It’s funny to me how the start of a new year is like a clean slate … not that my slate was particularly dirty …. 2018 was just fine. However, no matter what happened last year, the start of another year always feels exciting. “This is the year I’m really going to do it!” Whatever it is. January 1st is just another day; nothing is actually different other than the last number of the date that we write incorrectly for a couple of months. (Do eraser sales go up in January? Jk it’s 2019 who is writing things in pencil?) But hey, if we all get a solid boost of let’s-get-out-there-and-kick-ass-ness for no reason other than the fact that we watched a sparkly sphere lower on the top of a building while we collectively count backwards (like some kind of weird ritual happening all over at once if you think about it … just don’t think about it) … well that’s fine by me!
I’m more than happy to go charging into 2019 with a fire lit under my butt that will hopefully burn my buns into some new and exciting projects! I’ve got so many fun things planned: exciting photo shoots, trips to take, people to see, and photos to edit … like, so many you guys … I have so many images ready to edit right now, it’s ridiculous. But don’t think for a second that’s going to stop me from shooting more and more and continuing to bury myself in a glorious pile of unedited raw photos primed to be hacked, slashed, and painted to pieces in Photoshop.
This time last year I was just as stoked about life as I am right now, and was using that energy to plan for a series that I’m finally sharing!! *obnoxiously loud confetti cannons* You see, I was contacted by a talented photographer, Ginger, who wanted to hire me to create a series of heavily Photoshopped fantasy-inspired images featuring her amazing little model of a daughter. She was most certainly barking up the right tree for that.
For weeks we messaged back and forth sending ideas, inspiration photos, and hashing out every little detail for the fairytale we were going to unravel image by image. Slowly but surely it all fell into place and then we had so much fun shooting. It really was one of those perfect and effortless collaborations, and I couldn’t be more proud of the pictures that came from it.
The finished pictures are nearly a year old now and I think I love them even more than when I finished them. The first piece perfectly captures the wonder and mystery of the new year. That doorway to an unknown fantasy world is like the embodiment (or en…door-ment?) of that special moment we all screamed, “…3…2…1…Happy New Year!!” and stepped triumphantly into 2019 ready for adventure. Let’s jump through that door, and open many more doors on our journeys through this next year. Let’s all be our best selves this year. Let’s take that hefty does of free cosmic motivation and shoot for the stars. We got this. YOU GOT THIS! COME AT ME 2019!
