Here are some of my favorites from the year:
2014 in retrospect
2014 has been quite the bumpy ride for Waffles Ink, but I think it was necessary to understand what drives me as an artist and why I’m even doing photography in the first place. I think struggle is important to grow in life and I want to take some time and review what happened over the year, even if it’s just to organize my own thought about it. This may seem a bit personal, but part of what I want to do in 2015 is inject myself a little more into my photography. I’m a heavy believer in transparency, so if I’m going to be more involved, I think I need to be open about my ups and my downs.
So starting off in the year, I was stuck in this idea that I should do as many shoots as I possibly can during every convention, doing around 20-30 each time. The problem with that was, I could do the shoots while I was there, but I had months of editing to do when I would come back home. The reason I did that was because I genuinely enjoy the photoshoots. They’re usually one of the best parts of my con. Everyone I’ve shot with have always been wonderful and I wanted to do my best to provide everyone I could with my pictures. Unfortunately, after the conventions were over, I would be stuck with this pressure of feeling like I wasn’t putting photos out fast enough. Trying to juggle that with school made me this ball of anxiety and stress, and it wasn’t good for me as a person.
That ball eventually blew up a little bit after Megacon and I experienced this huge creative drop with photography. I stopped enjoying it and I absolutely hated editing. It became just work. There was no passion, no love, no creativity, just photos. I was really struggling to create content I could be proud of. I still loved interacting with the people (ironically the hardest part for me when I started), but the actual photography was a chore and a stress. I tried to reduce the amount of shoots I took on for Metrocon, but I ended up adding more to my schedule because people wanted it.
About a quarter of the way through editing the Metrocon pictures, I snapped. The combined weight of both the print store disaster and the pressure of editing pictures pummeled me back into depression. I was a wreck personally, and professionally. I have to thank my lovely lady friend because she put up with me through all of it and constantly supported me.
It wasn’t until, about mid-September, that I actually came out of this mess. I saw this video from one of my idols that was talking about how he had gone through something similar with his music for the past month. He ended up putting down his music for the month and just taking care of himself and his personal life. It seems silly, thinking about it now, but that snapped me out of it. I sort of realized what had been happening and put my photography down for a while. I focused on school, because it was now demanding almost all of my attention. I picked up gaming as a hobby, something I never made time for before. I spent more time with the people I cared about, and as I was doing all that I noticed I was slowly becoming happier. I was finding more and more in life that I actually enjoyed. I was (and still am) an anxious mess half the time, but it was better. I started becoming a little more creative and by the time Shadocon rolled around, I had a new strategy. I took on about 5 shoots, the most I thought I could reasonably handle, and made a special Happy Hour event for those who couldn’t get a slot. I figured it was the best of both worlds. The shoots went wonderfully. I met some new people, I caught up with some old, and it was fun to shoot again. I had ideas again. But, as some of you know, Happy Hour crashed and died. There was a resounding amount of interest on the page, but very few who actually showed up. I ended up waiting in the cold for about two hours, just in case anyone showed up. I have to give another thank you here because there would have been no way I could stay upbeat if it weren’t for Sonya and Skyler who stayed with me (again in the cold), while I waited. Bless their hearts, they even went and tried to bring people. I owe them a lot for that.
I contemplated getting rid of the whole Happy Hour concept. After all, how good could it be if barely anyone showed up? But Happy Hour was my way of trying to give back to the people and friends I’ve shot with before that just need a couple pictures of their costume. I didn’t want that to die. After much thought, I decided that I not only will keep this going at every con I go to, I will also be giving away every penny made, during the event, to cancer research and other charities. Now, it will be my way of giving back to everyone.
I got a little off track, but after Shadocon, I continued focusing on school and working on photos when I had free time. While there was still a little pressure, with the decreased amount of shoots, I felt like it was less impossible and I had less anxiety about it. I was able to create better pictures, some of which I absolutely love right now, and I’ve been still working my way back to being happy.
As of right now, I’ve just finished the last shoot in my backlog, and I can say for the first time in about a year, there are no shoots I need to edit and that’s a huge weight off my back. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the bad stuff, so I want to spend a little time talking about the blessings I had this year.
1. I was able to meet A LOT of new people and capture many beautiful emotions between people who care about each other.
2. I was able to do one of my dream shoots early in the year, thanks to Kochan Saint, and work with many incredibly talented cosplayers.
3. Even if the print store failed, I now have a wall of some of my favorite photos.
4. I learned a lot about business this year and decided that I want photography to be my hobby and not my business, which has taken a great deal of weight off my shoulders.
5. I found out how to take care of myself mentally. I also found out a bit about who I am and what I want in life.
6. I’ve learned how many shoots I can effectively manage at one time.
7. I found and refined my editing style, as well as explored some new ideas.
8. I’ve learned to pay attention more to the tiniest details when shooting.
9. But most of all, I’m having fun with photography again.
And finally, there’s a few new things coming in 2015. Some of these may be a bit boring, but I’m still very excited!
1. I’m currently in the process of commissioning an epic logo for Waffles Ink Photography. Very excited to start using that when it’s done.
2. As mentioned before, Happy Hour will be a consistent thing at every convention I attend and all the money generated will go to charity.
3. Also mentioned before, I want to inject a little more of me into my photos. I’ll be doing so by making a blog post every month, here on the website, to keep things active. It may range from general updates, to how to’s, to really whatever at this point. We’ll see how things go.
4. The Waffles Ink Photography tumblr will be rising back from the dead. I stopped using it early in the year because it was difficult to keep updated with my posting system at the time. Now that I’ve changed up to scheduling a photo a day, it has become much easier to manage the tumblr as well.
5. Along the same lines, there will also be a new facebook page for my non-cosplay work, under the name Waffles Ink Portraits. I tried this with Blooming Carnage Photography, but I think the name is too much of a disconnect between the two. I wanted it to be clearly related and now it is! There will also be a tumblr blog with the same name created.
6. I’ve put in an order for some much needed new equipment (a new lens, flash kit, reflectors, etc.) that should increase the quality of the photos.
7. Continual portfolio updates as shoots are done.
See you all later! Happy New Year!
So starting off in the year, I was stuck in this idea that I should do as many shoots as I possibly can during every convention, doing around 20-30 each time. The problem with that was, I could do the shoots while I was there, but I had months of editing to do when I would come back home. The reason I did that was because I genuinely enjoy the photoshoots. They’re usually one of the best parts of my con. Everyone I’ve shot with have always been wonderful and I wanted to do my best to provide everyone I could with my pictures. Unfortunately, after the conventions were over, I would be stuck with this pressure of feeling like I wasn’t putting photos out fast enough. Trying to juggle that with school made me this ball of anxiety and stress, and it wasn’t good for me as a person.
That ball eventually blew up a little bit after Megacon and I experienced this huge creative drop with photography. I stopped enjoying it and I absolutely hated editing. It became just work. There was no passion, no love, no creativity, just photos. I was really struggling to create content I could be proud of. I still loved interacting with the people (ironically the hardest part for me when I started), but the actual photography was a chore and a stress. I tried to reduce the amount of shoots I took on for Metrocon, but I ended up adding more to my schedule because people wanted it.
About a quarter of the way through editing the Metrocon pictures, I snapped. The combined weight of both the print store disaster and the pressure of editing pictures pummeled me back into depression. I was a wreck personally, and professionally. I have to thank my lovely lady friend because she put up with me through all of it and constantly supported me.
It wasn’t until, about mid-September, that I actually came out of this mess. I saw this video from one of my idols that was talking about how he had gone through something similar with his music for the past month. He ended up putting down his music for the month and just taking care of himself and his personal life. It seems silly, thinking about it now, but that snapped me out of it. I sort of realized what had been happening and put my photography down for a while. I focused on school, because it was now demanding almost all of my attention. I picked up gaming as a hobby, something I never made time for before. I spent more time with the people I cared about, and as I was doing all that I noticed I was slowly becoming happier. I was finding more and more in life that I actually enjoyed. I was (and still am) an anxious mess half the time, but it was better. I started becoming a little more creative and by the time Shadocon rolled around, I had a new strategy. I took on about 5 shoots, the most I thought I could reasonably handle, and made a special Happy Hour event for those who couldn’t get a slot. I figured it was the best of both worlds. The shoots went wonderfully. I met some new people, I caught up with some old, and it was fun to shoot again. I had ideas again. But, as some of you know, Happy Hour crashed and died. There was a resounding amount of interest on the page, but very few who actually showed up. I ended up waiting in the cold for about two hours, just in case anyone showed up. I have to give another thank you here because there would have been no way I could stay upbeat if it weren’t for Sonya and Skyler who stayed with me (again in the cold), while I waited. Bless their hearts, they even went and tried to bring people. I owe them a lot for that.
I contemplated getting rid of the whole Happy Hour concept. After all, how good could it be if barely anyone showed up? But Happy Hour was my way of trying to give back to the people and friends I’ve shot with before that just need a couple pictures of their costume. I didn’t want that to die. After much thought, I decided that I not only will keep this going at every con I go to, I will also be giving away every penny made, during the event, to cancer research and other charities. Now, it will be my way of giving back to everyone.
I got a little off track, but after Shadocon, I continued focusing on school and working on photos when I had free time. While there was still a little pressure, with the decreased amount of shoots, I felt like it was less impossible and I had less anxiety about it. I was able to create better pictures, some of which I absolutely love right now, and I’ve been still working my way back to being happy.
As of right now, I’ve just finished the last shoot in my backlog, and I can say for the first time in about a year, there are no shoots I need to edit and that’s a huge weight off my back. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the bad stuff, so I want to spend a little time talking about the blessings I had this year.
1. I was able to meet A LOT of new people and capture many beautiful emotions between people who care about each other.
2. I was able to do one of my dream shoots early in the year, thanks to Kochan Saint, and work with many incredibly talented cosplayers.
3. Even if the print store failed, I now have a wall of some of my favorite photos.
4. I learned a lot about business this year and decided that I want photography to be my hobby and not my business, which has taken a great deal of weight off my shoulders.
5. I found out how to take care of myself mentally. I also found out a bit about who I am and what I want in life.
6. I’ve learned how many shoots I can effectively manage at one time.
7. I found and refined my editing style, as well as explored some new ideas.
8. I’ve learned to pay attention more to the tiniest details when shooting.
9. But most of all, I’m having fun with photography again.
And finally, there’s a few new things coming in 2015. Some of these may be a bit boring, but I’m still very excited!
1. I’m currently in the process of commissioning an epic logo for Waffles Ink Photography. Very excited to start using that when it’s done.
2. As mentioned before, Happy Hour will be a consistent thing at every convention I attend and all the money generated will go to charity.
3. Also mentioned before, I want to inject a little more of me into my photos. I’ll be doing so by making a blog post every month, here on the website, to keep things active. It may range from general updates, to how to’s, to really whatever at this point. We’ll see how things go.
4. The Waffles Ink Photography tumblr will be rising back from the dead. I stopped using it early in the year because it was difficult to keep updated with my posting system at the time. Now that I’ve changed up to scheduling a photo a day, it has become much easier to manage the tumblr as well.
5. Along the same lines, there will also be a new facebook page for my non-cosplay work, under the name Waffles Ink Portraits. I tried this with Blooming Carnage Photography, but I think the name is too much of a disconnect between the two. I wanted it to be clearly related and now it is! There will also be a tumblr blog with the same name created.
6. I’ve put in an order for some much needed new equipment (a new lens, flash kit, reflectors, etc.) that should increase the quality of the photos.
7. Continual portfolio updates as shoots are done.
See you all later! Happy New Year!