Day 42:

In the reading this week I am reminded of two things:

"Don't compare your behind the scenes to some else's highlight reel" - Someone

And–

Week 7 Goals:

Morning Pages x7
Artist Date x1
Archeology, An Exercise
Complete as many additional Exercises as possible.

Archeology, An Exercise

Complete these phrases:

As a kid I missed the chance to be a kid
As a kid I lacked friends my own age
As a kid I could have used a mentor or someone that would just listen to me
As a kid I dreamed of being a scientist
As a kid I wanted to be loved and understood
In my house we never had enough time for ourselves
As a kid I needed more positive re-enforcement
I am sorry that I will never again see a world where everything doesn’t exist in your pocket
For years I have missed and wondered about “G”, I wonder how she is doing these days
I beat myself up about the loss of my youthful energy

“It is important to acknowledge our positive inventory as well as our shortfalls. Take positive stock of what good you have to build on in the present.”

— Julia Cameron - The Artist's Way

Finish these phrases:

I have a loyal friend in Nathan, mostly, or Kristin, she always sets me straight
One thing I like about my town is how close I am to just about everything I want to do
I think I have nice wit
Writing my morning pages have shown me I can change up my day to day and set new habits.
I am taking a greater interest in starting something for myself
I believe I am getting better at managing my stress and feelings
My artist has started to pay more attention to other artists and their struggles and challenges
My self-care is a big bath tub with plenty of room. I wish I had one.
I feel more calm, confident, and full of anxiety all at once.
Possibly, my creativity is wanting more from me and the world around me .

There will probably be a lot of poor excuses on this one. I was traveling all week for work and didn’t get a whole lot of time to myself to complete the tasks assigned.

Tasks:

Make this phrase a mantra “Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong” I made the effort to write this at the top of each of my morning pages, and think heavily about how I can treat myself better day to day.
Give yourself time to listen to one side of an album, just for joy. This was able to be done, except the album could have probably been more joyful. I found myself wanting to listen to The Downward Spiral a few times this week…and I did.
Take yourself to a sacred space and allow yourself to savor the silence and healing solitude. Silence is pretty hard to find in New York City. I’ll take some time next week and see what quiet places I can find.
Wear your favorite item of clothing for no special occasion. This also will probably be a next week task.
Buy yourself one wonderful pair of socks, one wonderful pair of gloves– One wonderfully comforting self-loving something. I’ve spent a lot of money on my Artist-child over the last few weeks. I think I need to slow down lest I become way more in debt than I want to.

Check In:

How many days this week did you do your morning pages? Have you allowed yourself to daydream a few creative risks? Are you coddling your artist child with childhood loves? I skipped a few days this week, 2 for sure and I did a half day one day. I was in a van a lot for work, and also on a very tight timeline most of the mornings.

I want to have more time to daydream, and I’d love to coddle my artist child more. But I’m not sure how.

Did you do your artist date this week? Did you use it to take any risks? What did you do? How did it feel? I also skipped my artist date. Which of course really sucks because I was in one of the most fantastic of cities in which to do just that.

Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it? None that I noticed.

Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant to your recovery? Describe them. I almost feel like I backtracked a little this week. I dove into my day job hard, and really didn’t carve out any time for me.

I feel really anxious as I am finalizing this entry, I wanted so much more out of it. I will do better in the upcoming week to try and “catch up”.

This was a year of many firsts. First trip out of the country, first book cover, first album cover, first fan art, and even first sighting of my photos in "The wild".

I worked with a TON of new people this year, and each though a connection made from past clients. I've become a name on a great number of tongues this year, and I hope to keep growing. If I had a dollar for every time I said: "But I'm not a _______ photographer" while shooting a particular subject matter this year, I'd be a rich man.

When the numbers all add up, I averaged a shoot every 8.4 days this year, on top of working a full time day gig. So needless to say, I'm a little bit tired. But to be honest I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

The Netherlands

My year may have started in the US, but my first First of the year comes from my trip abroad. I may have been sent for work, but that didn't stop me from taking the time to give myself a self-guided tour of my accomidations.

Talon's Grasp
(Book Cover)

This wasn't just a year of firsts for me. A close friend Zak had his first book published this year.
He asked me to shoot photos for what would end up being the cover of this book. Zak also allowed me to test out some new equipment (for me anyway) the results of which became his Author photo seen below.

The photo below was an outtake that didn't end up making the cover, but I still liked it anyway. Talon (Lex) went above and beyond to bring the titular character to life.

Be sure to show some love to Lex and Zak by picking up your own copy of the book on Amazon.

Lust
(An Album Cover)

Regular client and friend Hada Pixie, as well as her partner TG Mondalf invited me to take part in a special event as well. TG being a big fan of my work wanted partner up and shoot a full album's worth of images, a few of which appear below:

You can pick up your own copy directly from Latex Records

It was through this shoot that I also met with Sakura Stars, a model I hope to do some more with in the near future. A photo of her appears in the bonus section at the end of the blog.

First "Fan Art"
"...but I'm not a Cosplay photographer..."

I'm consistently astounded by Evin from Apologue Media and am so happy to have been introduced to him and his work. Last year I met for the first time a group that would become regular clients in 2017. Solar Phoenix (as she is now known) shot multiple sets ranging from television, to anime, and even branching in the realm of video games.

Even though I had no idea what the source material was about, it was her Hotline Miami costume that really made an impression on me this year.

In the Wild

Through various cosplay shoots this year I was brought to the attention of a couple of groups in the Atlanta Burlesque/Nerdlesque community, and have been introduced to many wonderful people with whom I now consider both friends and clients (and even more that are on the docket to create something magical in the years to come).

The photo below was snapped at the opening show for The FanDOM, Under The Cowl, which I also shot some of the marketing materials for.

Kali Fornication, Benjamin Unbutton, and Désiré Èvoquer are just a few of the lovely foks from The FanDOM that I have become close with. Please keep your eyes peeled for more exciting work coming from these guys in the upcoming months.

As a bonus, I'd also like to share some of my favorite images from a Game of Thrones burlesque show that I was invited to work on (and subsequently got me noticed by what would become FanDOM).

The Game of Thrones: Winter is Stunning event was one that shouldn't have been missed (and if you missed it, that was clearly your fault because I talked about it a lot).

Shown are just a few selects from my time in Westeros. Solar Wolf, Solar Phoenix, Risky Sour, and Roux La La are shown here in their wonderful costumes, with Désiré Èvoquer appearing above as Joffrey.

Bonus Photos
(Because I quickly learned my "Top 5 photos of the year" post ended up with 30+ images in it)

Fires, Désiré Èvoquer, Aesthetic Perfection, Hada Pixie, Davie & Evie, Zy_gote, Solar Phoenix, Thomas & Jessica, Sakura Stars, Gideon Hodge, and Ellie Collins.

A giant thank you as always to everyone who I shot with this year, I tried to make sure I grabbed a couple of photos from every shoot (and if I missed you it wasn't on purpose). And other great thanks to all of you out there whom I interact with on Social Media and in real life. I love your feedback and interactions. Thanks for reading all of the blog posts, and commenting on your favorite images.

See you all in 2018.

The Artist's Way - Week 7

Top 5ish Photos of 2017 – A Year in Review.