#erinimages

[levianyx]

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ig: erinimages

[shada]

Photo by Erin @erinimages

[aubrella]

Sometimes one bath isn’t enough. Shoutout to @erinimages for the @huji1998 recommendation. It’s my new favorite camera app. #selfcare #selflove #bath #bathing #fruitarian #raw #detox Featuring @mileycyrus on @spotify as #bathtunes

[heyyyem]

Instagram is a great way of viewing other’s content, providing feedback, finding models and clients, and interacting with the photography community (or the general community, depending on who you follow). Through the platform, I found a few photographers in Michigan whose photos are AMAZING! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of them and even collaborating with them, but I would love to meet more as I develop my skills! I’ll list a few links so you can check out their work.

Erin McConnell: @erinimages Hayley Seibel: @seibelhayley Austin Bond: @aws.ten Alexandria Rykse: @axieblake Kaitlin Grant: @kaitlintakespics Courtney Blackett: @courtneyblackett

Of course, with any social media platform, you might find yourself falling down a rabbit hole of looking at everyone and their sibling’s profiles. It’s happened to all of us – 34 weeks back on a strangers profile, and you accidentally double tap. Ouch.

As a photographer who loves being in front of the camera, I try and find these people quite frequently to collaborate with. It gives me an opportunity to practice my skills on others and learn about new places while making connections with some people that are interested in the same thing as I am. Of course, Instagram is the best way to communicate and plan collaborations with other artists. Last Friday, I saw Hayley’s Instagram story of her outfit and was obsessed – it was perfect for the style I was going for with the shoot! Of course, I messaged her and hoped for the best.

She agreed! I decided to wait for her in Anspach, and to kill the time, I checked out some of the other rooms in the hallway. On CMU’s campus, Anspach has some great natural lighting and colorful, clean rooms. There’s one room in particular that I have class in, and I could not, for the life of me, stop thinking about shooting in the room.

If you’re a student, you may know that most academic buildings lock on weekends, making Fridays the only good time to do anything in the building. There was one classroom/conference room that had the most beautiful ambient light, blue and grey tiles, and a chair tucked in the corner – it was PERFECT. And of course, remembering one of the challenges that I set for myself (shooting at an aperture of f/6.3 or above), I adjusted the settings as necessary and began shooting at a smaller aperture. Surprise! I shot between f/6.3 and f/10, which may shock anyone who knows my usual shooting style. The photos from the set turned out SPECTACULAR!!

In case you didn’t catch the reference, the title of this post is both a reference to a song by Halsey and a comment on the dominant color of the photos.

Anyway, I am incredibly happy that I made these. The photos have such a great vibe to them, they’re as clear and sharp as I’d like them to be (which is a surprise considering I was shooting at ISO 800 or 1000 in this room). This session is also the first portrait set that I edited using Lightroom; Lightroom has much better control of shadows and highlights than RawTherapee, so you may see some changes in my style and edits in the near future.

Learning more about photography and editing is a process, and an extremely subjective process at that, but it is and has been mostly fun for me. Currently, I’m enrolled in an Introduction to Photography course in school, and it is starting off with the basics – it’s always good to revisit the basics, and I am by no means a professional photographer yet, but the class feels like it’s starting off fairly slow. Our first assignment was to find monochromatic items and make symmetrical and asymmetrical compositions with them.  The point of the assignment was to introduce us to the basic functions of the camera, practice manually setting white balance and focus, and make us pay close attention to the items in the frame. Most of it wasn’t too difficult aside from finding monochromatic items, but I struggled with getting the correct exposure when the items did not have intense highlights. I’ve already turned in the files for the assignment, and because the subjects are not subjects I’m interested in focusing on at this point in time, I find it difficult to submit work and feel good about what I create.

I’ll be honest here and say that I struggled with having my creativity restricted with this assignment. The whole point of the challenges that I started at the beginning of the year was to come up with photos that were from different perspectives, experiment with new styles, and to step outside my comfort zone. Even though I tried to view this assignment as just another challenge, I failed to produce content I was fully satisfied with. I did get some photos that I absolutely love, which I added below, but ultimately the work included in the submission was not fulfilling.

Restricting some options can be a great way to boost creativity. Inspired by Mango Street’s video, I’ve been challenging myself to shoot differently as a way of improving the conceptual quality and my comfort with various technical styles – I suppose this assignment took too many options away. I felt trapped more than I felt challenged, and I didn’t really enjoy trying to find monochromatic objects inside or outdoors. Too many restrictions is loss of creative freedom. At what point are there too many restrictions? It depends on the person behind the camera, the subject matter, and the perspectives of anybody involved in making those photos.

After submitting the files (that I’m not going to share because I really don’t like them), I could feel my stomach drop. I felt gross, I felt blue, I was exhausted – all from submitting something I wasn’t proud of. I wasn’t invested in the photos because I wasn’t interested in the subjects, but I did try to make the best photos I could. However, I feel like I won’t be getting the best grade on this assignment because I couldn’t do my best work. Of course, from this I learned more about my interests and preferences, but it will likely come at the cost of a grade. The photos aren’t horrible, they’re just not good representations of my work.

What about you? Have you had work that you were unsatisfied with that you had to submit anyway? Share your experiences in the comments, and we can mourn lost potential together.

New content, as promised! In this blog post, I talk about restricting creativity, making the best art you can, and dealing with disinterest in assignments. It's a bit longer, but we get a bit deeper - please check this one out! Instagram is a great way of viewing other's content, providing feedback, finding models and clients, and interacting with the photography community (or the general community, depending on who you follow).

[mythyhuynh]

In just 1 week, I have an ambitious goal of making over 400+ dumplings (4 kinds) WITH a dessert at @sugarhousebar on 1/21/2019! Overzealous, maybe, but practice makes perfect and I’m grateful for collaborations like this with @optimisticdetroit and @curbthief who’ll be pairing the drinks! A few details: 1. There will be one vegan dumpling for our plant based friends 2. No tickets/reservations required. Doors open at 5p and dumplings go until sold out. Drinks available until last call. 3. Sorry this is not halal or gluten free. 4. If you love cereal, this dessert is for you! An ode to my youth! Thank you @erinimages for the amazing photos and see you next week! 🥃🍸🍹🥟🥢 (at The Sugar House) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bso5uiIjDtt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i5hg5dyktvey

[katieannbryson]

I 💗 🍩 (📷: @erinimages ) #wawa @wawa #icee #donuts I also ❤️ the amazing @erinimages ... if you’re ever need a phenomenal photographer in Michigan, hit her up! (at Wawa) https://www.instagram.com/p/BneUGK3jvbV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10nr4dpn0xmfo

[afroandrostyle]

Glammed Up! #TGIF Afro life, Andro living. Via @erinimages ------ #AfroAndro / #Afrocentric / #Androgynous / #Style / #AndrogynousStyle / #StylishWomen / #StylishMen / #ThisAndrogynousLife / #WhatIWore /#AndrogynousFashion / #ProudlyAndrogynous / #Slay / #Dapper / #StyleDiary / #StyleInspired / #OurAndrogynousLife / #Stylish / #StyleBlog http://ift.tt/2B9dhxp

[nickclark]

making vr look real good 😎 photo cred @erinimages 📸 (at Ann Arbor, Michigan)

[brimbox23]

Heartfelt...needless to say. #Perfect #EdSheeran #Looplist #Spotify #ItsAHit #LyricVideo #erinimages #brimbox

[shada]

Photo by Erin @erinimages

[brimbox23]

One of the Ultimate Travel Destinations in The Philippines🇵🇭 from my bucket list, finally checked!✅ I was in awe for Day 1️⃣ here in Batanes!⛰ It is beyond beautiful just like how every vlogs and blogs described it. 👌⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #BatanesBlastOfSummer #TanlinesFromBatanes #BatanesBeforeSummerEnds #Instagrammables #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines #HappinnessInBatanes #WeekendWarriors #SeminarSquad #SummerIsLove #BatanesIsLove #erinimages #brimbox 📸@jcgoeshandinhand https://www.instagram.com/p/BxiX0AAFN4OkhFjOoFgIqPLc-RowEPfNY_kbdE0/?igshid=1jzz5d14av7rk

[brimbox23]

I swear this is so addicting! #GerryDarkChocolate #Instagrammable #SweetsEscape #MondayMantra #erinimages https://www.instagram.com/p/BvZ8kMDlFiw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ik1jkabgohd1

[brimbox23]

Breakky #RememberDecember #FoodPorn #erinimages #brimbox #Instagrammables #SmartPhonePhotography #GalaxyNote #Android #WHP #TheWeekOnInstagram (at Belmont Hotel Manila)

[brimbox23]

Be different. Be Unique. #Instagrammables #MorningsOfNovember #brimbox #erinimages #SmartPhonePhotography #GalaxyNote #Android #WHP #TheWeekOnInstagram

[brimbox23]

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A post shared by Visit The Philippines (@urbanshutterbugs)

Stop chasing people. Go and take the journey even if it means travelling alone. The world has so much to offer you and you can't make that time for everybody to explore them with you. Just go! #VerticalSummerShots #TheLongWeekend #Cinemagraph #Plotaverse #LentenSeason #WeekendWarriors #ColorsOfSummer #erinimages #brimbox #SunsetSkies #ShotsOnGalaxy #Instagrammables #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines #SummerStartsNow #LikesForLikes #LikesForFollow #LikesForComment #CommentForFollow #CommentForLikes #TagsForLikes #CommentForComment  #FollowForFollow (at Anawangin Cove Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwxhIg2l6b7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=x1nrvs7lvr3z

[brimbox23]

It was so much fun to start this year's Summer! There are so many places you can explore from Cebu abd Bohol but we just had a very little time. It was still one of the best Summers to remember. 🌞🍻 Full Video Link in my bio👉 Disclaimer: No Animals were harmed nor taken away from their natural habitat during the filming of this video. #SummerToRemember #SummerStartsNow #Instagrammables #CebholTravelSquad #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines #SpecialApprovedLeave #WeekendWarriors #BigBangBullies #QuatrosQueridas #SeminarSquad #Vlogbusters #erinimages #brimbox #SummerInTheCity https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXlRCtlIlT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=a6rdj2qr296s