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3.21.18
Every so often, I like to dive back into old photos I’ve taken, in part to reminisce of my early years of doing photography. Fortunately, I’ve had many friends take a chance on me and because of those gigs, I slowly started to understand my workflow and to develop a style that I’m accustomed to. The benefit of this sort of art is that one is able to look back at the work they’ve done, years later, and see two things happen simultaneously at once.
The first is the technical difference of one’s photos. The way that I light and compose my images now, is noticeably different than when I first started out. I found angles and techniques that I prefer, and it was all through a constant and consistent flow of refining this through experimenting during a shoot. There is always going to be growth in anyone’s process, and I am confident that my photos years from now will be different than the way I go about it now.
The second is thinking of my old work like an echo. A lot of the same sensibilities and things I looked out for back then, are the foundation of what I’m seeking to capture now. Although, things do change, the creative style remains intact and, hopefully, gets better over time.
Considering that I was still finding my footing as a photographer, I was lucky that, Spring, one of my friend from church, was happy to do a photoshoot. It was about four years ago, when these pictures below were taken. We had driven out to Yountville, where much of the vineyards still had lush green textures that complimented the light blue on Spring's dress.
It was the beginning of the summer season, so, I wanted to embody a sense of warmth and nostalgia in these photos. Much of Spring's personality lies within her genuine kindness to all things, and this seemingly quietness in her connection to life, in general. As such, I wanted to embody a sense of familiarity, even though the viewer has never met her before. Everything in her posture, smile, and demeanor reads as if it was a friend you were to reconnect with, rather than someone who you meet for the first time and thus has a more rigid posture, intent on making a good first impression.
After how many years, I return to these and many other photos. It's a reminder that there is still much more room to keep improving, while also appreciating much of what has inspired my current work, too. Making gradual tweaks here and there, I still wanted to keep the overall story intact. Instead, these edits are more cosmetic to help accentuate the tone I want to edge towards, and to, in a way, merge both past and present versions of myself, together in one photograph.