Homework... Week 2

This week was a LOT harder than last week. Last week I knew exactly what I wanted to shoot, and everything seemed to just work smoothly. I think I got too wrapped up in perfection this week, and I freaked out a little bit about what to shoot, and ended up with some less than ideal shooting situations. There were two parts to the assignment, so I decided to divide them into two different experiences. There seemed to be a lot of ideas that overlapped between the two, and I wanted to make sure that I really focused on each one.

For the first set, Brooke had us work on Point of View... piece of cake, I thought. I decided to document Brandon (my husband), and my son, Tyler, feeding Cedar. Well... it's a bit hard to get on the ground and shoot low when the ground is covered in manure, and it's hard to get high when the only thing to climb up on is a bar... and the sun was pretty harsh, so it was hard to get different angles and still get the light I wanted. I'll admit, I was kind of being a baby. I had to let go of my preconceived ideas of how to get different points of view, and really dig deep to mix it up.

I left the barnyard pretty discouraged... feeling like I did my best, but it didn't feel like it was good enough. When I pulled the photos up later, I was a little bit surprised. I liked them a whole lot more than I thought I would, and I was proud of myself for finding some creativity in point of view with the circumstances I was working with. And the best part of all, is that I have photos of two of my favorite boys doing something they love.

The second part of the assignment was Less is More. We had to take an initial photo of the scene, then break it down into smaller and smaller scenes. My sweet friend, Tari, let me come over... I asked her if I could shoot anything... lunchtime, reading to her kids, whatever... it took me a little bit of thinking, and maybe some whining, because it was a gorgeous day, the kids wanted to be outside, but the time I had to shoot was right during bright midday sun. Tari finally saved me and came up the toenail painting idea, and I love how it turned out! We were shooting in a basement bedroom, but it wasn't as difficult as I anticipated. The room was just so perfect for 2 girls painting nails... it had to be done.

Thank you Abbie and Celesta for humoring me, and being so darn cute, and thank you, Tari... I can always count on you for great subjects to shoot! ;)