20 on Tuesday: Gretchen Davis

I’m so excited to introduce you to Gretchen Davis! Gretchen and I are fellow Bloomies. We “met” while taking the Bloom Workshop taught by Brenda Acuncius and Kristy Lane. Gretchen inspired me by the generous comments and advice she offered as well as some pretty incredible assignments she submitted for critique. I’m always intrigued by the way photographers find and capture light in their images and Gretchen is someone who excels at this. She has a way of evoking emotion and meaning into her art. I look forward to each and every post on her blog because I know I’ll be inspired by her images because they will be uniquely her style.

(And her answer to #15 tells me we could be BFFs.)

Hi Gretchen,

1    Where are you from?

I’m from Hardy, a lovely small town in northeast Arkansas. I spent the first 18 years of my life there and greatly under appreciated how beautiful and simple life can be there. This time of year it’s beautiful, green and growing. In a small area there’s a river, lakes and lots of friendly, sweet people. I don’t get back to visit very often, but I love being there when I do.

2    Where is home now?
I haven’t gone far! My husband, I and our two boys live in Little Rock, Arkansas which is right in the middle of the state and only about 2.5 hours from where I grew up. We love it here and feel blessed to be so happy. It might not be our forever home, but it’s wonderful and perfect for right now.

3    Are you formally educated or self-taught in photography?
I’m self taught. My first SLR was a Canon xti with the kit lens. I was so excited about photography after my oldest son was born and wanted to pretend that photography was purely about the fun, creative parts. I tried to ignore the dials and such on my camera as much as possible at first, so the learning was slow to start.  Once I quit fighting that I’d have to learn how to shoot in manual, a whole new world opened up to me. I scoured the internet for info, checked out any books I could find and studied photographers whose worked I loved. Numbers and logical thinking are not my strengths and I needed to read, practice, read, practice to get it all to click together. I still love learning about photography and am still doing the read, practice routine every time I find new information. I recently went through the Bloom workshop with Brenda Acuncius and Kristy Lane and I loved it. I am definitely looking forward to doing an in-person workshop one day!

4    What words would you use to describe your  style of photography?
This is a great question! It’s really making me think about the words I would use for how I feel when I’m shooting. I’d like to think that my work is a little bit quirky, clean, fun, relaxed, natural and most of all…real.

5    What inspires you as a photographer?
Okay, I could probably write a whole page just on this. There are certain things that just make me want to go and grab my camera, so I’m just listing them here as these things have been moments when I immediately thought – camera.    Sunny days. Unexpected moments, like when toddlers suddenly hug their friends.  My boys playing on the floor with their train sets. The last light of the day on the grass in our front yard. Neighborhood streets with trees that arch, like my sister’s street.  Hair blowing in the wind. Families that make each other laugh.  A place with lots of lines. Negative space.  The colors navy, purple, cream, olive, teal, gold and warm grey. (For right now anyway) And red. I know, random, right? Freckled noses. Children who wear glasses. Chubby little hands and feet.  Runners. Women who play the air trombone at a stoplight.  Big belly laughs.  The light and paint colors in my Mom’s new kitchen.  The way my husband smells, but not his feet.  Negative space.  Newborns with no hair, newborns with lots of hair.  Tiny little hair bows.  Missing teeth, real smiles from children.  Vintage fabrics, weathered wood. Clean sheets on the bed.  These beautiful places we have in Arkansas that are impossibly rich in color and a little wild growing right now. Colored glass.  The last light of the day, the last light of the day, the last light of the day, the last light of the day.  Also, the last light of the day. My loving, powerful, personal, creative Creator.

6    What is your favorite kind of session to shoot and why?
My favorite type of session seems to be an ebb and flow depending on the time of year. Right now, I love family sessions! I love working with families and playing along with them. I like to hear about what their kids are like and who they are. I like it when I can hear how the parents met and what they love about each other. Lately, I’ve tried to spend more time on that part of the session and it makes me so excited to go and meet that family on their scheduled date! My other favorite sessions are newborn sessions. The newness, the smells, the tiny baby things, all the extra love floating around in their home, it’s just magical. I feel very honored to photograph newborns. When a family chooses me to photograph their precious, brand new baby, they are sharing their joy with me!  Its important to me and I’m grateful for each one. I’m looking forward to doing more high school senior sessions and those start to be my favorite when they come around.

7    How do you stay motivated and your photography current?
I stay motivated by doing my best to keep a reasonable schedule. When I have enough time to plan each session and chat on the phone or over email with my clients, I enjoy my work so much more. I’ve also learned to keep a notebook with ideas as they come to me for times that I just can’t think of the right thing, or need a place to get started. As far as staying current, I love following other photographers’ blogs and watching as others develop creatively and I think that helps me stay current when you can kind of see what’s new in photography. I am amazed at how many incredibly talented photographers there are!  I’ve also applied to the National Association of Professional Child Photographers and am excited about joining a professional organization and think that will help me stay current.

8    If you could be invisible for one day with your  camera…
This is a hard question. I think I’d like to be invisible with my camera every time I use it, and sometimes I think it does make me invisible and I love that.  Especially with families though, that would be really handy.

9    Name a photographer you would like to take a  portrait of?
I think in real life, close to me, there are several. My friend Mitzi Penick needs new family photos and I love her family, she’s a friend so that would be first on my list  And also, I liked to add on there any other photographer who has not had family portraits recently or ever. 🙂 Its hard to get in front of the camera when you are always holding it,  and apparently, most of us Mama’s have issues with our on camera appearance. (I’m guilty too) Be with the people you love. Make a beautiful day of memories and have the photographic proof!

10    What’s your best advice for balancing work and family?
Be organized. Ha! Those who know me well know this is not my strength. But, it is important to me to try to keep a good balance. Right now, while my children are young, I just can’t pursue every idea that pops into my head. There’s places I would like to take my photography or ideas I would like to plan out, but for now, some of those things need to be on the back burner.  More than anything, I love my family and I love being with them. I want my boys to have memories of me playing dinosaurs with and doing things they think are fun. 🙂 I try to keep my shooting schedule reasonable and limit how many sessions I schedule in a months time. I also think its good to have a plan for me to look at my week at the beginning so I can see when I can maybe work at night while the kids are asleep and when I can take a night off and watch the season finale of LOST with my husband.

11    What’s in your camera bag?
My Canon 5d, a 50d for backup. 85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.4, 35 mm 2.0, 24mm 2.8. The 35 and 24 get no love. There’s also other random things in there, some camera related and some not.

12    When you’re not photographing, where can we find you?
Right now, the boys and I seem to be loving the Little Rock zoo, but mostly likely you’ll find me at home, playing in our yard, taming laundry, chasing small boys and just enjoying my life.  Also, I like Target.

13    If not a photographer what would you have been?
If I wasn’t a photographer, I would be a nurse. I have my Bachelor’s degree in nursing and worked at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for several years before pursuing photography. I loved working there and there are so many amazing babies that will forever be in my heart that I met there. The people  I worked along side were some of the kindest, most compassionate people. They truly love what they do and its an amazing place. I think that’s definitely where I would be if I wasn’t here.

14    If you could live anywhere in this amazing world where would you build your dream home?
I’m not sure. Anywhere warm most of the year and near my family. No snow.

15    What talent would you most like to have?
Fabulous organizational skills. The ability to be the kind of writer that makes you stay up all night to finish a book. This is more of a super power, but I’d like the ability to never have to go to the grocery store. Just a fully stocked fridge and pantry all the time. I guess that would be farming, which in my opinion is a super power.

16    What are the three words your spouse would use to describe you?
Spontaneous, caring, beautiful

17    Something that is over rated…
It seems lately I think sleep is over rated. I think I may be lying to myself.

18    Your favorite movie of all time?
This seems to change every time I watch a movie. Right now, its The Lovely Bones. I love the colors in that movie. I also watched UP with my kids a few days ago and like it too. I like that little grape bottle cap pin and wish I had one.

19    Who would play you in a movie of your life?
Sandra Bullock. Not because we look alike, I just like her.

20    Name one blog you stalk regularly

Amanda Burse’s Labellavitablog.

Will you share with us some of your work that best reflect your style?

Gretchen’s work can be found HERE.

Thank you, Gretchen!