And a ho! ho! ho! to you…

Here’s something a little different for me. I’ve been teaching my Shoot By Design course participants to step out of their comfort zones and I really should practise what I preach, right? So here I am with some darker images with no natural light in sight. I didn’t completely step away from my usual thing but just took one element that is stylistically me and did the opposite. Do you step out of your photography comfort zone often?

Winter 2011 is the year that I embrace rather than retreat. For the past 2 years I’ve whined and grimaced at the darkness of the winter months here in Canada. I’ve spent every wet and miserable day pining for the light from my homeland and I finally came to the realisation that it was a really stupid choice to make. I can sit and wallow and be depressed for 7 months or I can embrace it and find the beauty in the situation. Being that I grew up in a land where the light was never an issue and sunshine was always around the corner, moving to Vancouver (where it is literally one of the greyest places on earth) took a lot of getting used to. I had no idea how much it would affect me and last year was particularly tough. I knew that I couldn’t let it beat me this year, so I’m trying my hardest to embrace it with open arms and find the beauty.

And it’s amazing…ever since I made the decision to adapt, I’ve actually been enjoying it! I’m seeing the fog and the mist as an atmospheric canvas, I’m taking long walks in the forest, I’m seeing a new beauty in the murky light, I’m delighting in wearing boots and scarves and coats, and I’m carving out a new way to take photographs. I’m even shooting a personal project which kind of has me giddy. More on that one soon.

Embracing, yo! <— Jesse Pinkman has a lot to answer for.