I am completing the third week in my class with Candela, and felt like the lesson we’ve been working on was an important one to share. it really applies to life in general, but I’ll explain it as it relates to photography. 

we were asked to make a list of the rules we’ve learned or heard we should follow in photography.  I made my list as it relates to my style of shooting – women’s portraiture. my list was long. MUCH longer than anyone else’s list in my class. 👀 

  
my list included HAVE FUN, but it also includes a lot of what I watch for and try to correct while shooting to make my editing time less. these rules help produce my style. but there are A LOT of them. 

I was encouraged to let go of my rules – and that made me want to clutch them even tighter. “what will happen to my style if I start letting hands or toes go all willy-nilly, and allow shoulders to be hunched or hide a beautiful neck!” my instructors response was “maybe a new style will present itself, maybe you will discover a new way to express yourself.” 

I think in life we get comfortable with our routines. we don’t step out of our boxes, and put ourselves in uncomfortable situations as a way to learn and grow.  this could be as simple as not spending a day in the nearest big city, because it’s too big and crowded. it could be putting off or not even thinking about visitng a foreign country because we fear the cultural difference. it could be not signing up for a class to learn something new because we think we’ll not be good at it. 

so I was encouraged to break a rule. just one from my list – and that was doable for me. baby steps! I chose to focus on focus. to let go of my need to have my subject in sharp focus. I woke M up at the crack of dawn (actually before) to watch the sunrise at the beach, so I could break a rule or two. 

   
 
focus and stillness broken here!   

 so the results were new for me. little works of dream-like landscapes with a painterly feeling. a new expression, a new way to capture my surroundings, a new way to create work! and that was only a couple rules broken – who know what else I can discover by breaking even more rules. 😳

what rules can you break in your life? what new discoveries can you make about yourself? it’s never too late – go break some rules! 

xoxo – natalie

im taking a class online about inspiration, and an assignment we had recently was to take a close look at the things in our home that we have special connections to – and then photograph them in beautiful natural light. we spend a lot of time out in the world searching for beautiful light, waiting for it, waking up before sunrise to capture it, or setting it up and creating it artificially. this exercise was to shot it within the 4 walls that we live in.  

    
    
    
   
it was a fun exercise and the results surprised me. my everyday objects seem to stand out a bit different in these photographs.  what do you think?
xo – natalie