I sound like a broken record, but this was the hardest month I have ever judged for these contests. There is so much soul and depth that goes in to so many of these pictures, and while I think the images listed below are exceptional, I think that all are worthy of recognition and praise. [...]
When I moved to Los Angeles I had been doing photography for 2 months. I was not yet convinced that I would pursue it as a career but I knew that it felt like more than a hobby. My first job was at a production company where I was the receptionist. I knew for a [...]
All growing up I was quite the messy child. I heard constantly from my mom, “When are you going to pick your clothes up? They won’t pick themselves up!”, or “Your shoes aren’t going to walk themselves up the stairs”. I can still hear her saying that when I look at my own apartment [...]
Tagged brooke shaden, decisions, inspiration, outlook, perspective, photography, taking charge, taking control over lifeWe all know the feeling of getting negative feedback on a picture. You spend lots of time creating something, you’re proud of it, you show it off, and then BOOM…”I don’t like it” or “I don’t get it” or “I don’t something something something”. It is only fair after all that we get a range [...]
Tagged "fine art photography", alien, behind the scenes, brooke shaden, create, creepy, photograph, surreal photography, surrealismI am the type of person who has never had anything taught to me in the photography world. I never took a class, attended a workshop, or really had any interest in doing those things. I’ve always been the one teaching! So when Lara Jade asked me to review her DVD, I was both intrigued [...]
I drove to the beach on a bright and sunny day. It was warm enough to lower my car windows. I zig-zagged through the grand Malibu Canyon, it sounds perfect, right? I came around a corner and was hit with sunlight filtered through fog. It was so beautiful I wished I had a place to [...]
I know it is rather obvious and unavoidable to run into so many end-of-the-year-recaps, but I fall into that category of people who just can’t help themselves. I will probably recap my year every year until I die in some sort of blog-type-thing, or maybe just in my head in years to come. Either way…one [...]
Tagged "fine art photography", 2011 recap, behind the scenes, dark art, new year, photographer, surreal photography, whimsical photographyI went away last weekend to visit the Salton Sea, a little known AMAZING place southeast of Los Angeles. The sea is dying, and the fish that were carried there from the Colorado River died and can now be found in the form of bones on the beaches. Abandoned buildings abound and the entire area [...]
Tagged "fine art photography", adventure, behind the scenes, brooke shaden, inspiration, photographer, positivity, road trip, salton sea, sand dunes, self portraits, surrealismThe things we can do with $5 and a little imagination are plentiful. The things we can do with so little are incredible. The things we can make out of nothing astound. We call ourselves creatives, and sometimes our actions show that more than others. I got to thinking about what makes me tick, the [...]
Tagged "fine art photography", baby powder, behind the scenes, blue, brooke shaden, brooke shaden photography, cloud, dark art, dust, earth, field, jumping, making something out of nothing, photographs, positivity, reborn, surrealism, warrior, whimsicalEvery Thanksgiving I write a list of reasons why I am thankful. That list is always impossibly long and getting longer each year. My family, my friends, my career, where I live, my cats…it is an obvious list, that is certain, but of course it means something to me. Everyone who celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday [...]
Tagged "fine art photography", bird, brooke shaden, decisions, flightless, nest, positivity, reflection, Thanksgiving, YOU