28 Day Challenge

   As some of you may already know, I am a huge advocate of continuing education. No matter what we tell ourselves, we really don't know it all. I love learning new things, and when those things cycle back to growing my business or my brand, it is ten times the benefit! The latest instructor, whom I have been fortunate enough to follow, has recently issued a 28 day challenge. In this, she follows the same criteria she has used in the past to train new photographers to work for her own studio. In 28 days.
   What a jam-packed few weeks I have been experiencing! Each day's challenge has been very specific, and very extensively covered. Each new challenge deals directly with specific issues that many, many photographers have brought to her attention.
   One such issue was posing. Several challenges deal with different aspects of posing, and through them, I am finding myself taking this very seriously. I am learning to see the human form through the shapes and sizes.
   My absolute favorite of the challenges, by far, has been on capturing expression. Not an easy task, especially when you are shy. I am gaining more and more confidence with every shoot that I do. I have decided to incorporate hair and makeup into my contemporary glamour shoots. I have found that this time allows everyone to get past the awkward moments and really begin to connect and relax.
   One of the most difficult challenges for me has been on marketing. I have had a hard time knowing whether or not I was truly ready to put myself out there. As you can see, I am here, pouring it all out there as I grow. Another hurdle I found with this type of challenge was in creating the materials, as I do not own Photoshop at this point in my career.
   As you can tell, I have been quite busy learning so many new things. What is knowledge without practice though? I have been booking as many shoots as I can, but there is always room for more. If you are in the central WV area and are interested in receiving a gift voucher for a photo shoot, or would like one for a friend, please call me (Leona) at (304) 704-1362 for details.
   And just to give you guys a sneak peak at some results of my recent training, here is a before and after of Tasha, whose shoot you will be seeing in next week's blog post:
  

What type of music do you like?

  This post is kind of off topic for photography, but is as relevant as genre is to any art. 
  "What type of music do you like?" I love hearing this question. The answer you get is usually along the lines of "Oh, I really like this type and that type. Stuff by so-and-so. Anything except type X." We just watched a movie about this, and it got me thinking. This is what I came up with.
  Music, like any art form, is an expression of the soul. Why would you limit that to a genre? Whether you are the artist, or the one who just enjoys the art, there is a deep emotion there that should never have limits placed on it. Music, photographs, paintings, sculptures, even the written word are all instruments used to convey emotion in the form of something beautiful.
  Many of you are thinking "But, I just hate X type of music!" I realize that there is a style issue at stake here. What is that type of music saying about me when I listen to it? Nothing. It wasn't written about you. It was written for your enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every song written is to be enjoyed by every person out there, but you can't tell me that out of the multitude of choices within a particular genre that not even a handful of songs strike a chord with you.
  When I was a teenager, I had the same mindset. "Oh, I like any kind of music except country." Then I realized that I didn't even know what opera was, or why classical music was so technical, or why country musicians always seemed to have a tear in their beer. Then, as I developed as an adult a little more, I realized that all types of music speak to different parts of me.
  Hip-hop and pop speak to the dancer I never became, country and R&B speak to the romantic in me, Jazz and Classical speak to the educated musician within, 80s hairbands speak to wild child in my closet, lullabies speak to the mother I became, Bluegrass and gospel speak to my roots, and opera, though a tough one, speaks to the Queen Elizabeth that would have been.
  So while most people have a general music category that sums up who they are for the most part, limiting ourselves to just that also limits our opportunities for expression of our souls.