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Consistency In Your Images

All right. So I This is just a little short part here that I'm not gonna go too much on too. I was gonna tell you guys about this yesterday, but it was moving into the last, uh, class part of today. So consistency in your images, I've I was talking about that the whole time, and I just want to point out some things about it. So it's just a reminder that when you're thinking of submitting an editorial, like I said already, edit and shoot to keep consistency in your work. So make sure that your lighting will stay as consistent you can if you're outside. I know weather changes, the sun comes, the sun goals starts to rain. You have to move, but try to even if the lighting changes on you. That way, try to make sure things stay consistent within the editorial itself. Figure out ways to utilize the light so that it can still say, You know, if you guys are worried, say you're doing a shoot and you think it might rain. I would suggest going to a place where there some shelter overhead. So you'r...

e not dodging in and out of like you know what I mean? When the sun's coming sounds going, Just try to keep that in mind. Um, most magazine editors will look at this first before anything else They're not, um, you know, if the photo if you guys like, Okay, so, like my magazine Sugar Kiss magazine, we get photos sometimes, and they're good photos, but I we can't take them because somebody is sending me pictures And one is black and white. One is de saturated. One is way strong, vibrant colors. One is this one. Is that the girls wearing ahead? You know, headpiece And one thing, and she's running through a field in the next shot. She's doing some kind of fashion falls it just none of it makes any sense. It's just the same model and the You have to understand that everything needs to flow and be tied together. You can't have things being random because that it's not an editorial. It's just random photos. Um, this is just an example of consistency in your images is a recent editorial we had done, Um, it's here. Some points you have to remember is editing color tones, mood styling, the atmosphere. Try to keep that close and in range as much as you can. And then the change of clothing preach image. Do not send in the same outfit through a series of 10 images. Some people might take it, but not usually. So this is just a sample of consistency. And this is just continued again. Small. This stone says, Yeah, same editor would do. This is I did another set with Michelle. She's amazing on, um, everything here was made out of paper We had planned for this image here. I'm gonna kind of tell you guys a little bit about the details. This one on the far left. Actually, if you look behind her, it's like parallel. It's like a mirror. Because what was happening was Richard was remember this Richard? He was on a chair. And this headpiece that is above her would not stay on. We couldn't get it. It was like I don't know what Michelle did, but the headband was just was falling off, wasn't working. And we're being really rough with everything anyways, so he was standing on a chair and holding it, so I'm just explaining this to you. So you guys know that not everything is as it seems is as perfect in Seoul because Richard was there on that side of her, this side of her. Um, I had to call. I had to get him out of there. I had to get his arm out of there. He was, like, kind of like this and all his leg and is everything. The chair was there, and what I did was I just trace around the one side of the image and I just created and you just like I did with the leg control J and take it, throw it over, and to make it not look completely. Even I erased some of the bush behind her on this part of just behind or beyond your neck. So I didn't look too too much exactly the same. And I edited some of the bush just to kind of make it look not, you know, be like a exact mirror image. Yeah, and so the same thing with the I think the metal piece to somebody was holding that good to be. Pin it in. I don't remember, But anyways, these two images here, the first in the middle, are done with the sun. This is a cloudy shocked. It was pure cloud. The sun was behind her in the middle one and then the last one. The sun is street straight on at her. That's all three different light sources. But it all still goes together because of the editing. The editing Put it back together, right? Got a question from Judy? Be wonders. Can you have any of the same clothes in, say, a seven shot editorial where they always have to be different? Like could you use the same base dress and then accessorize it differently? Or could you use the same jeans and top, but again accessorized different things over it, etcetera And then misfit photography was wondering, with outfit changes, How do you keep it consistent? Same colors, same elements such as flowers in this one? Yes, all of that. All of that. So with, if you're trying to create an editorial, you don't have as much pieces. I talked about layering, Um, you know how she had her jacket on and then she took it off. That was meant to be shot together. But when she took the jacket off, it created a whole other look with just that on the skirt. So that is a ways you can play on it. You could add accessories. You can take them away. You don't need to have, um, on actual, like, seven whole outfits. You can mix and match things. And you can, um, play around with things so that it's to the eye. People don't know the difference. Yeah, there are ways to do. I've did it. There was editorial recently had done, and it was called Rock and Rose. And in that editorial, you guys couldn't you like If you want to look at it and see what I'm talking about, I can't find her right now. But on my website in the published section It's a Rock and Roll's editorial and the girl I bought some pieces to go with. The stylist collected some of the jewelry and stuff. We went and found some shirts that those shirts in that editorial were $2 each. We want them it like a marshal's. And then we just played around with that. I got the paper piece from Michelle. That same one paper piece was moved around as we change those shirts over and over and over again. It was around her shoulders and one shot. We made a crown in another shot. Then it hung across here like a pageant ribbon on another shot. So there's things you can do Just being creative. There's ways to create a whole storyline without a lot. The girl kept her same pair of jeans on through the whole thing, and all we did was change up the jewelry, move the paper around change of shirt, and it became an editorial. So yeah. Yep, so good. So that was just the last part of that section. Now we're just gonna finish off with staying positive, Okay? So just making eyes at me. Okay, So I will go over some of the stuff I wanted to finish in this place because, you know, over talking about the negativity thing and how to deal with all that kind of stuff. All the other things that we, as photographers and business owners have to deal with. It's really stressful. It can get hard on us. I've Well, man, I've had breakdowns a couple times, not just with the criticism thing, but just in general. I feel like sometimes you just can't deal with that. I'm so sensitive to stuff. I I don't know. It's just hard sometimes. So we always got a kind of step back and take a breath and try to, like, refresh our brains a little bit. Um, there has been times I refused to, like, just get away from everything and everyone and I kept going, and all it did was stressed me the hell out to such a point where, like a breakdown. So it's really important to take those breathers away from people on everything you know. Don't let things get to you too much. Sometimes I have There's a lot of pressure that comes on me and I'm It's just I just want to talk about some of this stuff that you guys can due to, uh, keep your mind's going and being creative and remain motivated. So how about you guys here in the studio audience? Do you have any thoughts on on? This is something you struggle with at all? Or are you all naturally positive, happy people? I'll put a lot of pressure on myself, even if nobody else cares when I get them the photos or what they look like or anything. I will. I'm such a perfectionist with my own work and how long it takes me and communication that I will. I'll drive myself crazy with my own negative, self talking criticism. So I suggest not doing that. Okay, It sounded like you were endorsing that. No, let's not do that. No, I absolutely agree. I think that's a lot. Something that a lot of folks out there would agree with is that we put more pressure on ourselves than the people around us dio anybody else thoughts on this I was gonna say yesterday having the shoe or just everybody knows we would chat on break. Like I'm just my nerves, you know, like, I'm gonna be shooting and just I don't typically work with a crew, let alone, like, live in front of a bunch of people and just like, I'm gonna forget what amateur is, you know, and there's this pressure, um, have to feel like I have to just be on a whole nother level like instantly. And I just had to let it go, you know, and just enjoy the experience. And, you know, if I messed up like we had trouble with the focus a little bit and things like that. It just, you know, you're growing. You just have to accept that. That's part of the process. It is. And that's what. And that's something that is hard for people to do is it's easy to intellectually recognize. Yeah, of course I'm gonna make mistakes. I'm not a perfect person human being, But then when it actually happens, it can really easily just throw you off and make sure that there and make you question what you're doing and why. You know, we have a lot of people who will step up and make very simple errors that they would never make in a 1,000,000 years. But the pressure of the situation can change that. And that's something that I think goes back to what you're saying. Uh ree, which was that when we put the pressure on ourselves and we can do that, it can really affect how well we performed. So, you know, if a shoot is very personal to us and something that really has a lot of meaning that we've worked on and thought about a lot, we put a lot more pressure, and so we're gonna judge ourselves a lot more harshly if it's if it's not exactly how we imagined it. Remember, there was a online video that I saw at one point it was somebody talking about ideas and how ideas can become almost like brain crack where we just get obsessed about that. We have these ideas that we want to execute perfectly, and we want to get it and we sit there and we obsess about it. We think over and over again, and it becomes bigger and bigger and bigger, and we think about like finally, when I do it, I'm gonna share it and there's gonna be applause and everybody is clapping and they love me and then we do it and it's been perfect because we are, and so we just stick it in there instead of actually doing it. But the people who do that who do make something are ahead of everybody else. So So, um, with this breaking the rules, I questioned why Ah, lot of things that I had done along the way because most of what I did a self taught in, like analyzing other people's images to figure out stuff. My question why I couldn't use hard sunlight. For example, why couldn't I cash shadows? Um, odd or unusual? Composition. How come I couldn't put the subject right? Dead center. Why couldn't I have like, it would be like, there's a lot of head space. Like when you guys saw me shooting like that. That was not the right thing. I would have cropped it out, But I would do stuff like that. People like this too much headspace like you're supposed. You should crop it like three inches above her head and stuff like that. Really? But why? I don't understand. And so I just ignore that. So I broke the rules. That's what I mean by breaking the rules. Don't let other people determine on what you want to do and what you feel like you like. And you enjoy your editing and in your work. So, um, I ignored it instead of whatever. I felt like it. And so, um, did it always turn out great? No, it didn't. It's not always everything is not always perfect in the way you want it. But without trying those things without doing the things you want to do in experimenting. You're not. You're not growing creativity. You're just creatively. I should say you're just sort of sitting stuck staying rigid in this little box and everyone's created for you. So you don't need to listen to that. You guys should be free to explore and do things your own way. Um, just because somebody even if photographer looks, you look up to say, you got to do this this and this. But why should you is that you're not them? You're you. And so try to remember to kind of try to do things in your own way in your own time and your own style. A focus on yourself Focus on your work, your goals, your dreams and your ideas. Try not to sway off the path for two longs who only slow you down. If you do get back on track, assume this possible. You know, Like I said before, with the criticism and all those kind of things. If you feel down your like, you're not getting nowhere and you're just not like in your work and you hate everything, that is actually a good thing to go through. It's good because that means you're ready. Teoh, Step it up a notch, but I always try to get back onto where your heading. Because if you don't, that's this is where a lot of photographers, a lot of photographers and artists just give everything up there like I'm done whatever they don't ever. You know, inside them. There's still that that dream or whatever they want to do. But they just give it up too fast and nothing comes easy, ever. So I will. Yeah, keep going here. I don't know what's. I have to do it both ways. I think so. So seek new inspiration. Um, always, always, always seek new inspiration. Um, like I mentioned before, it's not always something that's obvious. You do not like I you know, I told you guys before, when you're looking for inspiration, don't always sit there and look through tons of other photographers images. Try toe, try to stay away from, not tryto, find things on your own and think up your own ways of doing things. And like I told you with inspiration, it's not just the photos you're looking at. It some everything. Color is the sun set, you know, places that you've gone by a dark, dirty old Ali way. Those things are all cause inspiration, paintings, movies, you know, um, all kinds of stuff, even even like I've gone into, like, restaurants. And it's been like old Victorian style. And I'm like, Wow, like I got to do a shoot like this. Look, I pay attention, toe all the details, and it just it it will. It will trigger ideas, and and it really helps you to be more original in your work and not have to feel like you're imitating somebody else. So, um, don't compare yourself to others. Um, there's an article. If you guys want to write this down, it's a really good article. It's called the Social Media Effect, and it's ah, says, Are you really who you are? Are you really who you portray online and our others? So I wanted to talk about this because, you know, it's pointless to compare yourself to others online. You are comparing your real life to somebody's online life, so it's not accurate. It's not a fair comparison at all. Nobody's life is perfect, and some people hide a lot online and in real life meat. I'm very private. I'm very much a introvert. You don't see me. I don't have selfies going on like none of that. I'm just so closed in that way. I love to share my work, but that's the side of me that I want to share. All the other stuff is hidden, and people will a lot of times I get messages all the time and they're like, Oh, you're so lucky on my God like one loves you and this not But people don't understand the other things that are going on in my life. So don't compare your life to somebody who you admire and think that everything is all great, perfect, wonderful, because it's not. It took me a lot of work and dedication and tears and struggling and all kinds of stuff to get here. And I'm not even halfway. So just remember that, you know, and this to start saying it's like, you know, forget articles. You're comparing your here. Oh, you're riel life. I'm sorry to remember the same now, but to somebody's online highlights are or show reels or something. I'm sorry. I remember the same now I should have put it in here, but anyway, so just remember that Don't compare yourself to others, especially. It's people who are you're competing with online and other photographers that air out there. So yep, benefit from negativity. Learn to take the darts that have thrown at you and get motivated. That's what I did. I take that negativity and use its my advantage. So many people have told me that they have meltdowns when dealing with this, and I just say, Forget it. Just you know, I am not gonna pretend that I haven't I haven't had meltdowns. Like I said in the beginning, it was a huge slap in the face. I didn't understand why people were always being mean to me. But then I started understanding why. It's because, you know, there's like, the jealousies envy, and they think that you're this and that they don't know you when all of that is bundled in together, so benefit from that. Take it and use it to push you forward some. It's a good thing to have that that negativity, because if you didn't everything would be smooth sailing, you would probably never really make any progress. There's a lot of bumps in the road, right? Um, another thing I want to talk about is you don't know everything and you never will. So I still do this. I learned things from others like Ronald showing me about export of photo. I you know, I a little trouble with that, And before previous that I wasn't doing it that way. I wasn't exporting images that way. So I've learned a new skill. No, I don't know everything and never claimed Teoh My own past students and assistance have same to same thing. They show me new tricks and tips all the time. Richard showed me some stuff, things that I never knew before. So yeah, I just always remember that. You know, it's on. We all learned from each other in our own ways. There's things that I might show someone, and they turn around and show me something else. And it's a good thing to share that knowledge with each other and help each other. So study and practice practice and learned new techniques. Look up tutorials do research, find all kinds of ways that you can keep learning and growing. Try not to get stuck and doing the same thing over and over again, because this is where you get bored, and you just, uh, get sick of what you're doing. So keep going with that and grow and improve, keep growing and challenging yourself. It's really important to not be scared of failing hopes. It is those failures that make us better everyday mistakes and not knowing something only helps you the next time to improve. And this is how I have learned many things in my journey with photography. Um, had I not tried things and, you know, I learned from those mistakes of, you know, say bad lighting or bad editing or, you know, not speaking up about something that I needed in a shooting. And the whole shoe went to hell after because I didn't explain that we need to stick to these guidelines. Had I not gone through all those little things, I wouldn't have been able to um, make sure that that happens from that point on, right? So on always growing improve and help others, the same thing as I say is like you don't know everything you never will. I strongly believe in what goes around, comes around. The more you give and share and help others, the more it will come back to you in return and to make sure everything is changing here. Celebrate what you have accomplished. Never being totally satisfied. You will always have another goal ready and in its place before achieving the present one. This will drive you to success. Um, be content, but never satisfied. So you know, I'll be happy. I'll celebrate what I've done. I'm happy with the images and stuff. And then I like I said, I kind of ripple partly here in them on I make I just kind of see what I've done. What I've done not say I won't say wrong, but what I would want to do differently next time. So, um yeah, that's just something to keep in mind. You know, always be content with what you've done. Celebrate your accomplishments, but always strive for that next goal. That next step that you want to take. So, yeah, See, I'm just gonna end it out of here with some of these quotes that I like I believe in. And I think it's really important. Stay humble, be nice to the people. This is a saying that I am so I lived by this. It's it's be nice to the people you meet on the way up for they're the same people you meet on the way down. That's what Walter Winchell. When shall I think it's important to treat people with kindness? No matter who you are and how far you've come, I feel like I'm not gonna go on about it. But I just feel like there's people who we we started around the same time sometimes and they become like, you know, sort of this and I feel it's very unnecessary. And we are, you know, we're all human, right? And so it's, I think it's important always. You know, people who come along new in the industry and stuff tryto always be kind to them because, you know, we're all knew at some point and you know, you, you, when you came out and into this industry, were probably you want that kindness, and you should also give it because it's a yeah, it's an important thing. Toe. Keep that quality and shoot. What you love is another one I just wanted to quickly mention if you don't shoot fashion all the time or beauty like if you know always, these are the four things that I love doing. Like I said, the conceptual beauty, portraiture and fashion. It's not your usual style. It's more your kind of business that you really want to dio even is sorry. Even if it's just for fun, do it like if it's just, you feel like I'm never gonna make money from this and this, not you don't know that you don't know that. So keep doing it. Like if you're like a wedding photographer out there, whatever. Just keep putting those creatives in in there once in a while so you can keep that inspiration going and keep it, you know, happening. And you don't get to board and burnt out from your work. Um, this is another one that is really important. It is. The three most important words you can tell yourself is yes. I can thistles from Lumen Jello Mondello saying it right, I am. I developed this mindset early in my photography. When people would tell me I couldn't do something I would say, Oh, yeah, Watch me. I'm going to do it now. Like, you know, I would like even just telling me you can't shoot fashion. You're not going to make money doing that. You can't. Well, you know what I said. Well, yes, I can. Why can't I I Any time, I'm just Maybe it's like that oppositional defiance thing going on. But yeah, believing in yourself is very, very important for whatever it is you want to do. This has been the fuel for most of my journey. Fear. Um, this is a big, big, big, big thing. Um, f e a r. It has two meanings. Forget everything and run or face everything and rise. The choice is yours. This is a zig Ziglar quote. Don't be afraid to be creative or try something new, even like you. If you don't try new things and how also, you're going to learn. That's the only way I've learned. You have to just be willing, toe. Try it out. Even if you think it's not gonna be good, you never know. The next thing is decide that you want more than you were afraid of it. That's from Bill Cosby. And this is another big thing that I lived by. Even like coming on here. I was God, I don't want to go on there. It was just but I Deep inside, I did, and then it was sort of like a you know, it was really scary for me. But I did it because I decided I did want it more than I was afraid of it. So that's something you have to keep in mind. And remember that when you are anything you're doing in your life, not just photography. Um, don't go to the next one here. It's a couple more. So this is going back to the criticism thing. Um, it's another good quote. It's called strong people. Don't put others down, they lift them up. And this is by Michael P. Watson. So don't let others discourage you, you know, critiquing, for example, and where it should come from and how it should be received. So where should come from, how it should be received and how to offer it. So just remembers not just getting it, but how you're giving it to other people. If you've ever caught yourself doing that to someone else, you just stop and think like, is it up to me? Does this person really care? Want my advice? Are they asking me? I think it's important to just kind of, you know, remember when somebody is asking for it, you can offer it, but otherwise it's good to step back and maybe just stay in your corner, reflect on your own stuff. Yeah, on. And if you don't build your dream, someone else will hire you. Help build. There's this is just something I threw in here because a lot of people struggle with the letting go of the day job thing and stuff like that. And I just want to put that in there because, like, you know, I'm working with, you know, those jobs and stuff like that. It was never in my personality to do it, and I used to wonder why I would sit and fight with, like, every boss that I ever had. And you just be like butting heads with them is because I realized I was meant to be doing something else sold time, and I just fought it along the way. It never would really step out. So, um, this is a good quote, Teoh. Remember, if you guys, you know, some of you are happy with your jobs and what not? But if you're trying to step out and do that. Just keep that in mind. And then the last one is If you realize how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought again. We are all guilty of it. I still do it all the time. But the only difference now is that I remember Teoh keep going back to the positivity in my brain because this is the only thing that really holds us back, is us. It's we do it to ourselves. You can blame everyone else in the world, but it's all on us. It's what we've what we're doing. Even I I know I've stifle myself because maybe fear of success and I don't want to move too quick, like over got it might come crashing, burning or something. So I wanna, you know, just point that out. That's the same by Peace Pilgrim, and you have your thoughts play a big part in your work and your progress. Everything. Remember that it can either push you forward or hinder you completely. It just depends on where you take it