If you’re reading this you already know that our niche is in creating art photography for women and using it to create artwork for their homes. Sometimes this means photographing women and other times it just means creating artwork. So how exactly do we stay inspired and keep things new and fresh in this niche? We certainly aren’t like other photographers in the GTA that have the same style in all their images. To be different and continue to develop unique perspectives we shed our fears of failure and allow ourselves to experiment!
EXPERIMENTING WITHOUT FEAR
The hardest part of being different is coming at image creation from as many angles as possible. To do this we can’t have any fear of failure. Have you ever stood in front of a blank canvas scared to even make the first mark?
Experimenting is actually about making mistakes. There have been many times I accidentally messed up my camera settings when taking a photo. Other times I accidentally over-adjust while editing an image. I’ve done it so many times that I actually enjoy and am no longer afraid of it.
Through these mistakes I’ve made some incredible images which I can replicate for clients and/or explore even further!
THE CHURCH: PROGRESS EXAMPLE
The last time I was in Guelph I was using a lens I had never shot with before. It forced me to take on a perspective I wasn’t used to, but I went with the flow.
I love seeing lines, silhouettes, and forms when I’m out and about in a city and I caught a glimpse of a beautiful church. As much as I don’t like to reveal the magic behind what I do, here’s the original image of the top of the church taken in Guelph, Ontario:
To me, it looked like a rocket getting ready to blast off into the sky.
When I started editing it I realized that I wanted to really make it stand out from the sky so I made it black and white. I thought the triangular form it created would look great mirrored so I flipped a copy of it upside down.
Of course, this wasn’t enough so I created lines of varying thickness to accentuate the shape they created together – something very powerful. Sometimes I just don’t know when to stop and I decided that it needed some of its colour back. So I gave it a complimentary double colour cast. And voila!
Do you like seeing the raw image before it’s transformed or do you like having the mystery revealed even just a little? Let us know by commenting below!
Jonathan How is the photographer behind Made by Ten and calls Milton his home. He specializes in creating beautiful, creative portraits of real women. He uses photography (and this blog) to help them build confidence and love for themselves and creates artistic images for their homes and offices. You can see him driving around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada from portrait to fashion shoot and back again.