Photography Goals | 2012

New goals for the coming year on February 1st instead of January 1st?

Yep. Cuz that's just how I roll.

I could start off by making the classic joke about one of my goals being to stop procrastinating, seeing as how I'm posting my goals a bit later than one might expect.  But the truth is that I'm just insanely busy, so I haven't had the time to dedicate toward deciding what I want to accomplish in the coming year until now. Which does bring me to goal #1...

2012 Photography Goals

1. Dedicate more time to photography

I can't believe that I've lived in Phoenix for over 6 months and I still haven't opened up my shooting schedule and started looking for new clients. This makes me very sad and I really miss taking photos for others. But sometimes life doesn't turn out quite like we expect it to, and we have to play the hand we've been dealt.  Moving here didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd hope, and it has delayed my anticipated schedule a bit.

The good news is that I've started down a new path that will allow me to start spending more time behind my camera and finish up the final things I need to do to reopen MWP here in Phoenix.  So, sometime this Spring, you can expect to see an announcement that I'm once again open for business.  Of course, that's when the real work will begin!  I have to admit that I'm terrified about how I'm going to get started when I don't know anyone here.  Eeeek! But others before me have relocated businesses, so I know it can be done.  Right?  Please, oh please, someone tell me I can do this! :)

2. Get outside of my comfort zone, and start exploring more areas of photography

Put a willing person in front of my camera, and tell me to take their portrait, and I'm all over it.  I love taking portraits and I'm comfortable doing it.  Put me in the middle of downtown, and tell me to photograph the buildings and I'm going to stumble.  I don't know the first thing about photographing architecture.

Second Street Creative, who is designing my new brand, tweeted this today, "Quit being afraid to fail. It paralyzes growth and makes you complacent. JUMP."

I couldn't agree more, and that's exactly what I'm going to do: JUMP.  Maybe not off the buildings, but headlong into photographing them, and every other subject that I haven't tried shooting before.

3. Create more emotional and symbolic personal photographs

In my Intro to Photography class, we were given an assignment to capture symbolism in a photo.  I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept, and I crash and burned on the assignment.  When we shared our images, one of my classmates had taken photographs at a cemetery for fallen soldiers.  All of the tombstones were the same and her photos of row after row of graves were stunning.  The composition of her images was gorgeous, and the symbolism behind them was amazing.

Ever since then, I have known that I wanted to work harder to add more symbolism, and emotion, into my own photography.  I know this won't be the easiest thing to do, especially when embracing the less happy things in life, but I want my images to feel real and to evoke feelings and emotions in those who view them... even if it is only me, and my memories and feelings that are brought back.

In the spirit of symbolism and emotion (and because I don't feel right about a blog post with no photos), I want to share these two images that I took last February when I was participating in a month long online photography class called "The Joy of Love" hosted by Willette Designs.  When viewing wedding photos of others, I'm always drawn to the photos of the rings.  Some photographers have the most amazing and creative ideas of how to photograph them!  So, for the class I decided to try my hand at photographing our wedding rings, and this was the result...

I do like the composition of the photos, but what I like even more is what the photos mean to me, and how they make me feel when I look at them. My wedding day was the most amazing and magical day of my life. Not because I had a fairy tale wedding, and I felt like I princess, but because it was the day that I joined myself to the person who I was made to walk through life with. Our wedding rings are a symbol of what we have together, and nothing could ever be more precious to me.

And, there you have it, my 2012 goals.  Since we are already a month into 2012, I guess I better get started!

If you've made it this far into the post, I thank you for sticking with me.  I do try my best to aim for more photos and less words, but I realize I didn't quite succeed with this one.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Street Photography {on a whim}

I know I've mentioned it before, but I am a portrait photographer at heart. While I love experimenting with other subjects, my first love will forever be taking pictures of people.

I spend a lot of time looking at portraits taken by others, and I am always drawn in by the gritty, real life photos often captured by street photographers. Many of the images seem to speak a truth that words could never convey, and the haunting images have become a part of my soul.  While I long to capture the same types of portraits myself, the simple truth is that I don't have the guts.  I've lead too sheltered of a life to feel safe or comfortable spending time in the inner-city areas where so many of the images I love so much are taken.

However, I have been toying with the idea of taking street photos in more warm and fuzzy areas of the city.  Not too long ago I posted a thread on Facebook asking for opinions about how people would feel if they were approached by a stranger asking to take their photo.  The responses were mixed, and I'm still a bit hesitant to jump in with both feet and try my hand at it but I'm still giving it very serious consideration.

Which is probably what made me take the following photo while I was photographing my husband recently.  This girl was sitting there on the ledge, talking to a male who was sitting inside the opening on the other side of that large cement structure with the writing on it.  I was taking photos of Kevin, and she was off to my left just a little bit.  On a whim, I turned slightly, aimed the camera at her and fired off a quick shot.  I felt a little silly taking her photo, and barely took a second to compose the shot before pressing the shutter, and quickly turning the camera back toward Kevin.

You can image my surprise when I got home and looked at the image, only to realized that I actually liked it.  I look at it and can't help wonder what her story is... who is she?  where does she come from?  who is she talking to?  And then there is the writing... who wrote it?  who was the intended recipient? was it this girl or someone else?  if it was someone else, did she see it?  There's just also something about the position of the girl and her expression that I find myself drawn to for some unexplainable reason.

I will probably find myself taking more street images in the future, but I suspect they will probably be images I take on a whim, like this one. It will take a while to work up to being able to walk right up to someone and asking to photograph them.

So, have you ever done any street photography? If so, what was the experience like?

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Kevin's Sneak Peek

Although, I'm not sure sneak peek is really appropriate since he's already seen all of the photos, but I figured I may as well stick with tradition.

On Sunday, I twisted Kevin's arm into allowing me to take some photos of him. It was the first time that I've taken any portraits (except for my own) since we moved!  It felt good to be behind the camera, but my brain felt a little slow to wrap itself around the idea that it was supposed to be acting creative and scoping out good shoot locations.  Luckily my husband was a good sport, and just stood there patiently as my sluggish brain tried to kick into gear and remember it's job.

Kevin has had the same photo as his Facebook profile pic for almost a year.  It is a photo I took of him last Spring when we were visiting Phoenix, trying to decide if we wanted to move here.  It is one of those candid "caught off guard photos" where I sort of called his name and fired off a few shots as soon as he turned.  I'm not denying that it's a good photo of him; I'm just getting sick of seeing it.  So, being the evil plotting wife that I am, I decided that maybe I could convince him it was time for a change if I took a new photo of him that he liked.  Since he's wearing his sunglasses in his current profile photo, I thought maybe I'd have better luck convincing him to choose a new one if I gave him lots of options with him wearing his sunglasses.  So, for most of the photo session, I had him wear them.

I always have an easier time selecting and editing photos of Kevin, compared to anyone else I photograph. I suppose because I spend so much time with him and his face is so familiar to me, it is easy for me to pick out the photos where he looks like himself.  I've narrowed it down to these 5 favorites from the photo session to share:

This one is by far my fav!...

As always, thanks for stopping by!  If you'd like to put your vote in for which photo should be his new profile pictures, feel free to leave a comment telling him which one you like best.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Self-Portrait | January 2012

As I embark on a new year of self-portraits, I can't help but stop and reflect on the journey that has brought me to this point in my project, and my life. I feel the need to pause and remind myself why I am taking these monthly portraits, and refocus my attention on my goals for these images.

I started taking my self-portraits with four simple goals in mind, which I listed along with my very first self-portrait back in August 2011. I still want these images to be a way for me to put my face on the blog, and allow my readers a chance to get to see more of me. I also still want these photos to be a way for me to document my life, and to help me be better about accepting myself for who I am. And I definitely still want these photos to be a way for me to practice my photography skills. However, my purpose has also grown and shifted into something bigger.

I have made it my goal with each self-portrait to try to capture the important aspects of my life that month in a single photograph. I want to be able to look back at each photograph and be reminded of where I was in my life - what was happening, what I was thinking, feeling, seeing, and doing. For what is a photograph, if not a way to capture a memory or evoke an emotion?

I've been giving a lot of thought to where I want to take my personal photography this year. I'm still in the early stages of this consideration, but I do know that I want to expand my creativity. I want to step outside the box, and find new ways to say what I want to say with my images. I want to start branching out and capturing more emotion with my photography. And the place I want to start is with myself. Not only do I want to be able to look back at my monthly self-portraits and remember what I was doing, I also want to feel what I was feeling. Perhaps a tall order for a single photograph, but I think I have succeeded this month.

I usually start out saying something about each photo like, "January's self-portrait was taken at our rental house in Phoenix," which is a true statement, but a bit irrelevant for this particular photograph.  Instead of the where or the how, I think the important commentary for this image is the why.

I'd love to be able to say that my relocation to Phoenix has been all puppy dogs and roses, but the truth of the matter is that the past six months have been some of the darkest of my life.  Picking up and leaving everything I've known isn't easy, and this is the fourth time I've done it.  With each move, I leave a little bit more of my soul behind and starting over is beginning to take a toll on me.

I don't regret moving here, and I still feel like it was the right decision for us.  Unfortunately, we didn't settle into a new life here as smoothly and seamlessly as I had hoped, and I am still really struggling to find my new place in my new world.  This month was the breaking point for me, where I finally realized that the things I am doing aren't working, and I need to take this new life of mine in a new direction.  Sometimes you must reach total darkness before you can begin your ascent into the light.

Did you miss some of my past self-portraits?  Clicking here will take you to all of my self-portrait blog posts. Clicking here will take you to my self-portrait Facebook album.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

The Best of 2011 | Furry Friends

I couldn't let the people have all the fun, could I? Here are some of my favorite dog photographs from 2011, in random order...

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.