My Creative Process

Before I tell you about my creative process you first need to know what conceptual photography is. Conceptual photography aims to express ideas and concepts through photos. The art movement of conceptual art emerged around the mid-1960’s and continued until the mid-1970’s. The concept of the work is often regarded as more important than that of the finished artwork. There is not one way that a conceptual artwork can look, it is all dependent on the intent of the artist and what they wanted the outcome to be. A perfect example of an artwork whose concept is more important than that of the aesthetic is highly controversial, it is the work of Marcel Duchamp titled Fountain. This was part of his series of a coined term of ready-mades. The artwork Fountain was a urinal placed on a pedestal and it created an uproar in the art world because many did not believe that it was art. Even within my own work, no two photo series are the same, most fall under conceptual work, but look completely different.

Now that I have explained what conceptual art is, I can now tell you what my creative process is. Before I start anything I have to find inspiration, that can look like me walking around a park or city, going to a museum, or scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest. Once that spark ignites I have to gather some visuals for myself and the team that I will be working with so that the concept in my head is properly expressed to everyone  I am working with. I hop straight onto Pinterest to create a mood board and fully develop my concept. I first find specific posing references that I find interesting, then I move into the overall aesthetic, color palette, and staging, then I move to hair, makeup, and clothing to round it all out. Sometimes I cannot find the right type of inspiration to fit what I have in my mind and have to verbally communicate to my team my thought process and what I want. 

After I finalize the mood board I then start searching for the team I would like to work with. I touch base with the network of models, HMUAs (Hair and Makeup Artists), stylists, and designers to gather their availability to find a day or days that work for all of us. Once dates and call time is confirmed I start searching for a studio that I feel would best support my vision.  I have a few friends that have studios I rent from time to time or I utilize Peerspace to find studios to rent. They have many different options from a classic studio setting to stylized sets ranging in themes. This can take some time to find everyone and everything you are looking for especially since most of my conceptual stylized shoots require me to source at least 5 things for them to complete the idea that I have. I would say that it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a couple months depending on the complexity of the shoot itself. 

It's finally time to shoot, all of the planning has paid off. I always have music playing during my shoots, especially music that the model likes so that they get into a flow state. I love to capture movement, unique angles, and playing around with light and different props to get the outcome I am looking for. I go in with a loose plan because I can get inspired in the moment and go a different way than originally planned. This is for test-shoots or shoots where I am given more creative freedom. If I am working with a designer, brand, or company I do not diverge from what they are looking for, however most everyone that wants to work with me allows for that freedom so that they get the best work. I also make sure during a TFP (Trade for Print) shoot to ask all involved if they have anything specific they would like me to capture for that trade so they get images they want to use for their portfolio! 

After everything is said and done I start culling and editing the raw photos. If I did not tether directly to capture one I will upload the images to my computer to cull the many photos I take. After the first cull I will set up a meeting with whomever I worked with to choose which images they want from our project. Once I am finished culling I tweak the first edits lighting, color grading, and curves. I will then export to Photoshop to do my final edits of cropping, burn and dodging, and edit blemishes or other things I may not want in my photos. Editing always takes me the longest, one because it is my least favorite part of photography and two because I am a perfectionist and can take anywhere from one to three hours editing my photos to get my desired outcome. That is my creative process.

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What is Conceptual Photography

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My Journey Into Photography