Maternity Session: Football and Watermelons

I purposely set up areas in my house for photography. Unfortunately, new furniture and the trappings of civilized living keep infringing upon my space. It may be a battle I am destined to lose, but in addition to futility, it continues to be an exercise in creativity.

Windows are a photographer's best friend. If not, they should be. Window light can also be simulated outdoors under certain conditions or with a soft box, but sometimes nothing beats good ol' God given light. "God given, self made" used to be a motto of mine (still kind of want to get it tatted on my arm), and I think those sentiments apply here as well. Find the light and do something with it.

I continue to be a huge fan of backlighting. I have a few other tricks up my sleeve to light my subject up from the front, but I need to keep some of my methods to myself. I hope this new area I have set up does not slowly erode on me. I have already had to relocate my workspace into a corner in my basement, so I am not getting my hopes up.

I envisioned the concepts for this shoot a few weeks back, and I was really excited to make it into reality. Photography serves as such a nice outlet for any sort of creative juice. Does true originality exist? Yes and no, but I know that the pursuit of originality is the most likely path to actually getting there. For me, doing my own thing is a way of life. I may like what you are doing, but I don't want to be doing the same thing.

Just to give you an idea of what kind of setup I was working with.

There was a time when I didn't even know what "catchlights" in the eyes were, much less how to position my subject and lights to achieve them. Still feel there is so much more to learn, and I am eager to keep choppin' away... speaking of choppin', here is the fetus version of the chop.

RU RAH RAH. My parents wouldn't let me play football in high school. They thought it was too dangerous. I do see where they are coming from, because a lot of my friends who did play high school football have a variety of problems with their knees and backs. Getting hit is also probably not very good for your long-term mental health. However, there is nothing wrong with playing defense or kicking. One way or another, this kid is going to play college ball and head to the NFL.

For some reason, the idea of pregnant women has always invoked the imagery of watermelons for me. When I was a kid, my parents used to try and keep me from swallowing watermelon seeds by saying a watermelon would grow in my stomach if I did so. Early on they must not have realized I was the adventurous type and purposefully swallowed watermelon seeds to test out this idea. To my surprise and dismay, nothing happened. To this day I swallow watermelon seeds along with its sweet flesh, more so out of laziness than the outside shot that I could grow a watermelon in my stomach lining.

What a good sport. 

I get so much satisfaction and enjoyment out of coming up with a concept and turning it into reality. Very few mediums in life outside of the many faces of art provide such a rewarding grounds for realizing creativity.

On a slightly different note, I have taken my training in photography pretty seriously. I resisted the initial urge to pick up a camera and start a business right off the bat. I hope that this pays long-term dividends, but I have certainly enjoyed the journey thus far. Still not sure where all this is headed, but it feels like it is headed somewhere. Now, if I could only just guide it to something that resembles work as little as possible...