I've taken a lot of time off from doing anything to do with drag, over the last year. A lot of it, just has to do with me trying to figure out myself, although, I attribute a lot of it to other things...
The biggest thing, was that doing drag photography stopped being fun. Going to drag shows was fine, because I got attention, that I apparently crave, from the queens...but, it became a thankless work. And, it just wasn't fun. I have spent entire shows running around chasing the queens, to get "perfect" pictures, that will get used, but I won't ever even get credit for taking.
I've been working on some trading cards for Shaunna Rai, so she can hand them out, as a business card of sorts. While some of them are her selfies, it's given me an opportunity to work my skills as a graphic designer, and photo editor. One of the cards, is a photo of Shaunna that I had taken before a Christmas show that she did. The request was that the photo be edited to make it usable at any time during the year, instead of just Christmas. So, I started playing with Photoshop Elements, and turned Christmas into a tropical getaway look. One of my proudest achievements, until I actually got the cards here, and realized that I had missed a few spots of the photo, during the editing of the dress color that remain the original red color.
After having gone to see Bunny Wonderland and Joslyn Fox in The Bunny and the Fox Show in Portsmouth, and having prime real estate for photographs, and not having to run after the performers, I decided to go back to the photos from Christmas, and start deciding which ones to post.
Because of the sheer amount of photos that I take during any given show, I have enough photos to be able to tell the story of most of a performance. And, I realized, for the first time, since Cherry Lemonade told me that my writing here was important, because it told a story and allowed the performers to have something to remember it by, that that's what my whole aim has been in all the time I've taken these pictures. I haven't always done a good job of it. Some of the photo albums on Facebook look like I just chose random photos and stuck them there. Some, are completely random photos. Some were before I realized that I could take photos without a flash, so I was at the mercy of how quickly the flash would recharge before the next picture would snap.
With the realization of not needing to use the flash to still get good pictures, I started taking way more pictures, with a much better chance of getting stuff I could use. This gave more of a total overview of the show. But, with the last couple of batches of photos that I've taken, when it came time to post them, I realized that by editing a little, and not including every photo that "may be okay", and only going for the ones with a (totally subjective) wow factor that I could actually give more of a visual story of each performance.
Unfortunately, it's not an exact art. I still have a hard time getting accurate photos, because some performers just move faster than others, and some know how to use the lights best for photography. So, it still looks like I give preferential treatment to some, more than others. It gives me a goal, though, to figure out how to capture those lower light, super fast moving photos...and have it look like I've frozen the moment in time.
Anyway, back to the narrative aspect of the photos. When I started writing the blog, here, it was often to tell the story of how the show went. Laying out the photos as more of a "Graphic Novel" set up, instead of just a "Photo Album," has given me a different outlook on my pictures. One, that I feel might be able to get me out of the slump that I've been in when it comes to drag shows recently.
So, goals for 2018:
1) Get out of the slump.
2) Learn to freeze frame during a performance, so that all details are clear
3) Make the best of super low lighting for photos, so I don't lose half a performance.
4) Don't let anyone take away the fun in shooting, because if it isn't fun, you shouldn't be doing it.
The biggest thing, was that doing drag photography stopped being fun. Going to drag shows was fine, because I got attention, that I apparently crave, from the queens...but, it became a thankless work. And, it just wasn't fun. I have spent entire shows running around chasing the queens, to get "perfect" pictures, that will get used, but I won't ever even get credit for taking.
I've been working on some trading cards for Shaunna Rai, so she can hand them out, as a business card of sorts. While some of them are her selfies, it's given me an opportunity to work my skills as a graphic designer, and photo editor. One of the cards, is a photo of Shaunna that I had taken before a Christmas show that she did. The request was that the photo be edited to make it usable at any time during the year, instead of just Christmas. So, I started playing with Photoshop Elements, and turned Christmas into a tropical getaway look. One of my proudest achievements, until I actually got the cards here, and realized that I had missed a few spots of the photo, during the editing of the dress color that remain the original red color.
After having gone to see Bunny Wonderland and Joslyn Fox in The Bunny and the Fox Show in Portsmouth, and having prime real estate for photographs, and not having to run after the performers, I decided to go back to the photos from Christmas, and start deciding which ones to post.
Because of the sheer amount of photos that I take during any given show, I have enough photos to be able to tell the story of most of a performance. And, I realized, for the first time, since Cherry Lemonade told me that my writing here was important, because it told a story and allowed the performers to have something to remember it by, that that's what my whole aim has been in all the time I've taken these pictures. I haven't always done a good job of it. Some of the photo albums on Facebook look like I just chose random photos and stuck them there. Some, are completely random photos. Some were before I realized that I could take photos without a flash, so I was at the mercy of how quickly the flash would recharge before the next picture would snap.
With the realization of not needing to use the flash to still get good pictures, I started taking way more pictures, with a much better chance of getting stuff I could use. This gave more of a total overview of the show. But, with the last couple of batches of photos that I've taken, when it came time to post them, I realized that by editing a little, and not including every photo that "may be okay", and only going for the ones with a (totally subjective) wow factor that I could actually give more of a visual story of each performance.
Unfortunately, it's not an exact art. I still have a hard time getting accurate photos, because some performers just move faster than others, and some know how to use the lights best for photography. So, it still looks like I give preferential treatment to some, more than others. It gives me a goal, though, to figure out how to capture those lower light, super fast moving photos...and have it look like I've frozen the moment in time.
Anyway, back to the narrative aspect of the photos. When I started writing the blog, here, it was often to tell the story of how the show went. Laying out the photos as more of a "Graphic Novel" set up, instead of just a "Photo Album," has given me a different outlook on my pictures. One, that I feel might be able to get me out of the slump that I've been in when it comes to drag shows recently.
So, goals for 2018:
1) Get out of the slump.
2) Learn to freeze frame during a performance, so that all details are clear
3) Make the best of super low lighting for photos, so I don't lose half a performance.
4) Don't let anyone take away the fun in shooting, because if it isn't fun, you shouldn't be doing it.
