Getting Back On Track
It’s been a crazy long winter.
I started this blog section with the best intentions of making a weekly post - but between a full time job and working on my graduating portfolio and doing freelance work and deciding to move - well it’s been a little longer than a week!
I feel like I ran a marathon - mentally, physically, emotionally. But the days are getting longer and the future is looking a little brighter. I am getting back into a more manageable schedule and taking more time to get myself organized and motivated for the next wave of projects.
Just a few notes to catch up on the time since my last post. I finally graduated from my Dawson Commercial Photography Program. I got some great reviews on my portfolio project, “Stageless - Performers During Lockdown”, from the professors and public alike.
Graduation was a mixed bag of emotions; I was a bit saddened to finish off so unceremoniously - literally so because we did not get a graduation ceremony or a grad vernissage due to COVID restrictions. Two years working my butt off and it all just - ended. But I was so proud of and inspired by my fellow grads and the school itself - we managed to push through it all despite the looming uncertainty and ever-present dangers of COVID. We produced some amazing work all around despite the limitations and have much to celebrate, even if we can only do so “virtually”!
This experience has taught me so much about persistence and finding a way to just “get ‘er done” (as we East Coasters like to say.) Nothing in life will ever go as planned, but if you try to not get lost in mourning what you had intended to do and instead focus on what you CAN do in the given circumstances, you will have something to be proud of at the end of it all.
Even if it doesn’t turn out exactly as planned, learn your lessons and move on to the next thing.
I’ve also learned a lot about what having positive people and a positive environment can do for your creativity. I wish I could have spend more time collaborating with my classmates in the final year. We had such a diverse and talented group, but we were all sort of left to our own devices - unable to help each other out in studio or in class. But I did get a chance to collaborate with so many fantastic performing artists in making my grad series - their energy and enthusiasm was infectious and it’s still keeping me going! I’m eager to continue on with my project even after graduation. I look forward to doing much more creative collaboration once it’s safe again to do so.
I also made a move to a larger living space and I am super excited to break in my new studio. I now have an 11’ x 13’ room solely dedicated to taking photos. Yay! It’s not much but it’s all mine and I can take out my lights and gear and play around any time I like. After a year of doing food and product set-ups on the bedroom floor in my cramped apartment, it’s a glorious upgrade and step in the right direction!
When I started my journey at Dawson and they gave us the list of all the gear we needed, it seemed like so much. I felt overwhelmed, like it was never going to be within my reach. But lo and behold, when life hands you lockdown, you make lockdown-ade. All the money I saved from not going out for year turned into my own kit of Godex lights, a brand new Canon R6 with professional grade lenses - I even got a new computer with crazy processing power and my own Adobe CC Suite and Capture One. After the move, I laid out all my gear and stood back to look at my new little studio and almost cried. It was a lot of work in a short amount of time but it’s opened up a whole new world for my art and my business.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I’m so glad I stepped into a night class at Dawson two years ago and step-by-step I have made it this far. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me next.
-C
