Bring on Winter

The summer months have been a little crazy.

Working 50-60 hours, 6 days a week with the day job has meant that the creative projects have had to take a back seat.

Now the cooler Southland seasons are upon us, creative sessions will be focussed on the indoors.

Movement, emotion and water will always have an attraction, and of course playing with light.

The Gurushots competition has a great role in providing motivation.

I am continuing to have reasonable success on an international stage, constantly ranking top 10, 20, 30%.

This particular series was inspired by the 'strike a pose' challenge, which I am glad to report I am ranking in the top 25 photographers.... 

(out of 6853 other photographers)

I cant speak highly enough of Gurushots.

Not only does it give me the opportunity to gauge my own work on an international stage, it also gives me an insight of what other people are doing, and perhaps more importantly what people respond positively to.

What people like, and people don’t like. 

This has helped my own evolution as a photographer.

I once wrote “the camera is my sketch pad, Photoshop is my canvas”.

I once believed that the bare bones would be captured in the camera, and Photoshop would make it amazing. Well fuck that.
I don’t need Photoshop to do amazing.

The intangible aspects of the artistic merits that may exist in my work, can be straight out of camera.

I am becoming (more of) a purist, post processing should enhance, not change an image.  What is line between photography and graphic design?

Sure Photoshop will always be a tool, fixing the stuff up's, polishing an image.

Colour balance will always be a bugbear, different temperature light sources, the reflected light off surfaces and not trusting my own eyes (or monitor) will always have me tweaking and evolving my 'style'.

Perhaps my colour balance choices share similarity’s with Piscasso's blue period, a reflection of my mood.

Only time will tell.

I see the magazine workin' that Photoshop
We know that shit ain't real, come on now, make it stop
If you got beauty, beauty, just raise 'em up
'Cause every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top

MEGHAN TRAINOR