Western Inspiration ~ Shaw Ranch

"I just love this!"

I really do!

I really love these pictures

of our home and family.

One of the ways I can tell

I love them is that they make me

fall in love with my husband

and this life he's given me

all over again.

Considering this is my "before" photo of the edited one above:

Last night I had the privilege to see a presentation by western photographer

David Stoecklein at the opening of the Black Hills Photo Shootout.

I could not sleep when I got home

because I was so excited to work with these photos

that I managed to sneak in taking a few weeks ago

when we did our fall shots for the ranch.

So I stayed up until 1 a.m. last night working with these photos.

David Stoecklein was so excited to show his work.

I loved that!

Over and over again, he would say,

"I just love this one!"

and

"Do you guys like this?  Because I really do?"

and

"Isn't that great?"

And I thought, ok, there is a lesson here.

And that lesson is this:

Don't be afraid, ashamed or embarrassed to love your work

and say that you do.

In addition to that,

I wanted to remember a few things

that hit me straight to

the business mind

and

the creative soul.

These aren't necessarily his exact words,

but they are what his presentation

conveyed to me.

What matters about composition

is that

you,

the creative-artist-photographer,

love the shot.

Not rules.

But your gut reaction & emotion

about the story of the photo.

Big Sky.  Big Land.

You have got to be able to name

the things you do

and

the things you do not like

about your work,

so that you can weed out what you don't like.

This is true about

photography,

art,

life.

Then

your work

your life

will reflect

fulfillment...satisfaction.

Honor people with your work.

Don't make them look stupid.

A photo is a snapshot of someone's identity

Respect that.

{Hopefully I did not do that.  I certainly never mean to.}

{My desire with these photos is to honor this life with my husband & family.}

The Gatekeeper.

Every picture

should tell a story.

And you need to know what that story is.

Storytelling helps you make adjustments

in your photos to make them better.

{I've been adjusting these stories I'm sharing here!}

Tell the story.

Story and light.

Those are the two key things in creative photography.

Take things that happen by chance

and learn from them.

Whew!  That was good advice for me

to hear.

Because these shots working cattle

were taken by chance . . .

Trying not to get caught

snapping pictures

while I was supposed

to be pushing cattle up the shoot.

Learn from what happened by chance.

Get your name out there.

Submit to magazines & publications.

Name recognition is important.

Name and style.

Establish a signature style.

So that your work is identified with you.

Story.

Light.

Honor.

Love your work.

Say you love it.

Name.

Your own name.

And name your likes & dislikes.

So you can link your name with your

signature style.

This is my story.

My story of

family.

My story of our life.

And

I

just

love

it!

{These photos & this life!}

{It's not perfect ~ there's always things we can improve.}

{But it doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.}

*

Joining Jen {check out her winged art!} and

these talented artists here:

{All photos property of Jodene (Jodi) Shaw copyright 2011}