Getting to play with light that is uneven and harsh, and light I'm not comfortable with in the least, was a good thing for me to practice with! I had some hit's and some complete fails!
When is the last time that you went out and tried something completely out of your comfort zone? I can say that even though I regularly go out seeking creative inspiration, I don't always push my boundaries to challenge my thinking! My fail safe, my go to, my location of choice when going to shoot for my own personal satisfaction is the mountains. Last week after being inspired by some street photography that I came across, decided to make myself try something new when it came to my weekend adventure.
When I say that I'm trying something new, I actually have shot in this location before, and locations like this, but mainly for paid shoots, and not when my intentions are to allow my own creative juices to flow and really experiment and appreciate the fails along with the successes. We went at a time of day that I NEVER shoot at, and had all kinds of situations that threw a hitch in my comfortable 'get along'.
Farron and I decided the Denver Botanic Gardens would give me a good blend of old style Denver on the streets, and enough nature in the park for me to experiment!
We parked on the streets instead of the lot, and in that area all the homes are super cool, older, and unique and typically HUGE. The gates alone, had my eye!
#coolgate
#anothercoolgate
We ended up being super lucky and when we arrived at the gardens, when we realized it was a FREE day!!
All the pots and planters and garden ornaments were beautifully clustered outside of the gift shop and the colors were what caught my eye!
As soon as we walked in I was seeing things I normally pass by. My eyes were open today for things I typically don't shoot!
We started making our way through the gardens, and went left, when I usually turn right, first! I remember this area and don't visit it enough since it's less vegetation and more concrete, but offers really cool lines and colors!
Faced with more of a mid day sun, which I normally avoid completely, I wanted to test my ability to get something usable! Not my favorite look (the more harsh light) but this shot wasn't too bad in my eye!
I have seen this glass sculpture from outside the gardens many times so I wanted to get a better look, close up!
There were SO many areas that were amazing, but looked less amazing with the light that was shining on us. I "allowed" myself to still find spots of comfort in the shade, but also made myself be out in the light, to challenge how I shoot and set up a shot!
Ahhh the shade of a tree = my comfort zone!
The open sun at mid day = ....sudden anxiety attack! lol
The flowers were few and far between! I loved seeing some color out there, other than green!
This location provided super cool opportunities to find different textures and patterns to work with that I don't see in Colorado's mountain habitat!
Even with a ton of people around, this pond made a pretty cool spot to grab a few shots!
The Japanese garden is one of my favorites! The bonsai trees weren't out yet darn it!
Inside the greenhouse....colorful sculptures hang from the ceiling. I shot them differently than I have before!
Inside I expected even lighting conditions but I was SO wrong. It was all dappled light and backgrounds that were way more distracting than I am used to...therefore another opportunity to challenge my brain to expand!
After getting beyond the humor of this shot in the moment, I really like how it came out! I like the uneven light for once!! This could be one of my favorite shots of the day!
As we were getting completely run over by all the people trying to navigate a small space, we took one final series of shots inside the green house and got out of Dodge!
I use glassy reflective backgrounds as often as I can find them, I LOVE them and this blueish/ greenish glass wall was fantastic! We were pressed to shoot quickly so not much time to set up, just get what I could on the fly and then off the grass!
But wait...a ginormous mirror inside the visitor center....last shot of the day! 😋 Needless to say, she was over it. 😊
Overall I would say it was a GREAT day for me. I was determined to not stay within my "zone" and think beyond how I normally would shoot. I feel it was a success! A ton of pictures didn't turn out, which should be how it is if you are experimenting! I learned from them and then savored the images that I was able to feel like I got what I was going for!
When is the last time you forced yourself to do something totally different than your norm? My take away from today is that I need to do this more often! I don't have any desire to be stuck in a comfortable rut and who cares about all the missed shots, when the hits were something I'm proud of! I'd love to chat and hear what you took away from your experience!! I can be reached at any social media, linked above, or via email at suz@suzannelopezphotography.com.
I LOVE connecting with you all even more than I love writing and hoping people read my blog and more importantly, get something out of it! 💚 Serious love to you all if you are at the end of this, and even if you didn't make it to the end, I appreciate you!
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