I Do See Color

As a photographer, color is significant. It can make or break your photos. It can convey the mood and message of the photo and to fully understand color can take some time to understand. This leads to Color Theory which is pretty much understanding how colors interact with each other. Understanding what works best with each other and what doesn’t. That is the easiest way I can explain it lol. Check below for a better explanation.

Color Wheel

Color theory is both the science and art of using color. It explains how humans perceive color; and the visual effects of how colors mix, match or contrast with each other. Color theory also involves the messages colors communicate; and the methods used to replicate color.

This post is to explain the importance of understanding color when is comes to photography and its importance to me. Too many times I’ve been told and seen with my own eyes how much white photographers suck at photographing black people. You can tell something is off or when the lighting isn’t flattering to their skin tone. Sadly, it’s nothing new with white people when it comes to photographing us.

So in my journey as a photographer, there have been specific techniques I always said I would learn and at some point or another I didn’t lol. Don’t judge me but I put it on the back burner because I didn’t see the need to learn it at that time because I believed I didn’t need to apply it yet. One of those things was Color Theory and the device to measure color, the color checker passport. The color checker passport is a foldable book with a gray and white card on one side and a bunch of color patches on the other. I would use the gray and white card to measure and calculate the correct white balance. I wanted to start with a great foundation for my photos to look the best. I never touched the color checker because I didn’t learn how to use it and never felt like I needed to learn at that moment. That all changed when I ended up assisting one of my favorite photographers Jessy J!

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Sidebar, I love her work. I love the way her colors pop and the retouching of her work. The smooth skin with the color transitions is so crisp and clean. I emulated her style and wanted to have that same clarity and understanding of color. Eventually I ended up assisting Jessy J (spoke that shit into existence!!) and I saw her use the color checker passport and asked why she used it. “To get the accurate color of her models”was her response. Then it all clicked for me! I needed to start using the color checker and really understand Color Theory. Not just for my photography but for my clients.

The majority of my work is with people of color. So, for me, it is very important that I capture their true self. It was about making sure my clients in their true skin color because who else is going to make sure we look our best selves? A white photographer? Barely. Only one of our own will take such care of us and make sure we look our best. As a Black photographer that’s what I aim to do.

So I went to YouTube, and found a few videos that explain how to properly utilize this tool and now it’s part of my process. Before every shoot I place the color checker in front of my client and when I go through my retouching process I start with a true foundation in terms of the correct color. From there I add my creative touches but it all starts from a strong color foundation.

End of the day I just want us to look our best and now with this new skillset I can!!

In My Own Head

First off, I want to say it’s been a minute since my first blog post lol, second, I’m going to try to post more often and on a consistent basis. With that being said, let’s start with this post.

Stuck in my own head is pretty self-explanatory and I hope everyone that is reading can relate. We, as creatives, tend to hold ourselves back with overthinking and putting up mental blocks that stunt our growth. Concocting stories in our heads for reasons we cannot get ahead in our dreams and goals. I’m here to share my thoughts and own experiences.

On this journey to becoming a successful photographer, I had my own insecurities about my abilities and how I am perceived.  Mostly because I had no idea what I was doing and wanted to be like the people I see and admire. All I wanted to do was take great photos and people like my work. I had a vision for my photos in my head but at first, they didn’t come out that way. I also wanted to come off as professional to potential clients. I wanted to sound, look and project professionalism especially when I sent emails to clients. I would take forever to respond to people out of fear that if I didn’t come off as professional, they wouldn’t take me seriously. I would sit there in front of my computer for hours working on the perfect professional response. Not only with emails but I would take forever to respond to people via text or phone calls. If I wanted to send them a quote, I would be conflicted. I didn’t want to price myself too high that it might scare them off but not too low that I would low ball myself. I would do my research on the market, but it was all over the place-- It depended on your experience, what you were offering, your skillset and what you felt you were worth. Eventually, I started believing I wasn’t worth that much. You have no idea how much I was stressing over this.

I’ve read so much, did so much research, asked so many questions. I just thought to myself this isn’t going to work. Who wants to work with someone that doesn’t know what they are doing? Why work with me? My vision and skillsets didn’t match up. I also thought a majority of my photos sucked. Every once in a while, I’ll see one of my photos that blew me away, but I still was upset. I couldn’t edit the colors the way I thought I wanted or make the photos pop. I still push through, but these thoughts constantly plagued me.

Then one day at a friend’s office warming, I ran in to another friend at the event who was doing really well with his catering business. He told me he loved my photos. He wanted me to take photos for his next big events. I was in shocked. Me? Really? I didn’t even know he was looking at my photos. To be honest I got emotional, not in front of him thought lol. I was excited at the opportunity. Then after working an event for a friend, now recurring client, one of her associates wanted me to photography their event as well. They loved the photos and they were watching me work. “We saw how hard you were working to get the shots, we want you for our next event” were her exact words. Again, I was in shock. I got emotional again but this time after the event I sat in my car and cried. I sat there and just cried. I was just so happy. All the research, practice and damn near obsession to get better was paying off.

If was at this moment when I realize that I have the tools to succeed all along. I just had to trust the process. I was so worry about being great and this top-notch professional out the gate. I got into my own head about how I wasn’t good enough or deserving. I looked back to when I started to where I’m at now. My website when I first started, the type of equipment I had, my early photos and my skillsets. I’ve grown. I got into my head so much that if only I truly believed in myself from jump I would be much further. I’m still reaching and practicing but with new found purpose. I’m learning a different aspect of photography. I’m reading on the business, the contracts, marketing, pricing and etc.

I’ll end this post on this, I had my insecurities, I let it sit in my mind, let it fester and boil. I let it hinder on my growth. I let it affect my confidence and feed off my fears. It took me a while to finally notice that even though I was stuck in my own head it was subconsciously pushing me forward. I was so nervous that I constantly pushed myself to be better. Now that I’m consciously aware, I’ve been actively reaching out, studying and practicing. I’m still not where I want to be but that mini-me that’s been sitting in my head, telling me I’m not good enough, keep talking because I will continue to prove you wrong.

Coy!

The Introduction

Welcome to the first FarFromCOY! blog post about my creative portraits. Here, I will tell you about my creative process and the meaning behind each of the photos I’ve created. Some have a simple expression while others have a far deeper meaning. But before we get into all of that, let’s start from the beginning. I am going to share with you how a spark of interest became a way for me to express myself and share my art.

            In the beginning, I don’t think my friends and family knew I wanted to be a videographer and an editor. My boy Josh hooked me up with Final Cut Pro X for the free because I just finished film school and I was broke as shit, can’t even front. Since it was technically borrowed, one day it stopped exporting my videos. I looked into other programs and that’s when I found out about Adobe Premiere. They had a subscription program that gave you access to all their programs for a $30 monthly student discount. My girlfriend at the time was in grad school and let me use her information to gain access to Adobe while I made the payments (Thank you again!) And just like that I was back in the game.

            Over the years, I tried to learn a few different programs like After Effects and Photoshop but I was not quite successful at first. I wanted to learn Photoshop but it was kind of intimidating and I couldn’t find any good tutorials online. Around this time I started following this graphic designer name Peejet on social media. This guy’s work was nice! He was famous for photoshopping himself in celebrity photos as if he was originally there. All I could say was, “I’m trying to be that nice!” So my interest in Photoshop grew again but as I did research, I realized there was so much to learn and I didn’t know where to start. The possibilities with Photoshop were crazy because you can do almost anything with a photo. And that’s exactly what I planned to do.

            So remember how I was impressed with Peejet’s work? One day in the city, I ran into him and told him I was a fan of his work. We spoke and learned we had some mutual friends and common interest. I later found out through a Complex article that he was self-taught. No school or formal education with Photoshop. This guy, that was so dope at his craft, was in my shoes not too long ago. It was at that very moment that I decided to keep pushing to perfect my craft because if he can do it then so can I!

            So with that being said, I welcome you to join me on this creative journey. Take a peak inside my head, see the world from my eyes but most of all enjoy the process.

            COY!