Well, day 1 of my 30 day challenge felt a little rocky, but I am glad that I forced myself to do it! First of all, the lighting situation was awful. I didn't want to go on about it in my entry yesterday, but I realized that I simply could not "make do" for the rest of summer until the lighting studio is reopened. It was too frustrating and it would mean too much time wasted (I would probably end up having to redo any photos I was happy with to get a better quality). My parents have been wanting to help me buy a set of off-camera flashes for awhile now and I was resistant because I didn't want them to spend the money and I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. I figured it out pretty quickly after my shoot yesterday (I had already done a ton of research) and picked up my lighting kit that very afternoon at Midwest Photo Exchange! It is handy having one of the largest photography retailers in the country right here in Columbus. They even gave me an awesome student discount. And I have to credit my mom and dad with being the most supportive, awesome parents ever.
This morning I got to work setting up my shot and lighting it like a pro! My new flashes did great on light stands with white umbrellas to diffuse the light. I'm excited that the quality of the pictures I make during this project will be up to par with those I've made before in my university's lighting studio. And I'll already have my own flashes when I graduate (probably something I should've had already...but being a photographer is expensive)!
So today, instead of doing an all-new shoot, I revamped yesterday's and did some different shots. I really like how these four turned out. I think I'm going to approach the rest of my challenge this way, spending 2 days on each set-up (backdrop, costume, and props). I hope to get multiple good shots out of each set-up that way, and that will give me a little extra time between each one to come up with some great ensembles (Check out the peter pan collar on my shirt! Isn't it great!? $1 at my favorite thrift store!).
To any other artists out there thinking of doing a 30-day challenge like this, it felt overwhelming at first, like I might run out of ideas, or not find the time, or lots of other things (/excuses), but it's actually a relief to get started, and just working on this shoot for two days has helped me feel back in the swing of things and given me lots of other great ideas to use from here. Having a set goal of photographs to aim for helps me feel like I am accomplishing something specific, and I like that.
If you like what you see so far, you might consider sponsoring my project! Sponsorships range from $5-$20 and include a signed print at the end of the 30 days! I won't be in every picture, if that's not your thing. :)
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