Lacey, and her husband, Kris, commissioned me to create some romantic photographs while he was on leave from his Army duties.  For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a photographer is when people allow me into their personal environments to photograph them in an intimate way.  Here are some of the photos from our session earlier this week.

A few short years ago I noticed a preoccupation with what I perceived to be my own lack of creativity.  I literally felt handcuffed and unable to break free of certain limitations on my creative process.  “What is holding me back?,” I wondered.  The artist from my early days as a photographer was still there, somewhere.

As a teenager I never saw any limits.  But by the time of my creative crisis I constantly saw limitations.  Over time, I’d become quite good at finding out how things could fail, before I figured out how they might succeed.  And I began to have the attitude that any creative idea I might come up with would probably not be good enough to pursue.

The habit of finding flaws and potential failure with new ideas was reinforced in school as I studied to be a computer programmer.  A good programmer writes code with the upfront notion that things will go wrong, break, and be hacked without question.  All you can do is try to minimize the potential and manage the severity by writing code that expects things to go wrong.  Web developers actually know their code will be attacked.  Their code is their work.  And it will be attacked.

Cynicism also plays a role in the decline of one’s creative output.  Looking at the world with jaded eyes isn’t much use to an artist who needs to see new possibilities.  Being cynical has a tendency to make you doubt the authenticity and integrity of everything, including your own ideas.  When you start from that place, you’re not going to go very far with a new idea.  Cynicism comes with age and experience.  The world will let you down.

Expecting failure and being cynical can be quite useful in certain lines of work.  But not for artists. Artists should be free of the thoughts that would hold their creativity hostage.  It’s easier said than done.  But those handcuffs can fall away.

David Garza as part of the INsite Magazine Feb. double cover

INsite Magazine, David Garza feature story

You can pick up your copy of the new (Feb. 09) INsite today at Waterloo Records during the Ben Kweller in-store.  Ben is on the primary cover of this double-cover issue.  Or, go out to the Cactus Cafe and get your copy at the David Garza show.  My photos of David Garza appear in the magazine as shown.

This month’s issue of Austin Woman Magazine features an exciting 2 page spread about my boudoir photography.  Lyssa Myska Allen interviewed me, and some of my clients, for the piece a few weeks ago.  In the article, “Lights…Camera…Lingerie?,” she talks about her first-hand experience with having boudoir photos made.  She also covers reasons why this is becoming a popular style of portraiture for many women.

Like Verosky told me it would be from the beginning, the shoot was even more fun than I’d imagined. And while I consider myself very self-assured (except while lingerie-shopping), it was amazing what embracing my femininity and letting a camera capture it did for my confidence.

Austin Woman Magazine can be found all over the Austin area.  They also have text and .pdf versions of the latest issue (Kathy Valentine on the cover) on their website.  You can get more information about my boudoir photography at AustinBoudoir.com

Austin Woman Magazine, February 2009