WENDY HURST PORTRAIT

"Balance" (a series) Model: Kelsey Edwards I'm behind on weekly images but I'll get there. :) It's so easy to get stuck in a whirlpool of guilt. Especially creative guilt. A tug-of-war tends to exist between doing things you have to do and doing things you want to do--like being creative. And in that kind of battle, only guilt wins.  Here's what helped me find balance and more time to do the things I love. Step One: Stop the Madness Seriously. Sit down for five minutes and think about literally nothing. It can be really hard, and maybe feel like a waste of time, but since running around like a crazy person isn't productive either, what do you have to lose? Step Two: What was trying to steal the nothingness?  Housework? Social media? Child care? Work? Group them into two groups, obligations and personal.  Step three: Go all the way When fulfilling obligations, go all the way. Be in the moment. Focus entirely on what you're ...

"You're a conceptual portrait photographer? You must be good at building nests and using Photoshop." It's half true; I am good at Photoshop, but I've never built a nest in my life. Also, and more importantly, neither is required to tell a good story. Almost  anyone can put together an environment with a pose, but a story is what will set one apart.  A quick tip to finding a good story  is to start with something--anything!--and ask yourself, "what comes next?" For example, I tend to be in my kitchen when I have a moment to think of ideas so silverware is often my starting point. A spoon is like a shovel. One can shovel or scoop food, dirt, rocks, etc. What if it were a huge shovel that digs up bigger things like boulders and fences? What if instead of digging things up it buries things like garbage and buildings and people? What if those people don't want to be buried? What does that feel like? What's an environment and/or pose that...

"Ebony Glade" Model: Winter Rose Beadry The combination of a lasting winter season and having a new baby means this week's image is from my unfinished archive, taken back when I hosted a social experiment I called the Creative Perspective Challenge . It was an exercise to demonstrate that there is more than one "right" answer to a creative question, and the theme was 'movement'. I published a few different images back then and moved on, but I always kept some unfinished raw files on hand for a rainy day. With the winter season still upon us in Utah and a new baby whom I can't yet leave with someone else, this week was that rainy day--and I'm so glad it was! Without the pressure of designing a new image I had more time to focus on designing the effects of an image I already composed. New ideas can always be found in old places if one looks hard enough. :) What will your mind see today? facebook.com/wendyshootsit