Do It Scared

On August 28, 2020, we lost Chadwick Boseman, Prince T’Challa, from colon cancer.  He was 42 years of old.  Chadwick was diagnosed with Stage 3 in 2016.  What’s amazing and inspiring is that over the last 4 years, this man created memorable movies including his role as the Black Panther.  While he fought his battle, we enjoyed his roles.  This has several messages.  The first is that we don’t know what our neighbors are dealing with in their lives, but are still showing up.  Another is to live your life and do what you love.  As a Christian, the Bible tells us that God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear so move forward with your dreams.  I fulfilled a dream on August 29, and I’m glad that I didn’t back out.

Since moving to Texas, I have wanted to complete a photo shoot under the expressway.  They say that “everything is big in Texas”, and this also applies to their expressways.  They aren’t afraid to build them tall.  However, I didn’t have an idea for a concept.   It wasn’t until seeing headpieces and neckpieces that I got the idea.  I saw a beautiful red and black feathered neckpiece on Amazon, and knew that it was what I needed for the shoot.  I already had a black dress, but I purchased a belt to bring the look together.  I searched Pinterest for make-up looks.  The next step was to find a model.  I posted a model call in one of my photography groups.  It was a Time for Print session.  There was an overwhelming response to the post, and it was difficult to choose a model.  I finally settled on Julia.  She had the look that I wanted for the session.  We finalized the arrangements for the shoot, and it was a “go”.

We met at 8:00am on August 29 near an expressway.  I traveled light because I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to the session.  If you live in the Austin area, you know that it’s known for its limestone.  There were A LOT of rocks under the expressway, and it made walking challenging.  However, I didn’t want that to stop me.  We finally arrived at flat area for the session.  The concrete provided the fill light for the session so I didn’t need any additional lighting.  We were able to shoot several frames before moving over to the shopping center parking lot. 

While we were shooting in the parking lot, we noticed five Camaros parked next to one another.  Their owners were standing in front of the cars talking.  I wanted to shoot in front of one of the cars so I went over to ask the owners.  They were very agreeable.  The image that I captured was one of my favorites.

I am very pleased with the completed session, and I’m so glad that I didn’t chicken out.  I thought about it once or twice, but I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t complete the project.  To quote a friend, “Do it scared”.