Work.

Lately, I have been faced with a grueling statement: Photography isn't work. This statement has come in various forms, from various people over the past few weeks and each time it irks me a little more.

One conversation involved me telling my Father's friend about my major and what I am currently doing (he later wanted me to take pictures for his business). Another occurred when someone claimed that photography doesn't count as a class. Of course, there are always those individuals that think photography is more of a pastime and not necessarily something that takes effort. To anyone who has dabbled more than briefly into the occupation could probably disagree with this idea wholeheartedly.

In my current production class, it seemed that capturing the image was the least amount of time I spent on this project. In order to capture the image I first had to create a lookbook. For this project it was essential to work with a portrait-style photo and then incorporate a texture into the photo. This in itself required much research in an attempt to garner a look for the actual shoot. It seemed as though I spent hours searching through magazines, the internet, and even asking my mother for help in an attempt to begin creating my lookbook. Upon finally creating a lookbook I then had to wait in order to present the idea in class. Even after I had set the idea and presented it, I realized (probably not more than a few hours before I was about to shoot) there was a better image I could execute.
When the day finally came to shoot I had to rush my model out the door in hopes that the cloudy, overcast day would continue. My first instinct was to set her underneath the parking structure in front of my apartment. This proved to be the best lighting situation, although my range of shooting was limited. While I did capture a few more images I ultimately went with one of my first from underneath the parking garage. This entire process only took about twenty minutes total.
The next step was to capture the texture I had wanted to use since I was first assigned this project: different parts of a palm tree. Since the correct lighting was difficult to find I had to set each piece onto a black mat board then bounce my flash off the dishwasher. After several attempts I achieved the correct lighting and had all my textures.
With all my images and textures finally on camera I had the most extensive part of the project complete. The next process was to bring them all into Photoshop and combine them in as many ways as I could imagine. With a few combined class periods I had finally combined several images into one me and my teacher could be satisfied with.

I can say that I am happy with the image that was produced it definitely was not instant. Throughout much of this project I second-guessed myself. Many times I thought I should re-shoot or start over with another idea entirely (even if I did stray almost completely from my original concept).

With the process I learned something that I may have not fully realized before: photography is work. A look at this graph will surely make anyone think about the work that goes into the life of a photographer. While the majority of people think it's about one giant party, it's really not. Also, take into account the stat that 85% of new photographers go out of business within the first five years.

If it were as simple as everyone entailed, then I’m sure more people would be inclined to pick up a camera.


Assignment for JRN212.