Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tara Jueckstock. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tara, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
Self-care comes in multiple forms for me.
One of the most basic things I do is take a hot bath and relax, try to gather my bearings, and try to write down ideas and how to implement them.
On days where I’m not, shall we say, “feeling myself,” I take that as a sign to get creative. When I look at myself in the mirror and feeling less-than-stellar, it means it’s time to throw on some makeup, and step in front of my camera for a self-portrait session. As vain as that sounds, it works.
Self-portraiture has been a good outlet for me, and there’s still so much more to learn through it. It helps me hone my photography skills like composition, lighting, posing, and direction. This prepares me for when I’m photographing other people. All this to say that even on days I’m not feeling so good about myself (probably due to imposter syndrome), I’m proud to say I can still create some cool stuff.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
A good friend of mine, Kristine Wilson, helped me come up with my tagline for my photography business: Capturing shadows, revealing souls.
I love how creative I can be through photography.
Something I’ve always struggled with creatively is thinking in 3D. I even almost failed an art class once because sculpting, creating 3D objects, things like that…. I just don’t have the brain for it. Or so I thought.
Photography gives me a chance to think creatively in ways I never considered before, and I used to have a love-/hate relationship with it.
For context: I also draw and paint. Way back in the day, say 2015, I used to think that those took more effort than photography did. I would spend hours on an illustration or drawing, and it would get little to no attention. I share a photo, on the other hand, and it would be getting attention days later. To me, I found this frustrating because “taking a photo” seemed like less effort, and thus didn’t deserve the attention it got.
I have since ate my words and have been humbled. I recognize that photography, and all that can (and often does) go into it takes a lot more effort than I initially thought.
It’s more than pressing a button.
There’s pose direction, wardrobe styling, and location scouting, just to name a couple of things. Then, once you’re done photographing the subject, there could be hours of editing that follow. And while I’m no expert at editing photos, there’s still an art form to it. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve tried to edit a photo in Lightroom and just absolutely hated the direction it was going, only to click the “reset” button and make myself start all over. But the end result winds up looking better than originally thought, and that to me is a relief.
So to me, “capturing shadows and revealing souls” means more than just pressing a button. I’m taking pictures of people and the end result is how I view them…. powerful, a deity walking the earth, capturing emotion from light-heartedness to the ooky-spooky.
To me, photography has opened a doorway into a new artistic realm, and dammit, I want to share how I view the world with others.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Experiment, research, and practice.
Research what you seek in a camera’s capabilities. It’s okay if this evolves over time as you grow as a creative.
When I started the model photography side of my journey, I wanted a camera that shot in RAW format so I had more flexibility with editing. I won’t get into the details of what I look for now, but let’s just say I need more, and thus aim higher. The camera I work with now, a Panasonic Lumix G95, has the ability to change out the lenses and thus I’ve been playing around with mostly my kit and my macro lenses.
Experiment with your gear. Experiment with lighting. Experiment with locations, framing, composition, all that good stuff. Not every photo is going to be a show-stopper, and new photographers are going to have to let that thought go. You’re going to take bad photos, and it’s okay. The most important thing is that you keep going.
Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Often. Don’t have a model to photograph? Point the camera at yourself. Point it at the skyline, the trees, a building, something. Again, not every photo is going to be good, but the point is you keep *doing*. Your skills will improve the more you practice.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
This is a tough one. I think a person should develop their skills, period. Play to your strengths, for sure, but also work on your weaknesses and try to improve them. One such area I struggle with is giving posing direction. I struggle to be consistent; one shoot I’m on my A-game with directing, the next shoot I’m tongue-tied and feel like I flubbed the shoot.
The end results speak for themselves though.
Also, one thing I believe is a strength of mine is MOVING AROUND. When I modeled, I noticed few photographers would actually move around to get different angles, etc. When I became a photographer, I made it a point to move my body as much as I make the model move. Crouch, squat, tilt, or hell, get a ladder and shoot downward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://enduringdepictions.mypixieset.com/
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/enduringdepictions
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/enduringdepictions
Image Credits
Models featured are Nikki, Tiffany Lubs, Angie H, Willow, and Krista H
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
