Catching up with Heather K Purdy
This past year has been a wild one, hasn’t it, friends? Now that we are all starting to reemerge into this post-covid world, it has been exciting to have creativity blossom in new and beautiful ways.
Did you find yourself creatively inspired or creatively stunted during lockdown? Since it was such a heavy time, I tried to funnel that energy into keeping my creative muscle flexed and toned!
As a photographer, I believe it is important to study a variety of different art forms and mediums. Drawing inspiration from sources outside of our main medium is such a great way to expand our creativity.
Though I am usually a fine art elopement, wedding, and maternity photographer in Big Sur, CA, during lockdown, I started creating portraits of florals and experimented with using prisms to capture really unique images. The prisms were inspired by studying impressionist paintings and how soft and dreamy the use of light felt in them… I wanted to mirror that feeling, but with photography. It took a bit, but when I landed on playing with the prisms, broken glass, and even plastic bags draped around my lens, I finally felt like I had found the missing puzzle piece to what I had been searching for!
Now that I am back photographing couples, I have applied these same techniques and principles with my client work and am finding a renewed sense of excitement for my work! I will often pull out my prisms or pieces of broken glass when the coastal light is golden and magical to help give the portraits a dreamy and surreal quality. Often, my clients tell me these unusual and artistic shots are their favorites in their whole gallery!
So… Consider this your encouragement to stay creative and curious about your medium. Draw inspiration for different sources, try new things, play, flex that creative muscle!
Heather's website: https://heatherkpurdy.com/