Year End Rewind

Jesse Jacques

Dec 12, 20224 min read

Film developing kit — I had to bust out the chemistry over the weekend for a holiday deadline and develop and scan the film myself after the shoot.

And, That's a wrap. FIFTY-THREE!! Photoshoots later, culminating with the 50th blog post at the year's end. It's been a fun & exciting ride this year, and I don't want to slow down. It's weird that the work I've done within this calendar year feels like it happened years ago, like a foggy dreamscape I've seen or experienced somewhere else before. Regardless, I know the people I worked with, whether great clients who hired me, test shoots for fantastic agents, or working with talented creatives, models, or business individuals, whoever it was, was the right person at the right time that I learned and grew from. I'm thankful to have crossed paths. 💯

I have ambitious projects on deck for the new year and want to keep evolving my style with photography, so I'm keeping my foot on the gas. As we all should! With that said, below, I listed two simple things that helped me progress rapidly this year.

Enrolling in a business course.

Learning from and watching the ins and outs of how someone within your industry has found consistent success for years is worth it if you need help in certain areas. You don't know what you don't know, and you can try to learn everything on your own and piece together info here and there, but if you want to cut the time in half or more, learn from others' mistakes. Obviously, within reason, you can't be a robot and just follow blindly since we all serve different people and walk separate paths. There are a lot of great free resources online, but sometimes it's worth paying for the information you need from the right people/person. The hard part will be navigating through all the information people put out.

Remember two things when finding suitable courses for yourself - someone doing something for a long time doesn't instantly give them an authority on a subject, and selling decadence doesn't automatically make them good at their craft. (It's like the equivalent of scammers showing off a Lamborghini to buy their money-making course) if you can sift through these things, I'm sure you'll find the right fit for yourself because there are also great premium classes/workshops taught by successful, talented, passionate people.

Do your own thing In your Industry.

Hard Truth: The game you play or want to be a part of is rigged. Those who know, know. In the words of George Carlin, "It's one big club, and we aint in it." It is what it is. But knowing this is liberating because you can move how you want and do what you want in this creative space. Don't sell out your voice/perspective to try and be one of many in a game that you didn't make the rules for; instead, lean into the vision and talent that was blessed upon you. They were given to you for a reason, and people find resonance in things that are real."Each person has to do something different, unique to himself. The material itself is a living experience, charged with emotion, by nature irrational and ever-changing, which doesn't lend itself to systemization." (Jung)

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Random fun facts and photography related happenings from the year

1.) The most casual place that led to booking a client was randomly at a store I was getting fabric cut for a photoshoot. The woman cutting my fabric told me she used to be a wedding photographer, and we were just joking around about how terrible they are to shoot 😭 (shout out the wedding photographers, your job is tough). She told me her sister needed a photographer for XYZ; the rest is history.

2.) One Magic Moment: Was that I was healing an abdominal hernia during 90% of the photoshoots this year (I bet none of you knew I wasn't 100%). I didn't want to get surgery on the sports injury because I believed I could heal it on my own, even though everything you read online, including doctors saying you need surgery. But it turns out I was right. Long story short: I got a hernia ultrasound at the beginning of the year to confirm I had that injury from being a meathead and lifting super heavy in the gym without proper rest.

- Fast forward eleven months later, and it's completely healed through daily meditations, mindset shift, nutrition/supplementation, and rest. All was confirmed by having another hernia ultrasound, proving it was not there anymore. The tech was shocked. I only mention this because now you know why I'm so big on belief and the power of your mind and thoughts regarding creativity, art, etc. You can heal, create and transform yourself with thoughts and correct actions. And now I have documented proof for the physical.

3.) Most used camera - Mamiya RB67

4.) Most used film stock - Portra 800

5.) Most rolls shot during one shoot - 22 (wow) (Lots of outfit changes, backgrounds, etc.).

6.) Two of my favorite shots of the year happened due to synchronicities and lighting malfunctions.

7.) I bought a backup of the same exact camera just in case something unexpected happens on set.

8.) The longest shoot I had was seven hours. I was so tired for like a week after 😂

9.) The shortest photoshoot was 10 mins and one shot on my 4x5 camera.

10. The longest prep for lighting a shoot was recent and it took two days to figure out the quality of light needed. Lots of blocking with flags and use of shadows at an awkward angle with a certain movement.

11.) Favorite shoot - All of them for different reasons. 🙂 📸