Small Wins Count Too

I have many goals and projects that I want to explore so I can grow more as an artist. The only thing is, there's no way to expand the time I have in each day (no matter how much coffee I drink). It's no befuddlement that there will only be 24 hours in a day, or that there will always be other priorities competing for my time. However, I do believe there are small wins to be had, even with a busy schedule, as long as you take advantage of what opportunities you do have.

Personally, I don't carve out time for my side projects every day, so for me, I look at a more week-to-week basis for any extra opportunities to work. I've been wanting to broaden my knowledge and skill in photography and I've found that taking a couple photos here and there is what I'm able to do right now while being in school and working as a resident assistant. This rather spontaneous mini photo shoot idea was not my initial plan, but Nick Cummins (my very supportive boyfriend) encouraged me that any progress is still progress. With that in mind, I've been able to squeeze in some small photo experiments over weekends. My first weekend I was sadly limited to taking photos inside my room, but a following weekend I was able to shoot outside around Montgomery House, where I currently live, and Montgomery Hall.

Although these areas I've captured are not the most intriguing, I still think they offered valuable lessons. During my first mini shoot I realized how hard it was to get decent lighting inside, and as you might be able to tell, how hard it was to get great focus on my objects. This inside experiment, even if it didn't result in fantastic photos, provided me with important details and allowed me to make something interesting from the pants string that unraveled in the wash (and you can never get those strings back in your clothes the right way, so before I tossed it I thought it deserved some acknowledgement of its hard work over the years). My outside test shots were more successful, I would say. The lighting wasn't harsh, there were more compositions to play with, and more subject matter. Looking back I can notice better locations I could have positioned myself in and wish I would have taken a couple more shot variations, but that's the point of these short photo experiments: get out there, for any amount of time, and learn something new.

I look forward to getting more "burst breaks" (where I take more photographs when I find time in my schedule) and watching my growth process from where I am now to where I want to be. Small lessons are still learning opportunities, and small wins are still accomplishments. Let's give it up for the small things *crowd goes wild* !