Monthly Reflection: August

August,

You now when you don’t do something, and then everyday goes by and you keep thinking, oh I still haven’t done that thing, well August has felt like that! I have had photo ideas that I am loosing the love for slowly fade away from being created, jobs to do slowly being forgotten. I think I am going to make September my month to get things done.

But for now, shall we do our usual and reflect on how this month has gone? 

‘This might work.’

One of the first photos I shot for this month. I planned to shoot this solely to create a video tutorial (up on my instagram https://www.instagram.com/thomasoscarmiles/) of how I take a self portrait, going over all the technical aspects that I don’t often talk about. 

I shot this photo for the tutorial (the first photo with the dark background) but after a trip to the hair dresses to temporarily become a red head (a childhood dream of mine!) I decided to re shot it, creating a more whimsical twist that fit the story so much better.

Sunflower adventures. (part one)

Since I was a little kid, I have dreamt of finding a sunflower field to roam through. Finally that dream came true when I found one online, just under and hour away from me. I was meant to go with a dear friend of mine, but couldn’t. I ended up going with my also dear friend Via, to at least say I had been and tell my first friend Shannon where they were so we could one day go together like we’d said!

We ended up finding this sunflower field and fell in love! I bought a sunflower bag when I was about 16, knowing that if I ever were to find a sunflower field, I would bring it with me. 6 years later and this dream came true. It was such a beautiful place, so much so we went again!…

Sunflower adventures. (part two)

We loved the sunflowers so much that we ended up bringing our partners with us to show them its beauty. This consisted of a lot of goofing around and taking loads of photos of each other. It felt really special and like we were in a Disney film, or a Vincent Van Gogh painting! We ended up going for sunset, which worked out perfectly as they sky lit up with the most vibrant and beautiful colours. We then got a drink to sit outside and watch the sunset, I think I was given soda water or tonic instead of lemonade! 

‘our beautiful demise’ series, first photo.

This month was the beginning of a very exciting project for me; a series I am working on titled ‘our beautiful demise.’ I am sure you’ve probably already read past blog posts about this series (if not please do after you’ve finished this one!)  

Its a series I am taking my time to work on- writing a thesis, intercut concepts for each photo and heavily planning as many details as possible, to go into the work. The intent for this series is to be sold in a gallery space as prints. I am building the series first and then hope to send a proposal to potential galleries about the series. 

This photo of the beautiful Elle was more of an experiment into new techniques, binding natural elements to a model to create a fairy like character. You know when everything comes together so beautifully that you can’t stop looking at what you’ve created because its just so you?.. thats what this photo is like for me. 

I also loved taking the time to carefully position every element in this photo, I never give myself the time to really craft the image before I’ve even shot it, so this shoot and Elle’s patience was a true blessing. She also really inspired me to just try things and go for it. Taking bold moves to get the most stunning results - exactly what I wanted this series to do for me.

raid my costumes/props, last weeks blog post. 

I shot this photo for last weeks blog, it is also a photo I have dreamt of creating for a long time, one I would create when I had a proud costume collection. (I think this month has subconscious been one of creating photos that I have dreamt of creating, fulfilling a deeper part of me, one filled with ideas that went under the radar for years.)

Before I was a photographer, I had a love for costumes and fashion (still do!) So I knew that when I stayed my photography, that I wanted to find really beautiful costumes that I could have at my disposal to work with. 

I feel so proud of all the costumes and props I have gathered, and this photo acts as a beautiful reminder of all my hard work, and where my heart is heaviest with joy.

‘our beautiful demise’ series, second photo.

The second photo I am working on for my ‘our beautiful demise’ series. This wasn’t actually the final photo I was editing, the final one being more composited and sepia toned with a different pose. It was only when I compared that final edit to the first edit I had done with Elle (cropped version above) that I realised that I didn’t want any part of this series to be heavily edited. Instead, I wanted to do most of the work in life, crafting what goes into the photo. Only relying on photoshop for tweaks and adjustments. 

So this photo came about when I decided to take my time in the editing process, I re-looked through all my images I had took and fell in love with one that was almost an accident, it wasn’t an intended pose, more like a fixing of a pose. I fell in love and felt a real connection with it. The final edit become one that wasn’t as heavily edited, but embraced for its natural beauty.

My goals for September:

- enjoy more time off my phone.

- have a fabulous birthday (9th!)

- go take a photo that I now will fail.

- do something just because!

- write all my September blog posts.

- create the photos I’ve not found the time to do (I’ve stopped over-worrying about perfection and success so I just want to finally bring the ideas to life.)

- create a photo a week to share online.

- create a photo a week for my ‘our beautiful demise’ series.

- see friends or family at least once a week.

- spend a whole day just conceptualising and finding my imagination again.

- eat more protein and fibre, starting with a proper breakfast every morning.

- sit outside more.