Written by Maria Hammon
I often find myself mesmerized by the incredible talent displayed by a woman whose photography skills always manage to blow my mind away. When I see her works, it is instantly that the words inspiring, empowering and simply beautiful immediately pop into my head. She masters the use light in her self portraits in such an intense, natural, way that it is hard to describe it with words. Her still portraits are simply stunning. She has been an inspiration to me for several years and this is why it is so exciting to me to have to opportunity to ask her some questions about her art, her process and the things that she loves. She stops at nothing to share her heart and soul in what she does. Whether it is through her amazing photography, her art, her digital art work, or her blog, this woman spills artistic genius in every inch of herself. I am thrilled to introduce to you, through this interview, to Lucrecer Braxton.
Lu, How long have you been a photographer?
I started getting serious about photography about seven years ago.
How do you typically prepare for your photo shoots? Do you have a process, or system that you typically follow?
When I am shooting for clients, I make sure all of my equipment is ready to go for the session. That means having my lens clean, cleared memory cards and charged batteries. If I am meeting my clients for a location shoot, I make sure I know where I am going and have the directions. I also like to arrive early so I can scout out the location and find the best places to pose my subjects. A little bit of preparation goes a long way in making a successful shoot.
Do you do any post-processing?
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for post-processing. I like to keep my images as natural looking as possible, so I do not use a lot of actions that over saturate my images. I shoot for simple, clean black and white images or color images that have a timeless feel to them.
Who, or what, are your favorite subjects?
I enjoy shooting teenagers. There is something about their presence and fearlessness. They are old enough to take direction and young enough to have an innocent wonder about them. They also like to experiment and shoots with them are a lot of fun. I also like relationship photography. When I shoot, I look for connections. How people connect to each other, their environment and with the camera. Images like that are more genuine and timeless in nature. I also shoot a lot of self-portraits; not because I am vain! I shoot them to test out new techniques and try out things before I shoot my own family or clients. It is a great way to experiment with photography and learn to use the light.
I realize that you are not only an amazing photographer, but also a tremendous artist, please share some of your recent projects and explain what you liked most about creating them.
Art is my heart. I started the Art Slam about a year ago as a way to introduce art journaling to others. Recently, I spoke about the Art Slam at the BlogHer conference held in San Francisco. I enjoyed connecting with other liked minded bloggers and sharing my love of art with them and encouraging them to give it a try simply for the love of the process. After I came back from BlogHer, I was contacted to create a piece of art for an online group. What I enjoyed most about that piece was creating something that represented the spirit of the ladies who wanted to carry on the qualities of beautiful blogging and positive posting. I have a couple of collaborative projects in the works and I am working on a photography project that will feature women and their perspective on their own greatness. I also completed a project with Wacom using the Bamboo Fun. It was so much fun returning to my digital scrapbooking roots and working with a great product.
What is your favorite art medium?
Right now, I am having a pretty good time using acrylic paints. I like the versatility of the medium and that I can manipulate it.
Where do you see yourself 10 years from today?
To be completely honest, I am not thinking that far. I have been working really hard this year to live in the moment. If I have to answer, I see myself happy. I hope to be living a very authentic life by being true to my passions and living fearlessly. I plan to have found my tribe; that group of spiritual, soul sisters who encourage and uplift me with their spirits. I will continue to make art, shoot beautiful photos and live.
Are you a dreamer by nature? If so, what is the direction of your dreams? I would have to say I am. I finally gave myself permission this year to pursue those dreams. When I did, all kinds of doors started opening up for me, like going to San Francisco as a speaker, working with Wacom and meeting some of my Internet friends in person. Being in the presence of people living their dreams is very inspiring. It let me see that anything is possible if you believe. My dreams are leading me down a rather interesting path and I have no idea where I will end up. I am being open and enjoying the ride.
How do you find your inspiration?
I find it by being open to my environment and the people around me. I find it by reading and looking at other artists’ work. Music inspires me, as does color, food and profound words.
Is there anything in particular that makes you want to stop what you are doing, and create art, or grab your camera and take pictures?
Sometimes, I will see an interesting shape or grouping I want to remember. I carry a journal with me and I will record observations about anything that creates a spark.
I recently learned that you are part of a new blog, http://www.penscrappers.com/, can you share a little about your work and participation with this blog?
It was a lot of fun creating for Pen Scrappers and being a part of a wonderful group of creatives. I used to do a lot more digital scrapbooking about two years ago. Working with the Bamboo Fun was like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes. I created a page featuring my youngest child graduating from pre-school. I was able to share my photography and play around with digital papers and elements by some of my favorite designers. It has been great exposing people to the versatility of working with a pen tablet.
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