“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it." – Edward Steichen Over the holidays, I decided to create a space on the web devoted to this fairly new venture of mine..... DTRphotography. It just felt like the appropriate next step for me. Now, I'm not ashamed to tell you that I am VERY proud of my work....not because I think it's the best photography out there. Hardly! I'm on a journey and hope to always find ways to improve. No, it's more about the effort I put in...not just for the hour or two that I'm with my clients but also the hours of post-session work I do to put my own signature on the product. I LOVE the work, and I am grateful to the people that put their trust in my skills (however limited those skills may be). Having said this, I gotta' come clean and admit that I've always felt that I put a LOT more into a photo shoot than my clients. I mean, after all, the only thing they have to do is just "be pretty", right? Well, due to my recent experience on the OTHER side of the lens, I feel I owe those awesome clients of mine a big ol' apology. Confused? Let me explain..... Remember that new website I was telling you about? Well, I wanted to create a page within the site to help prospective clients know who they'd be dealing with.... Sort of a "who IS this "DTR" person, anyway??" kind of thing. I figured I better add a picture of myself as well. Trouble is ..... I don't have many pictures of myself. In fact, other than school pictures and those dreaded Olan Mills shots back in the day, I can count on one hand how many times I have been on the receiving end of a camera's lens. About 6 months ago, we did a family shoot with a local photographer (Holla, Dee!), but that was all four of us together or combinations of us. None were of "just me" (which suited me just fine!) So....I asked my sweet husband if he'd be willing to get behind my camera and snap some shots of me. Here comes that apology, y'all..... I am SO sorry I didn't realize how challenging it is to be in FRONT of the lens!! Posing and trying to be halfway "natural" at the same time is HARD!!! My super-patient man took a total of 81 pictures of me as I was trying my best to do what I ask my clients to do. Every few shots, he'd give me the camera and say "Okay, take a look and see if this is what you're wanting." I'd look, and then I'd be SO bummed! Sure, a few were just plain and simply out of focus (hey, bifocals are no joke, right, Honey?), but the vast majority were fine composition-wise. I just wasn't loving looking at myself! See, I'd had big assumptions that it would be easy to just "be" while Rut followed me around snapping away, but it was MUCH harder than I thought. I felt totally on display.....awkward....a 2015 version of Olan Mills flashback! I mean.....do I tilt the head ever so slightly or not? Do I sit?.....or do I stand? (More importantly, which will make me look thinner?!) :) Also, do I look away, "pondering life"....or.... ......do I look straight into the camera's soul? ...and what about the smile? Closed mouth? ....or... ....do I show some teeth? Ugh!! SO many things to think about....all the while trying to look "natural". Posing is hard....period, and I have totally left THAT out of the whole photo shoot equation.....until now! I think this may be why I lean so heavily toward "lifestyle" photography as a preference because it's just capturing someone living their life....doing their thing....naturally. THOSE are the shots I am obsessed with capturing these days. So, all you DTRphotography clients out there, please know that I no longer think you had the easy part of the shoot. I am going on record as saying that being in FRONT of the camera is no walk in the park (well...actually sometimes it IS exactly that now that I think of it.... but you know what I mean). :) As the quote at the top of this post reminds us....it takes effort on BOTH sides of the camera to make a pleasing image. ....and sometimes, when a wireless remote and a tripod are involved, both sides can freeze a moment in time together! Thanks for your patience...and super-rad photo skills, my Love! I really enjoyed our afternoon together, and I'm already trying to figure out what our next "Roomy Nest" outing can be! Oh, by the way, I DID finally decide on one for the actual webpage. It's none of the ones I posted here, though. Here's the link if you're curious.... "About DTR".
Thanks for reading! Until next time, ~D
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Just pulled last night's moon off of my camera....
Thank You, God. Your Reminders are always exactly on time! #pursuingPeace #HowGreatThouArt "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." ~Socrates I have pondered this post long and hard over the last few days. Until just this morning, I had fully intended to use it as a vehicle to explain in vivid detail the reasons for my total emotional meltdown on Christmas Day. So, basically, I was planning to "fight the old" (see quote above). However, in light of what I can only assume is Divine Intervention from my God, I have decided to spare you the misery. (It wasn't pretty.....just ask my husband and children.) Nope, not pretty at all. So...I'm choosing to start this new year (after my three month hiatus from The Roomy Nest) discussing my new focus for 2015...... me. Sound selfish? Maybe. Here's the deal... "Ego says, 'Once everything falls into place, I'll feel peace.' Spirit says, 'Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.'" ~ Marianne Williamson There are only a VERY small handful of people that might possibly be reading this that know me....really, truly know me. The rest of you don't. You may think you do, but you're wrong. You don't. I have always, always, always put everyone else before myself. From the earliest memories I have as a little girl, it's always been about making things better for others...... fixing things for others... doing for others.... my handicapped parents, my sister, friends, church. Nothing changed as I got older....just more folks added to that list....husband, children, extended family, work, community. I was taught at a very young age by the godly women that raised me to be selfless and "do for others." It was an expectation (and also a tad bit innate), therefore I did it. Period. Many times in my life it has brought me abundant joy. Other times, it has brought me immense resentment. (Just being 100% honest here.) Needless to say, along with resentment (and a whole grocery list of other negative emotions) comes a tremendous lack of peace in one's life. So..... for 46 years I have searched (and longed) for that seemingly unattainable peace. Now, hold on..... before you go preaching me a mini-sermon, please know this. I printed and framed this bit of Scripture years ago, and it has been a constant fixture in our kitchen ever since. I read it DAILY when I am standing at the sink, and there have been seasons of my life when I, quite literally, chanted it aloud as a continuous source of emotional strength to keep those pesky demons at bay. My God is, without question, my Ultimate Peace, and I long for the day that I get to experience it for all eternity with Him. Unfortunately, I'm still battling some demons here on earth, so my day-to-day inner peace seems to be a constant roller coaster ride. In fact, since my Christmas meltdown, I have asked my God to PLEASE give me some clear direction, and I believe He has, thus giving me a new sense of internal peace. For the first time in my life (In.My.Life.), I think God is giving me His Permission to put myself first. I'm hearing Him clearly say that it's okay to shift the focus.... to me. Wait....what??! This is quite foreign to me, and yet SO VERY LIBERATING!! I almost don't know where to start! I can tell you this.... we're not talking about an occasional "long soak in a bubble bath" kind of "me time." Nope. That's not what I'm thinking at all. No, this New Year's Day is bringing with it a brand-new guilt-free ideology. "Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy. If you aren't being treated with love and respect, check your price tag. Maybe you've marked yourself down. It's YOU who tells people what your worth is. Get off of the clearance rack and get behind the glass where they keep the valuables." ~Author Unknown (I LOVE that quote, by the way... A BIG fist-bump to "author unknown" for that one!) So, effective immediately, I resolve to be good to myself..... to give myself the same respect I have given everyone else. I'm going to take my own feelings into account when deciding if I'll do this or that. It may mean that I don't answer the phone when it rings. It may mean that I don't attend the event/gathering/get-together. It may mean that I <gasp!> say "no" when asked to do something of a volunteer nature. The key word here is "may" because I MAY say yes on occasion as well, but it'll be because I sincerely wanted to do so...not because of a ridiculous self-imposed obligation. I'm SO done with being used and tossed aside 'til next time. It's not a good feeling, and it just isn't something I'm willing to put up with any longer. Clearly, to get better I'm going to have to let go of some things that bring me down (WAY down) every single time I'm involved in them. I'm making that promise to myself right now. It may very well mean that some of my relationships shift (or even dissolve), but that'll be okay, too, because I believe God will use this to help me have an even clearer focus on the realities of my life. "Do your thing and don't care if they like it." ~Tina Fey This is my thing.... .....and some of this.... .....and, of course, this..... .....which sometimes produces this..... .....and, without question, these folks always bring me immense joy.... So, that's where I'll be focusing my energy this year. Who knows....I may even start another round of #100HappyDays, too. Yep, 2015.....definitely a year to look forward to! Happy New Year to you, but also......to me! ;) ~D |
AuthorHi! I'm Dot. I refuse to succumb to the "empty nest syndrome"! So, this is my journal.....my photo album.....my attempt to enjoy the next chapter of my life as it unfolds. Welcome to The Roomy Nest! Archives
January 2020
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