BLOG
Sit. Relax. Catch up.
Awards and Accreditation!
When you have a passion for something, I think it is only natural that one gets to a stage where they are constantly striving to improve themselves. There's a vision in my head of the work that I want to produce...
When you have a passion for something, I think it is only natural that one gets to a stage where they are constantly striving to improve themselves. There's a vision in my head of the work that I want to produce. Some days I do not feel like I'm making forward progress and other days I feel like I'm making huge strides. Irregardless of the perceived back and forth progress, I know I'm taking action and continually moving forward.
Speaking to the constant improving of oneself, I have been working on my path to becoming an associate level photographer through The Portrait Masters Awards and Accreditation program. This recent round of submissions there were over 6,500 images submitted worldwide, judged by a panel of 9 award winning photographers. I submitted the following images and each received a bronze merit, signifying work that is of a professional level.
I'm very proud of the achievement and it all helps me get one step closer to becoming an associate photographer. As well, very appreciative of the wonderful clients who also help make this journey a possibility! I'm looking forward to the next round of submissions come August and excited for the new work that will be submitted. Hopefully even have one or more of them that merit gold or silver!
Click on an image to view full-sized image.
Imperfect Beauty - It's Exactly Why We Should Be Photographed Now!
Growing up with less than perfect skin, I was inspired to start a project that will hopefully show people and the world around them that despite whatever flaws we perceive having, we are still beautiful people.
What is imperfect beauty? I stumbled upon this concept while thinking of a personal photography project to work on. The words just popped up and forced me to dig deeper into why it resonated so profoundly within my core. Imperfect beauty, as I came to see it was the notion that people initially see the flaws in oneself before they acknowledge the true beauty in themselves. So why did it connect so well with me?
Growing up, life was pretty good until I hit puberty. That was when my relationship with moderate-to-severe acne began. I battled with this disease from the age of thirteen well into my mid-twenties, which was when I was finally able to get the treatment I needed in order to help me control it. Afterwhich, I can recall the time when I went a week without an outbreak, then a month, then a few months, until finally I was able to not obsess over potentially waking up and feeling a new pimple forming somewhere. I had broken free from it's grasp, but not fully...the scars from over the years were still there to remind me. Of what? In my mind, how ugly I was. It's amazing how damaging to one's confidence that very thought is. It is a thought, that fortunately visits my mind less frequently these days and when it does, I know how to quickly let it go.
I want to point out though, that while I was hyper-focused on my external appearance and feeling at times down about it, life was and is still, really good. Reflecting on it all, I had friends who accepted me for more than who I was on the outside, I managed to get a college education, found a career I loved that paid well, met the love of my life and started a family of our own to lately turning my photography passion into a business. So many great things, beautiful things, to grace my life and I am grateful to be able to step outside of myself a little to see them and appreciate them.
I share all of this to say, I would love to connect with you and photograph you. Perceived flaw and all. For me it was, acne scars made me look ugly, but I still booked a professional portrait session for myself and the talented Gérson Lopes (http://www.gersonlopes.com) helped make me look and feel like a million bucks. I would like to offer you the same experience as part of my imperfect beauty project. Would you be up to helping me build a body of work showing the world just how beautiful imperfect beauty is? If so, I would love to hear from you! There is no cost to participate, though a model release is required. Please feel free to reach out to me via email at hello@neonhowe.com to discuss further. Check out the following images as a sample of the look and feel I'll be aiming for with my project. Of course I wouldn't ask anyone else to join in on the fun without stepping up to the plate myself :).
Capturing the Important Images
Realizing the importance of capturing the images that are dear to my heart, I set out to do an impromptu session with my mom, on her recent visit.
As a photographer, it is natural to want to capture the important moments of my client's lives. In that process, it's often very easy to overlook the important things in my own life that need capturing. One of those being, to capture images of my mom, which we have very little of. I recently had the opportunity to get her in front of the camera and made it happen.
Mom is 60 years young this year and I dare say looking as amazing as ever. It was great to see her have fun playing dress up and really lighting it up while in front of the camera. I know these images will be treasured for all time by myself and my siblings and feel fortunate to have been able to capture them.
How about yourself? Are you a mom, who has been hiding behind the camera, capturing photos of everyone but yourself? I highly recommend getting images captured, not just for you but your children. Don't be worried about how you look, your children love you just the way you are and those images will be of great value to them in the future. I'd love to be the one to capture them, but ultimately it can be anyone. Just have them done to capture and have those memories.