OKAY. LET'S GO. THE STORY OF ME STARTING PHOTOGRAPHY. ONWARD.
Freshman year of college is difficult for everyone, but for me, it was a DISASTER. I thought the best option for me was to not stay at my college's dorms and instead drive 45 minutes each way to school every single day. God, if I could only go back and shake some sense into my little brain.
Anyways, I was stressed from the two hours of sleep I was loosing each day from my long haul to school and college itself was taking a toll on my freshman brain. My hair was falling out, I had started a new job that was way over my head, and philosophy was straight up kicking my butt. I was feeling so overwhelmed and lost... until an old friend of mine, named Rachel, showed me a Facebook page after one of my brother's high school football games.
This Facebook page was called "Ruthie's Magical Camera," and with it, I was introduced into an entire new world of photography. I had never heard of "Fine Art" or "Conceptual" photography before, and as a newly blossoming photographer, I was hooked. I didn't understand how someone could be floating in the air or be made of a drawing.
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| Ruthie's Magical Camera |
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| Ruthie's Magical Camera |
And then, by some grace of God, I was lead to Joel Robison Photography. If you have not checked out this amazing artist, I beg you to go take a look at his work. I clicked through his many images on his page and sat with my jaw dropped down to the floor. I cannot even put into words how unbelievably creative his work is. He was then, and still is, on of my favorite artists. Now, I'm so glad to be able to call him a friend and undoubtably one of the best teacher's I've ever had.
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| Joel Robison Photography |
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| Joel Robison Photography |
At this point, I was 100% obsessed with Joel's work. After searching through his photos, I saw a photo of a boy with a red airplane. I cannot remember why, but I clicked on this model's name and went to his photography page.
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| Joel Robison Photography Justin Kuder Photography. I thought he was just as fantastic as Joel! I mean, this kid had photos of him pretending to be Harry Potter (which I can't seem to find now... JUSTIN! WHERE DID THEY GO!?), lightening coming out of nowhere, and bunches of butterflies. What more could I ask for? |
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| Justin Kuder Photography |
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| Justin Kuder Photography
If God had lead me to Joel, I don't know who lead me to Justin, but I'm constantly thankful for them. I noticed that Justin lived less than an hour from me, so I took the chance and found his personal profile and tried to add him as a friend... And he accepted.
Someone needs to give this man a medal because he dealt with every question I had about photography and was never once rude. I asked him about Joel, The Wild Ones, how to use a camera, photoshop and more... all within the first evening. Poor guy. I bet he thought I was crazy.
Right after talking to Justin, I was inspired to try and create my first ever conceptual photo, which is where I intended this blog post to start, but I didn't realize the whole backstory was relevant.
I had the wonderful idea to have my friend Rachel, who showed me Ruth's work in the first place, be my first model for my first conceptual shot. We woke up early. We did hair and makeup. We were ready before dawn. Everything was set... and I had no idea what I was doing. I thought maybe levitation would be cool, because I had seen other photographers do some cool stuff with that. So, yeah, levitation it was!
I took only about 40 shots because I was so nervous to be working with a model. I hadn't really ever done that before, or even worked with such an abstract idea before. Even though this was one of my friends, it still was horribly unfamiliar. Honestly, I felt like a freak, but I still had fun early that Saturday morning, nonetheless.
After falling back asleep for far to many hours, I made my journey up to SIUE (college of the time) to edit the photos from earlier that morning. I was so freaking excited to sit down on photoshop and edit this photo! Levitation was going to be easy, right!? I mean, I just had to somehow edit her to be flying... without taking a picture of her jumping... without taking a basic background shot... without any knowledge of photoshop whatsoever... Easy, right?!
OR NOT! I sat at that dang desktop for about two hours with absolute no clue how to work Photoshop. Let me put this into a basic terms: I didn't know what a layer was. The most basic of elements of Photoshop was beyond me. I tried watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts, but I was at my wits end. It had been six hours. I'd restarted that photo at least 15 different times, and I was determined to finish it, no matter how long it took. At this point, I'd be texting Justin question after question, and though he was helping me the best he could, I just wasn't getting it. So, frustrated and crying, I gave him a call. It was the first time we had talked on the phone and I was a complete blubbering mess. I tried to explain that the stamp tool just wasn't working and that I didn't know how to go backwards and all the things that could possibly happen to a Photoshop newbie were happening. He tried to calm me down, though I could tell he thought I was completely crazy, and told me to not quit, keep trying. He was probably just mumbling whatever he could to get me off the phone, and by the time I hung up, I was even more determined to create a final result I could be somewhat proud of. Three hours later, two cups of coffee, and the greatest back ache in history, I was finished. I had made this... 
I entitled it "Barely Breathing" for some unknown reason and posted it to my Facebook page as proud as I could be. I had created a conceptual photo! I was great! WOOHOO!
Looking back now, I see all the many flaws. The coloring's off, you can obviously see where I clone stamped, black was painted over the trees, and for the love of Pete, look at the cut out of her toes... but, none of that really matters. When I show this to people now, I laugh and think, "Oh, God. How could I have created this?!". I personally hate everything about it, but that doesn't matter either. Without this photo, and all the people who lead me to it, I would be no where near the person I am today. Yeah, cheesy, I know, but altogether too true. That's what matters. This photo was the key factor leading me to me. I'm known as a photographer now, which scares the living shit out of me, but gives me a sense of pride. I'm often told by people I haven't talked to in years how great my photography is, and even strangers have found my page asking for photos. I'm not boasting, I'm just saying that this is what my life has come to... and I couldn't be happier. So, thank you to all who helped with the creation of "Barely Breathing" (WHAT IS THAT NAME ANYWAYS?!). Without you, I wouldn't have found my passion. You've made my life brighter. Thank you. To Ruthie, Thanks for becoming an amazing friend. I always cherish the times we get together to do crazy shoots, and I'm so glad to have someone just as creative as me to bounce ideas off of. You have stayed an amazing inspiration for the last year, and I can't wait to see what you create next. To Joel, I just WANNA SQUEEZE YOU IN A BIG HUG AND TELL YOU YOU'RE THE BEST! I've come to you the last few months with everything ranging from personal issues to needed photoshop brushes, and you've lent me your wonderful advice willingly. Your work is not only an inspiration to me, but to 180,000 others, and I'm honored that we call each other friends. I had the greatest of times with you at The Wild Ones this summer (you know a blog post is coming soon!). You're a bright shining light in the midst of this mundane world. Keep shining, Joel. I need that light! To Justin, Good god. How have you become one of my closest friends?! From the starting point to where we are now? You're perfection. I can't wait to come visit you in Florida in 49 FREAKING DAYS! We're going to show Florida what us Southern Illinois photographers can do! Thanks for being a great friend and things. Yeah, that. This post doesn't quite end yet, just like my story doesn't end here. I have so much to talk about, because I'm too excited about life and photography, but I will finish off a new photo. It's entitled "Take Flight," and I'm proud to say that my levitation photos have increased in quality just a bit. 
Thank you to everyone reading this message. I might have just started photography a year ago, but I'm really proud of the improvement I have had in this year. I can't wait to see where I go in the future.
-Abbie
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