MrsPurgatory's photostream  

Co-owner of Purgatory Golf Club, Mom, wife, photographer.

I Embrace Over the Top!

Whenever I learn a new technique I love to experiment, and TURN UP THE VOLUME. Sometimes I look back at these ‘experiments’ and think yuk, “Did you really have to mess with the white balance so much that the clouds are various shades of grey, purple and pink? I mean what were you thinking! Couldn’t you see what you were doing?! Were you legally blind that day?!”

Then there were times, where I was pushing the limit to the extreme, and I look at those images and gasp, “Oh, I wish I had taken more pictures that day!” I wish I had processed more images when I was in that frame of mind! I couldn’t do anything wrong that day! I should have bought a lottery ticket!”

Those are the presets that I backup and name crazy things like “Hug Bruce Lanai” because the little boy was hugging a stuffed animal named Bruce on the lanai. Days when I was ‘Wonder Woman with a Camera,’ and every picture I took was golden. Incredibly, the photography gods further smiled on me with an AMAZING raw editing session where I yanked every slider until I found that magical image I was looking for.

I remember one of those golden days, where I took all my rejects and experimented to the max. I did things no self-respecting photographer would do, certainly not one who had been properly trained. The crazy thing is, my rejects became works of art. I showed stuff that I would normally delete to anyone who was interested. And they all wanted to know how I did it! They were awed by my rejects!

Snobby Professionals (change this headline please!)
I went to photography boot camp, ugh, I admit it. Yes, I learned things I still use today, and I am so grateful for those skills! I also got to know a snobby and jaded photographer.

He said that if he is happy with two images a year, he was doing great. I thought, “Are you kidding? I love my pictures! I get an immense amount of joy out of taking them, editing them, printing them, watching them on Apple TV, sharing them with people, and making gifts. If getting to his skill level means I will only like two images I create a year, I’m bailing ship! I don’t want to be him, I want to love and enjoy what I create!”

I do understand his oversaturation of photography to a certain extent. When you do one thing ALL THE TIME it gets boring. You start to look for the unusual, the exotic, the thing that no one else has done. Given the internet and our knowledge of the world, that’s a pretty high bar.

So where does that leave me?

Enjoying the path.

I love photography. I love creating beautiful images, that when I show them to people they gasp with delightful shock.

Sharing and getting praise is fabulous. But the thing that makes me put my finger on the shutter, and yank those sliders, is some little voice, a magical, artistic muse, that wants to play. She wants to do crazy, some times beautiful, sometimes-tacky things, and I love her.

XO my dear Muse, thank you for being a part of my life. Please help me hold onto you and never look back!

You keep me forever young.

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PS. End notes because yes, even though I have this amazing Muse, I also have an Inner Nerd, that is equally as cool, and I love and need you just as much! You rock my shy but brilliant nerd!

I have both the left and the right side of my brain and I plan on keeping them, meaning I don’t want to focus on just one skill set. I don’t buy into the whole “You have to be out of your mind to be good.” I’m going with you just have to have the inspiration, muse and nerd, in your mind, those lovely inner voices churning all the time because they want to be heard, and cooperating because they know that is the only way to get to the physical world. Wow, now that was deep and mysterious. No, no drugs involved, just letting the players play.