Texas Horse Photography | 5 Things I Have Learned About Daily Blogging
I can not believe the first month of 365 Days of Horses has already come to an end! I can not believe I have 31/365 blogs done and up on the blog. I have leaned so much this month and wanted to share some of the biggest things I have learned from this experience. I knew when I decided to start this BHAG of mine last year that it would be a ton of work, but little did I know how crazy the whole idea actually was.
To date I have photographed 90 horses as a part of my 365 Days of Horses project. Let me tell you, when I embarked on this journey a big reason I decided to do this was so that I could really master my craft and take my first year of equine photography on head first and speed up the “trail and error” process that you have to go through as you master a new craft. While photography isn’t a new craft, I have been photographing weddings and newborns for years and I had started to get bored of photographing the same things over and over. I have realized in my business journey that things are way more fun when you are learning and things are still a challenge, once they become easy it can be easy to lose that spark. As an artist I am constantly seeking new things to add to my arsenal to create even more beautiful and dramatic portraits for my clients. 2016 was the year of Off Camera Flash and Lighting. 2015 was the year of Newborns. 2014 was the year of Weddings. I always try to find one thing that I really want to improve on each year and I set out to do just that. 2017, well lets just say it is the year of Black Background Equine Portraits.
I wanted to share 5 Things I Have Learned About Daily Blogging.
#1. It is WAY more work than I had expected.
I tend to do this to myself, I think we are all guilty at times. To set out to do great things and then realize that we are absolutely crazy and it seems impossible at times to accomplish what we had set out to do. I can’t tell you how many nights I have sat up at my computer and looked at my husband as he went off to bed and said to him with tears in my eyes “I can’t do this, I am crazy, why did you tell me this was a good idea?” And as I sit up and type this a little bit past midnight, still two blog posts behind. I am wondering those very same things again and again..I am so incredibly thankful for a Husband who supports me and my somewhat insane ideas no matter what. Each blog post takes me around 2 hours to put together, some take longer. My goal was to sit down at the first of the project and pre-plan a month at a time but that hasn’t happened between my crazy travel schedule this month and this bi-polar Texas weather finally catching up to me and making me sick.
#2. Coordinating this many people/horses can be a bit overwhelming.
My business has always run on a very boutique experience system, I love having all of the time in the world to devote to each and every client, so trying to find the balance between this and photographing 365 Black Background Portrait sessions this year is turning into a bit of a struggle. Not to mention, coordinating and scheduling sometimes 10-15 horses a day while I am out of town and traveling. I am so incredibly thankful for everyone’s patience with me this first month as I work out all of the kinks.
#3. Traveling can be tough.
The month of January I spent more time out of town than I did at home. Between photographing horses all around Texas for 365 Days of Horses, helping a good friend photograph some livestock shows, and also attending Imaging USA in San Antonio…well lets just say it has been a whirlwind. Again, the supportive husband that stays at home and feeds the three horses, two dogs, and two cats..all while working his full time job and building our house is something that I could not be more thankful for. Oh, did I mention we are super close to finishing up our house! EEEKK. This is a little secret that we haven’t even shared with too many people. But that is a whole different story I will save and share once it is all complete.
#4. I am not a writer.
Well, this one I knew already. I have never been a great writer. Run-ons galore, and well spelling never was my strong point. Throw in interesting horse’s names, people’s names, and often times translating what people have filled out in their questionnaires about their horses…mistakes are going to happen. *Commence Breakdown* I have a confession, I absolutely hate it when I think that someone isn’t completely happy with me. It freaks me out, makes me shut down, and just want to crawl in a hole. I do my best to take the information I am given for each horse and put together a story about them, sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes, I may spell something wrong. Reality is, we all mess up sometimes, and I am always happy to fix my mistakes. I have a proof-reader who looks over each post, however some things will be missed from time to time. For that I say “I am Sorry.”
#5. Not all barns are created equal.
This is one of the biggest learning curves for me, each and every barn I visit is so incredibly different from the people to the horses…and most importantly for me the lighting. Every time I show up at a barn I go through a puzzle in my head, piecing together the infinite possibilities of how I will light the horses perfectly. Where they will stand. If I will have to pull out any of my tricks. I worry about if the horse I am photographing is going to freak out about my light stand, or refuse to put their ears up…or just absolutely not stand in one place for more than a split second. At the end of the day that is the fun in it all, I promise you that each and every horse’s images are so unique and special to them. They are truly one of a kind. Truly a piece of art. My goal for every session is to create that one image that I know will be cherished by their owners for a lifetime, that can be proudly displayed in their home as a piece of art. Lets just be honest, horse people all own some type of horse art…why not make it of your own.
