"Puppet Breaking Loose" and a morning in the forest

Oh boy, this image was too much trial and error! I shot the components twice and I lost count on the edits I tried to do. A few days ago I started from scratch and voilà it finally came together the way i imagined it! My first shoot took place in the big hallway of my house and I used the head, body and dress from this shoot (sounds weird, I know). Because I was shooting by myself, I had no way of attaching the rope to my arms in a believable way. So, I recruited my best assistant (and all around favorite person ) - my mom. :)

I had to take a few headshots as well for upcoming projects so it was kind of a "two flies with one stone" thing. We packed everything up and drove to a place where we had peace and quiet and good backgrounds. We took my portrait shots and then ventured into the forest. Originally, I wanted to put the "puppet" in a forest setting but in post I saw that it just wouldn't work out. The background was simply far too busy and the ropes didn't stand out anymore.

Eventually, I used a stock photo as my background and I'm quite happy with the result. It's not my best work but I learned a lot from it! Plus - the hours in the forest with my mom were extremely awesome! Below you see three behind the scenes shots - the forest as my dressing room, the two of us, and my style mix match before i decided to just run around barefoot. And, no, walking barefoot in a forest doesn't hurt. It really doesn't! It's soft and nice. It did take a while, however, to get the tree sap off my feet...... :)

Thinking about the image and its theme throughout the process of shooting and editing made me aware of how many of these ropes I have been able to cut throughout this year and of how much freedom this gave me. When we really think about it, we have too many ropes in our lives. Most of them were tied by nobody else but ourselves. What are the ropes you want to cut? What are the things in your life that you want to break free from?

One of my favorite places and power spots - the forest!

Of Losing Oneself - Speed Edit Video!

For this image I have a quick speed edit for you! I had a lot of fun shooting the photo and putting it all together.

behind-the-scenes....

Fallen - including a video!

I finished my second image of this year yesterday morning! I had great fun shooting it and putting it together. I won't give my personal thoughts about this one, I'd rather leave it up to you to see perhaps a meaning or a philosophy in this image ;)

Additionally, I recorded the editing process and it turned out to be such a long video. That meant that I somehow had to cut an almost 2 1/2 hour video (and I didn't even record everything!) down to under 4 minutes....it was a process! I had to leave out or shorten many steps that went into "Fallen". I mean....who wants to watch me edit for such a long time! Hahahaha... I hope you still enjoy this slightly abridged version!

.....and here is the image:

Space - a few thoughts on my first image of 2016!

Here it is - my first image of the new year! The story behind it is a very simple one, at least in my mind. Firstly, I simply wanted to have an "upside-down" indoors image. There. Done.

Secondly and maybe a bit more complex, is the emotional story behind it. To me the image is somewhat of a summary of the last year. Looking back, I feel like I spent a lot of time in 2015 "hiding". Hiding as in needing time for myself, time to think, time to re-group. But I feel like I was also hiding a bit from opportunities, from taking action in many ways. Creating and withdrawing to my own "space" helped me a lot. Hiding is nothing bad or unhealthy as long as you come out eventually with a fresh mind and clear thoughts. That's what happened to me and I'm grateful for it.

I chose to blindfold myself for the image. I do like to keep my images more anonymous. In this specific one, however, I also used the blindfold as a key element of what I wanted to depict. When life gets very turbulent and you do retreat and find yourself in the middle of many small storms, you ARE blindfolded in a way. You DON'T know what's coming next. You need time and space and it doesn't matter at that moment that you ARE a bit blindfolded. Eventually, you will come out of your hiding spot, you will have learned, you will have new plans, and be able to see clearly again. I also got to incorporate being upside down for the same reasons. In this little hideout, you find yourself upside down more often than not. It's part of it and, in the end, helps you to regain your strength and your balance.

I went into shooting this without a clear concept (as so often the case with me), just a vague idea and a gut feeling. The concept, the idea or thought, the image represents comes as I shoot. I had a lot of fun doing this, above all because I'm back doing my fine art images.

For the set up I had to clear out our little cupboard, or whatever you want to call it, in our living room. Then I climbed in and out for over an hour, leaving me sore today! It was so worth it....also because this cupboard is sorted out and dusted too ;)

A new year of adventures!

I meant to write and publish a new blog post two days ago. I didn't, I do it now. My desire to jump right back in and create was greater then writing in my blog so I did just that - I shot and edited. And this brings me straight to one of my resolutions (or intentions) for this new year. Last year was, in many ways, one big, giant lesson in my personal as well as photographic life.

One of the lessons learned is being able to act right away or at least as soon as possible on your plans, wishes, and goals. Don't contemplate something for too long.. Just trust your intuition and do it! Or, on the opposite end, let go of actions, habits, situations, or even people that are a big negative in your life, that don't make you feel good, bring you down, make you sad, disappoint you or are simply unhealthy for you. So far, in these first 13 days of 2016, I'm pretty happy with myself because I am taking this intention to heart and act on it.

I knew I wanted to start shooting my fine art portraits again and I tried to plan shoots and I was overthinking it. Yesterday morning I threw all plans out the window, got into one of my new dresses (thank you, santa!), set up my camera, re-arranged our living room, and spent a good hour crawling in and out of the living room cabinet. In the evening, I edited and was fairly happy with the result (considering I got a bit rusty). I finished the edit this morning, I am completely sore from my little shoot, and just very happy that i am back into it.

Along with changes in my personal life and in my way of thinking in many areas, along with lessons learned and much trial and error, I know this will be a super exciting new year with plenty of chaos and adventure, all of which makes life awesome! I will spend plenty of quality time with my little family (my husband and our two adorable kittens); I will make more time to shoot my fine art photographs and finally realize some long-planned shoots (see what I mean?); I will fully dive into my commercial portrait photography; ....oh, and I will finally get my dusty, old bicycle out of its temporary (like...10 years....) resting place and use it again ;)

My own list of 2016 "intentions" goes on and on. What are your intentions and goals for this year? Feel free to share a little in the comments and help inspire others :)

Finally, I want to wish you all a wonderful, inspired, healthy, and adventurous NEW YEAR!!

P.S.: Here is a small glimpse into my personal 2015. Another look back and then....ONLY forward! :)