Hello!
It has been a very stressful two weeks for me because I have made a lot of changes in my life. I am the Queen of side jobs. I do mainly freelance photography but I also pick up bar tending jobs at various places. My money makin' job was a bar job in Minneapolis and I would work long hours each shift (3PM- 4AM). I only did this two days a week but it was starting to wear on me physically and mentally.
I decided to give up my money job to just focus on my boutique and photography. With that, I took the leap on giving up drinking alcohol. As a social drinker, I have realized that it sets me back and is not good for my mental health. There are so many successful people I know personally who are self employed and none of them drink. It is different when your business is all on you. The harder you work, the more successful you will be. If you're drinking, you can't give it your all-- or at least I can't.
One of my co-workers at the bar job who was loved by everyone, recently had liver failure. This was a shock to all of us because she was only in her mid 30's. This girl, had to then leave to her home town to rest, recover, and wait for a transplant. This girl is the girl that you will never see wearing a dress or makeup. On her last day here, I thought to myself ," I would love to photograph her in a dress with her makeup and hair done. I called her up and because this was so spur of the moment and random, I thought she would say no. She surprisingly agreed to do it. She not only agreed to it but she seemed genuinely excited about it. I didn't have time to get a makeup artist or hair dresser but I did it myself the best I could. I tossed a dress from my boutique on her. I choose a baggy boho style one so that she felt comfortable and feminine at the same time. I didn't want to portray someone else but make her style more feminine. The shoot was super unplanned and we started finding places around our neighborhood to photograph at. About 10 minutes into the shoot, it started to pour rain. We didn't stop the shoot at all. She started dancing and playing in the rain and it was so heartwarming to see. I got to see the moment of her letting go of being a little uncomfortable and just enjoy life and posing for me in the rain. I was so happy with the shoot and how it just fell into place just because I had a thought that second. Also, I found out later that the day of the random photoshoot was her birthday. I had no idea that it was her birthday and that made me really happy.
Now, a lot of people ask me why I love to shoot everyday people. They don't know how to pose, they are not picture perfect and blah blah blah. I am the rare photographer that loves to shoot everyday people like models. I see beauty in real life and I love bringing it out into my work. I know how to pose people and I love the challenge of getting to know people and overcoming each persons insecurity to get the image that I want. I want people to know that they are beautiful and not media standard beautiful.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers.
