you look like is half of how someone will judge you…so OWN it!

Be proud of who you are and what you look like. Usually accepting your own style is the best way to get others to do the same.

3. Look the way you want to feel (hair, makeup, clothes).

Think about what clothes make you feel most YOU and wear them! Dress how you want to dress, present yourself how you feel, and you will immediately come off as more confident for it.

4. Get others involved (ask questions!).

One of the best ways to deal with anxiety in a social gathering is to put the pressure on someone else. Ask them questions, but not just any old question. Ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer. This is very helpful for me when starting conversations with people.

5. Share your life! Even if you don’t think it’s interesting, someone else might.

Everyone has something interesting going on in their life. I try to pick something out that is positive and halfway engaging to share should the occasion arise.

6. Understand your quirks, and werk ’em!

Be who you are, completely, and then don’t be afraid to show that to people. I try to be myself, even when it means saying weird things, running around barefoot, or making stupid jokes.

7. Create a safe space for yourself after you’re finished.

I am the kind of person who needs a space to recharge. I’m very much the introvert, so I always need a place to retreat to after a big social engagement so that I can decompress.

I thought it was appropriate to put a picture from my recent CreativeLive class in this post, since that is one of the biggest ways I have personally overcome anxiety. There is nothing quite like having cameras pointed in your face and talking for 18 hours!

I’ll be posting a blog later in the week about how this image was made.

Creatively, I watch my own back. I create what I want to create, when I want to create it. And I don’t mean for that to sound selfish, but simply factual and smart. I say “smart” not because I think I’m some genius, but because the only reaction to our art that we can rely on is our own. If no one were watching, it would be all that matters. And so I create under that pretense – that I must love my art first, and then hope that it is embraced by others in some way.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. “Time to do something new.”

And so I set out in my imagination to conjure something up I had never thought of before. A technique, an idea, a location…anything.

My mind wandered to an image that I had half-heartedly pressed before, but not truly delved into. I wanted to make it look like I was coming out of a thick fog, or another dimension. Something between the two, as I would later tell my husband. He and I talked it through – how it could be created – and then I continued working on the why.

If you know me, you know I am a stickler for the why. I don’t care how neat a technique is to try if I don’t know why I’m creating. The why came simply: I wanted to create a wall between worlds, to literally step through from one side to the other. I also liked the idea of being sucked back into the world I was trying to emerge from. All of this intention informed how I would pose.

I photographed my body in a kiddie pool that I purchased for the shoot. I rigged my camera on my balcony so that I could shoot with some distance. I sunk black fabric in the pool so that the background would be dark, and then I poured soy milk in the pool for a murky effect. It didn’t take much soy milk, and soon the pool was murky and dark at the same time.

I knew I would be photographing a forest as the eventual backdrop, which is already very dark, so I thought that the murky background of darkness from the pool would transfer well to the forest.

It was important that I photograph myself in water to create believable water lines on my body. It is one thing to blur and obscure fabric and skin behind a wall of fog, but quite another to recreate water lines (or in this case, “other dimension/fog” lines) on skin especially. So I photographed myself in the pool and then made sure to photograph the forest from the same angle. The two images blended nicely, and I sampled the murky color to paint over the forest as well.

With different blending techniques and some cutting my body started to blend into the forest. After some shading, it seemed complete. I wanted the color palette to be simple and striking, so I chose to stick with red and blue as the main colors in the image. Texture only in the background helped to give the fog some grit that I felt made it more believable, and then I was finished.

All in all, this image took me…

3 hours of planning
2 hours of setup
1 hour of shooting
12 hours of editing

…And I had a blast! I hope that you enjoy the finished product, and that, if nothing else, you are inspired to try something new and see where it leads you!

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Though miraculously sometimes my images do sell, and it’s always a thrill when that happens. Along with licensing already-made images, I also create new content for book covers, album art, posters, etc…when the time comes. In this case, I was approached by Penguin books and they liked an image I had done previously, but thought it was too dark for a young adult fiction novel. They asked if I could recreate the image but this time a little bit softer, adding some color into it and making the expression less pained.

I have a rule for myself that I will not shoot something if it is far outside of my vision. So if they had asked me to recreate the picture but with the girl smiling and wearing a rainbow hoodie, I would have had some serious reservations. But instead, I could envision this cover coming to life and could see that it really wouldn’t be very far outside of something I might create. Heck, I had already created it once! So I went to work.

I hired a model and two assistants to help (the model is Brittney Panda, and my assistants were Bryce Rankins and Devin Schiro). We got to the beach one evening to begin shooting, and it went rather smoothly! The water was frigid, but that was nothing new. We shot first in a calm body of water and then in the ocean for the real chop, which I ended up preferring.

Working with a company on an image requires a few changes in mindset. First thing to remember is that they hired me for a reason, therefore I should shoot what feels right…to a point. The other thing is that I also need to keep in mind some specifications since this is not, in the end, going to be my picture. This picture will represent a book that I did not write, so I need to keep the wishes of the author in mind, too. I bought several wardrobe options based on their suggestions and sent them pictures, at which time they all agreed on this purple shirt. I asked about hand positioning and facial expression, and did my best to pull those things out of the model when the time came.

I ended up sending in a few different edits, and we went back and forth on a few matters – adding more hair, taking away some hair, changing a hand – these types of things which I was happy to change until they were happy. It is a true honor to be asked to shoot for Penguin, who publishes books that are engrained in my childhood, and I feel very fortunate to be in this position. It doesn’t come along every day.

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I teach all about image licensing at workshops if you are interested in learning more about the business. I’ll be posting new workshop updates in April.

I am grateful, and I am stressed.

I value calm. I value being centered and balanced. Being busy is great because it is often a sign of life moving forward. But sometimes we put too much value on being busy. I am guilty of this. I send out a tweet listing all the things I have to do. I let others know that my life is constantly moving…and why? To compensate for something? To make my life seem bigger than it is?

I don’t value being busy in this way. I don’t like doing things for the sake of doing them. I am most inspired when I am home with my other half. I am most calm when I can sit and think and write and shoot and edit. I am most inspired when I’m not rushing around airports or scheduling the next thing in my week.

I think that we put too much emphasis on how busy we are, but not on how productive we are. Have you ever heard someone list all the things they had to do in their day? Often it will start with: Well I got out of bed at 6 o’clock, and then I put clothes on, and then I drove to the coffee shop and ordered coffee for my coworkers, and then I had to be at work by 8…

And all of that listing to say that someone drank coffee and went to work.

I am guilty of this. I hear people talk like this. And that is okay – we are all feeling stressed at some point and we all need someone to say that they understand, or that you’re doing a great job. But at what point do we start to place real value in those lists, to the point that having a lot to do is more valuable than the things you’re actually doing? At what point does our stock in being busy outweigh the actual living of life?

One of my goals for this year is to not be as busy. It might mean I make less money. That is something I would have to accept. It might mean that I make fewer “industry connections”, but does that really matter? I’m not one for networking, I’m one for living. Being busy is great, but to a certain point. Everyone has their own idea of how busy is too busy, and now more than ever I know my limits.

If I looked back on my life would I be able to say that I lived it exactly as I dreamed? No, probably not. And not because I am unhappy in any way, but simply I feel the need to be home more. I feel the need to spend more valuable time with my loved ones, and treasure that time in the moment. We all put emphasis on different things that are important to us. Being busy should never be something we put emphasis on, but instead it should be about the things that keep us busy – our passions – that we feel most connected to.

What are your thoughts on being busy? Are you too busy or not busy enough? What is something that you think you could use more of in your life to feel more fulfilled?