Up, Down and All Around.

So, my last post here on little ole Callia's Corner was May 3?  Hmmm...it felt like only yesterday that I posted, but I guess not.

Life in Mary-land has been, well, pretty much all over lately.  I've been busy with my collaborative sessions with Gloss (my stylist friend) AND we're selling our Brooklyn apartment.  That's right, as much as it pains me to completely break ties with Red Hook, it has to happen.  I loved, and still love, Brooklyn.  I loved the area we lived in.  I loved the friends we had.  I love the memories  that we made, but we cannot afford to buy a home here in Maryland unless we sell our place in Brooklyn.  SO, I'm happy to report that our condo is practically sold and pending settlement AND we're in contract on a new home here in Maryland.  It's exciting, sad and exciting (yes, I said that twice) all at the same time.  

In the midst of it all, I've still been busy building my little photography business.  Like I've said before, I'm really not making any money on my little business yet, but I'm setting myself up to be in a position to offer my clients a unique experience with some great packages.  I'm getting hits here and there, but nothing substantial yet.  No worries though, I'm not entirely ready to take on a huge amount of clients right now anyway.  Right now I'm focusing on building my portfolio to revolve around the types of photos that I want to take.

Over the past several months since I started portfolio building, I've felt like I've been all over the place.  A client calls for a family session.  Yes, you got it.   A client calls for a wedding reception.  Sure.  No problem. I'm there.  Whatever a client requested and wanted, I was happy to oblige.  Since I really wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do, I was more than happy to give anything a go.  Now that I've given all of that a go, I think I now know what markets I want to dive into: High School Senior/Teens, Children, Maternity and Engagement.  While I don't mind photographing families, I'd like to try to stick to my target market and only do families around the holidays.

Below are a few examples of my recent work.  The first few are from a child session I did several weeks back at our old library, and the last few are from a collaborative session with Gloss in Annapolis, MD.  This was my second collaboration with Gloss and it was again a huge success.  Gloss styled and provided the make-up for our high school senior, and I took the pictures.  We recently wrapped up our third collaboration, a huge teen session, this past weekend in Fells Point, Baltimore and so far I am thrilled with the results! 

  

Out of the Box {Photography}

Since starting my photography journey, I've played it safe.  I've been diligent about exposure and composition.  I try to get the coveted catch lights in my subject's eyes.  I obsess about perfection.  I want my images to stand out.  I am not one for abstract art, although I do admire the work of others abstract photography.  I always tell myself that I'm not that kind of artist.  But, I'm going to be honest.  I have been dying to do something a little different.  I want to challenge myself in different, unconventional ways.  I've been dying to take a nude workshop here in town.  I so want to dabble in fine arts.  Do something outside my comfy little box.  

I am a part of a 10 on 10 photography circle and the photography theme for this month was "shooting through glass".  At first, I envisioned shooting my kids through the front windows as they played.  I envisioned reflections in the windows (there is one below:) and I envisioned a clean and happy "oh ah" set of photos.  But, as I began to take those shots, I was anything but impressed.  They were the same ole, same ole shots.  Then, just as I was about to bail from the circle for this month, I spotted an old glass vase (still dirty from the flowers it held, probably many years ago).  Bam!  New idea was born. 

The images below are not the images that I thought I would yield from this little experiment, but I sure am happy with them just the same.

How often do you step out of your comfort zone?  Are you happy you did? 

To see the full set click here.

{Embrace} the Photography Forums

I'll be the first to admit that I really don't like people telling me what to do.  I'm not a huge fan of other people's opinions.  It's not them, it's me.  I tend to take everything way to seriously and can get offended easily.  But, when you need a second pair of eyes, you simply need a second pair of eyes. 

The other day I photographed a very lovely couple for their maternity session.  This was a pretty big day for me.  Not only was it my first maternity session, it was the first time I collaborated with a stylist and a make-up artist.  This is a collaboration that has been in the works for a few months and Sunday we made it happen.  The couple looked amazing.  The outfits were totally them.  The make-up looked amazing.  And the pressure was on for me to deliver the final result.

In my last post I talked about finding my style.  I really want people to look at an image and say, "Hey, is that Michelle Montero?".  That's my goal.  So in my feeble attempt to find me, to find my style, I destroyed the maternity images.  I took beautiful images, edited the hell out of them, and destroyed them.  (Head hitting my wall as I write.) 

Enter "the Forum".

I am a member of Clickin Moms.  I've taken three online courses from them and hold their company, and the professionals that grace their forums, in very high regard.  Sensing that I had done something very wrong to my images, I turned to them for advise.  I will admit, I really didn't want to know what they had to say, but I needed the critique, not only for me but for the couple and the group of amazing women that I had just collaborated with.  My head had gone batty and I needed a second set of eyes.

Image #1 - Over Edited Nightmare!   

I posted this image in the "Serious Critique" forum on Clickin Moms to see what it was about the image that seemed off.  Here are some of the replies it garnered. (Note: I'm only sharing one image from the set that I shared on CM.  Some replies are referring to different images.) 

"I love the posing. These are really cute photos, the couple looks very natural. Number 5 is my favorite
About the editing- the actions are doing wonky things to their skin tones and hair color, and they are very saturated and contrast-y. You're right about the inconsistency. I think something weird also happened when you resized them- they look super pixelated. I would recommend masking the action layers off of their bodies and skin"

"they look really crunchy (oversharpened), and the tones, as app said are way too red and magenta-y. Think about how these would print (prints usually become a touch darker, more saturated, sometimes more red) - that could be a disaster for paying clients."

"I think if you take a look at their legs you'll see how off the color is. Especially on #3 . Is he wearing boots or something? And she has a big purple mark on her knee.
Why don't you post the SOOC versions of a couple. We can give some advice on how to proceed from there."

I asked for it.  Very straight forward, tell me exactly what you think kind of critique.  This is exactly what I needed.  As I've said before, I don't want to be a fare-weather photographer.  I want to be a photographer that stands out.  I want to be recognized and in order to do that, I have to be able to take this kind of criticism if I want to move forward.  Now, onto image #2.

Image #2 - Taking 10 steps back - SOOC shot slightly edited in LR and Photoshop.

When I went back and re-posted my SOOC (straight out of camera) shots with my LR edits, this is what the group had to say.

"Um, ok crazy lady! Trust in your original handiwork! You don't need actions, these are beautiful! I agree with your LR edits as they were a touch under-exposed but these look wonderful."

 "Love your new edits they are Beautiful, you so do not need the actions "  

"Oh my! These are waaaaay better! Lovely!"

"Ok - these are gorgeous! You do not need those actions - all they do it take aways from these lovely photos "

"Get rid of those actions! Your original edits were WAY overdone, the magentas and reds were completely blown and the blacks were too high.

"I LOVE your new clean edits! Wow! See what getting it right in camera can do? Your images are beautiful!"

"holy cow, @mmarlin74 ... those are awesome! Get rid of those stinky actions! The only thing I would do differently is to clone out the houses in the background of that last image you posted. Gorgeous work! " 

This critique is so what I needed.  I learned a lot from this experience.  I learned that I need to be a little vulnerable and allow others to be honest with me.  And, I gained a whole new level of respect for my peers.  If I hadn't put myself out there and listened to what they had to say, this session could have had a very sour conclusion.

How do you feel when it comes to constructive criticism?  Do you embrace it?  

Sharing one more of my favorites from the session!