Mistakes, Blogging, and a Very wet self portrait

You'd think, with the amount of time I spend at my damn computer, that I'd actually get a significant amount of viewable work done. Incorrect!

I look through my past flickr uploads, I look through my body of work this past 6months and the blog posts I've done, and I think "why is there so little?!"
Since I got back from the US, I have been knocked-off-my-feet-socks-flying-everywhere-can't-even-spare-a-minute-to-have-a-social-life kinda busy. It's ridiculous, I have text messages, emails and phone calls coming at me from every direction, inboxes which I am too terrified to even open and yet... my photostream has turned into more of a phototrickle.

So what have I actually been doing?

The curse of Editing.
Since I took up wedding photography, my life seems to have been replaced with editing. Days which I usually would have spent frolicking about the woods of Buxton with my camera have been replaced with staring into a computer screen, eyes going square, adjusting curves and clearing up skin.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE editing and I LOVE wedding photography, but my life needs a serious shake up. And I figure the best way for me to do this is to drag myself out of my computer chair, and actually blog something every day with a photo. Anything, but just something to keep me feeling productive in this insane busyness.

Today I told myself I was either going to go into town and buy myself a sandwich or that I was going to take a self portrait. Until 5pm the sandwich idea was leaps ahead, but then I looked at my camera all forlorn in her bag, and we made peace.


The worst thing about not taking personal photos for myself for so long, is that I feel like I'm right back to where I started. I have seen SO much amazing photography these past months, so many wonderful concepts and fantastic locations, so much mindblowing stuff that my head is bursting with inspiration. I pick up my camera, and BOOM.

My head goes blank - I step outside. Of all the breathtaking locations I've had in mind these past months, the place I end up using is my garden.

Mistake #1. 6 months ago, I would have said to myself "Rosie! You want amazing pictures? Find amazing locations!"

"Meh" I think. Set camera up, manual mode because now I'm all fancy and well educated on such things.
Mistake #2. Relying on equipment to pull you through. I slap on my 85mm 1.2, and think "job done". Oldtime Rosie would have been tutting her head, thinking "you got better shots with your 500D and the 18-55mm. Tsk, tsk, tsk"

"I'm too tired" Brain says. Now, what to wear. Don't fancy a dress, too cliched. Seen too many of them. Too easy. Go for my white shirt, put it back. Too see through, parents are in.

Mistake #3 Since when did I care who saw me in embarrassing situations?! I've skipped through the woods in a full-on rabbit costume before! Seriously, if there's one thing I learned, it's that putting yourself in uncomfortable situations makes for the BEST pictures.

Put on blue shirt, that'll do. Outside now, take a couple of shots just to test the water. It's way too boring, even I can't ignore that. What's available? Hose. My dog pricks her ears and instantly looks worried for me. Meh.

Turn hose on, focus camera on washing line, camera timer starts to beep. here we go...
Right in the face! My dog just thinks I'm mental now, as I go back to the camera and keep pressing the timer. The water is so loud I can't hear the shutter click, so I just stand there for the whole 10 seconds with freezing cold water in my face. Picture review - nothing I love! Too bad, I think to myself, because there's no way I just soaked myself unnecessarily.

In the end, I got something I was okay with. Not satisfied, not happy with, but okay with. It's better than nothing and I'm on the right track. Today wasn't a great day, but it was good. I feel productive, and edited a load more wedding pictures which is great news for me.

It's almost 11pm and I'll probably keep editing till 3ish tonight/this morning, just to get it finished. And if anyone has any PP outsourcing websites they could recommend, I'd really appreciate it!

Yours Soggily

Rosie