Category: Learn with Bethany

Try Before You Buy:

The Power in Prototypes

by Bethany Joy

 

 

As Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, once said, prototypes allow designers to think in a tangible way and fail quickly and cheaply, saving us time and resources. Let’s explore four essential guidelines for effective prototyping and learn how we can apply them to turn our dreams into reality. This is a part of the series I have been podcasting on design thinking! We started with empathy, defined problems, ideated solutions, and now it’s time to prototype! This isn’t just for designers we all can learn how to use this method to get our ideas from our brains to the real world.

 

Like Nike Says: Just Do It

Are you someone who tends to get caught up in planning and hesitates to take action? Trust me, I’ve been there too. Many of us spend hours fantasizing about our ideas without actually testing them. However, an idea is just a fantasy until it has been tested. So, take that leap of faith and create a prototype of what you want to achieve.

For example, if you’re considering moving to a new city, don’t just daydream about it. Visit the city, live there for a couple of weeks, and experience the daily life. Explore the neighborhoods where you would potentially live. This hands-on approach will give you a more realistic understanding of whether the idea aligns with your expectations.

 

 

Just Keep Swimming

Be like Dori in Finding Nemo and just keep swimming!  Prototyping is all about speed and avoiding emotional attachment to ideas that might not work. We often fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy, feeling that all the time, energy, and resources we’ve invested will go to waste if we abandon an idea. However, continuing down an unfruitful path will only waste more of your precious time and resources.

Let go of ideas that don’t resonate and embrace failure as an opportunity for learning. I’ve had my fair share of hobbies and ventures that didn’t work out. From collecting random exercise equipment to fantasizing about becoming a marathon runner, I realized that my true passion lay elsewhere and I am ok with enjoying walks lol. It’s okay to let go and focus on what genuinely works for you instead of forcing a process to fit your goal. Processes can change keep the goal the same.

 

Keep the Main Thing The Main Thing

When creating prototypes, it’s essential to have a central testing issue in mind. While you remain focused on your ultimate goal, don’t lose sight of other valuable lessons that might emerge along the way.

For instance, when trying out a new exercise routine for the umpteenth time, it’s easy to get caught up in finding the perfect shoes, leggings, or gym membership. However, remember your primary goal and the problem you’re solving. Stay focused on the essential aspects and avoid distractions that might take you off course.

 

 

Prototyping is a powerful tool that allows us to turn our ideas into reality. By following these guidelines, you can harness the potential of prototyping to iterate and refine your concepts. Remember that failure is not the end but an opportunity for growth and learning. Embrace the journey, and don’t be afraid to test, refine, and test again. Your dreams are within reach!

Thank you for reading. To stay connected, visit bethanyjphotography.com or email bethany@bethanyjphotography.com. Join Seen & Celebrated, our weekly newsletter, to support local creative women and businesses in Maryland and access the newsletter archive. If you need portraits, design work, or business support, I’m here for you. Reach out to me, Bethany Joy, for your unique needs.

 

 

RSS Latest Episode of The Creativity Cure

 

 

Free Illustrations

 

 

 

Resources: – Chu, Melissa. “Announcing Your Goals Makes You Less Likely to Achieve Them.” Inc.com. [Link](https://www.inc.com/melissa-chu/announcing-your-goals-makes-you-less-likely-to-ach.html)
– “Sunk Cost Fallacy.” Scribbr.com. [Link](https://www.scribbr.com/fallacies/sunk-cost-fallacy/)

 

 

How You Motivate Yourself Matters

by Bethany Joy

 

 

Experience teaches our brains to avoid pain. Habits and patterns can be hard to break because we think “new” means pain. Listen to episode 5 of The Creativity Cure Podcast to hear how if you’ve spent your life criticizing and bullying yourself, you may think you won’t succeed if you don’t do that. The more you think about past mistakes, the more you demand perfection, and the more you feel like a problem, the more you want to stay safe. If you’re always looking for the next mistake or failure, you’ll become a self-fulfilling prophecy through your own frequency bias.  It’s important to be safe if you’re going to be creative. To be safe you need the grace to make mistakes and grow so you can have a growth mindset. The way you motivate yourself matters. How you speak to yourself becomes how you speak to others and for little ones around you, it becomes how they may motivate themselves in the future. There’s hope for change. Embrace self-compassion and here are practical ways to do that!

 

 

Have Patience

Changing habits takes time. According to one blog, self-compassion brings up old hurts. I found it hard to break my habit of excessive self-criticism because I was so used to it. If you have used self-criticism as a motivator for years, changing it will feel like a failure. Expect some feelings and be patient. Don’t let your emotions define you. Move through them. If you’re like me, you ignore, dismiss, or pretend emotions don’t exist. Moving through an emotion requires acknowledgment. Write, talk, or think about it. Give yourself a moment to acknowledge your feelings. There’s no need to produce an action like getting over a situation. If you acknowledge your feelings, your brain will move forward rather than slowly lose control of them as you avoid them. Initially, it can feel vulnerable because if you feel embarrassed about something someone pointed out to you, you’re admitting it affected you. No matter how you acknowledge a feeling, it goes somewhere. Suppress it and it may come back as anger or anxiety. You might lie to yourself about it, but your brain knows, so you might find yourself exhausted by pretending. By dismissing emotions, you won’t get rid of them, they’ll come out. It usually hurts people you don’t want. Do you ever get upset over small things? It could be something stupid like someone parking in your space. It’s usually dismissed emotions that cause that blow-up. That feeling didn’t go away! Put your feelings in writing and read them. It’s what I do when my body reacts to anxiety. It was so easy for me to feel anxious that I lost touch with my body and my emotions, so I stopped noticing how I felt. That’s why I pay attention when my shoulders scrunch up, my breathing gets fast, or my stomach hurts. Writing helps me see my thoughts in context, and then they’re not in my head anymore. Writing things down makes them less scary. It’s a great habit to get into. We all feel different emotions. Some of us feel a lot, others don’t. Healthier people are in control of their actions, no matter what. You’ll notice I didn’t say emotions. Feelings are like a map, telling us about ourselves, but we can’t always control them. What matters is what we do with them.

 

 

Practice Joy

Another habit I learned from The Joy Switch is to practice joy. Bring back memories of fun times. Take a look at the pictures and reminisce about the day. Take a minute to think about what you’re grateful for. Set a timer for ten minutes and think about 10 things you’re grateful for. Don’t ruminate on upsetting failures or mistakes. Ruminating is when you can’t stop thinking about how you failed, embarrassed yourself, or got angry. You can ruminate to control a problem you think you can’t solve or think you’ll be able to solve it if you think long enough. It can also be triggered by trauma. When you externalize it, however, consider what it means. Imagine if your friend failed to show up for your birthday after promising to do so. There was a genuine error and they apologized profusely. You keep bringing it up every chance you get, replaying it over and over out loud and telling everyone you know what a big mistake they made bringing it up. Is that person someone you’d want as a friend? It’s what happens when you do that to yourself. You’re human, so you’re going to make mistakes or make bad choices. It’s impossible to be perfect. As soon as you set a standard to never experience a situation with uncontrollable elements, you set yourself up to fail. If you can’t always control your thoughts, this technique says to make them a person and say hey, I’ll listen to you later but right now I’m enjoying breakfast, so set it aside. Trying to do simple tasks with the constant reminder of how you messed up in the background is exhausting. It’s okay to set that aside for 30 seconds. It’s not necessary to punish yourself constantly. Let your mind wander to things you enjoy. It may take some practice but change is possible. Think about that adventure with your friend. Think about a dream vacation or a good meal. When your brain isn’t trying to avoid pain, it can embrace the future. Being compassionate allows you to believe you can accomplish those goals, no matter how imperfect you are. Making mistakes is okay and you’ll do it. As a result, you don’t begin to rely on your body’s self-defense mechanisms (fight, flight, freeze). 

 

Set Boundaries

 Let’s talk about boundaries next. Being compassionate towards yourself means understanding you’re in control. You’re not responsible for anyone’s feelings or actions. In reality, you can’t force anyone to do anything. Boundaries simply mean recognizing where you end and someone else begins. Having boundaries keeps us safe and lets us enjoy our families. There’s a good chance you already have boundaries, but don’t know what they are. Knowing when someone crosses them is a sure sign you have them. No matter what it is, whether it is unsolicited advice, rude comments, or oversharing when you don’t want to, setting and recognizing boundaries is compassion.

 

Finally, Listen

Take care of yourself.

In addition to taking care of your mind, your body should be taken care of as well. There is a lot of strain and stress on our bodies. Both the good and the bad. It is crucial to take time to care for your body. If you have been ignoring your body, it may take time to get back into it. Pay attention to hunger, thirst, tiredness, and tension. Take care of yourself, whether it’s for a few minutes a day or for an hour each week. Give it a try! It’s becoming clear to me that my body yells in other ways when I ignore it. The physical or emotional stress forces me to rest. Getting help is never too late, even if you’ve never exercised or struggled to stay active. Consider taking one small step toward improving your diet or sleep if you’re not getting enough. We need you. Your friends and family need you. It is your responsibility to take care of yourself because no one else can understand what you need. You should seek help if you have consistently struggled in any area. Search for free groups online or see what your insurance covers. Some of us say we’ll figure it out later, but if it’s been 5 years, it’s time to admit you’re not an expert. Pain shows us what we need to pay attention to before it’s too late. So please pay attention and show compassion for your body.

 

Last but not least, soul care. For me, it’s prayer, church community, and Bible study. Peace for me comes from knowing God is in control and knows me. Casting my cares on Jesus is what I do when I don’t have compassion for myself or anyone else. Helping others keeps me grounded and reminds me that I’m not alone, by caring, I’m not just focusing on my problems. It’s good to get perspective when you feel like what you’re going through is all encompassing.

It’s time to change the way we motivate ourselves. Think about what care you need and if you don’t know, start by believing you can be kind to yourself. When you do that, your brain starts looking for solutions instead of your next mistake!

 

 

Thank you for checking out my blog! You can listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Watch me on YouTube as well by searching for The Creativity Cure. Let’s continue the conversation by joining Seen & Celebrated my weekly Newsletter where I share stories of women doing great things in Maryland. Subscribe for free below and access all of the stories.

 

I hope these tips are helpful, but I am only one person, so let me know what has worked for you! I can be reached here or via email at bethany@bethanyjphotography.com. Interested in collaborating on something creative? Commission a portrait! The booking period for 2023 is now open.

 

 

 

Practice Practice

Crafting with Quality

 

 

I couldn’t stand drawing but I learned how to be better purely because of practice. In Episode 2 of The Creativity Cure, I shared how I learned to have a growth mindset by challenging the notion that I should only pursue skills I am naturally “good” at. I believe that many of the best demonstrate the tenacity to practice repeatedly. You can listen to my podcast here to get the full recap. I always share some practical ways you can start thinking like an artist and harness creativity to improve your life. Here are 4 ways to practice like an artist everyday.

 

 

Research

Learning to lean on those who have been there and done that is huge! Investing time in learning or listening to anyone with experience is a skill but asking the right questions is the key. You probably do research every day. When you decide what to eat or what shoes to buy,  you do research. Learning to track your research with writing is a powerful thing as well. You never know when that old note will help! Artists always have a curated folder of references, inspirations, tools, sketches and more. Everything is an inspiration for a future idea

 

Try Again

Practice again and again. Before you put out your next big thing, practice. Practicing is hard for me because I get so excited about a photo or blog or new video that I skip practice. I usually end up having to go back and slow down anyway. So embrace practicing, prototyping, testing, and modeling whenever you can. Even using paper and pen, your phone whatever. Create sketches, rough drafts, and scripts or outlines. Rarely does your work fully arrive there is always room to improve.

 

 

Feedback

Ask for feedback. Getting and giving feedback happens 24/7 in the design and art worlds. It’s critical to understand your impact on those around you. It’s important to learn how to take feedback and process it without changing everything to please everyone. Regularly seek to understand how you are perceived when you are leading a project or team. Seek to listen and then record and analyze your feedback to ensure that you are creating an impact the way you intend to.

 

 

Review

Go back again. Remember the relief of turning your project in just in time for the deadline at work? Well as an artist after a critique of your final project, we are encouraged to keep improving the final. So if you want to exercise that creative muscle go back to your work or project and look a third time after receiving feedback. Instead of striving to get “perfectly done” learn to live with the idea that it’s ok to improve. In some ways, you have to believe that the need to get better doesn’t mean you failed. It’s a natural part of learning and creating.

 

Hopefully, these are helpful tips but I am only one person so I would love to hear what has worked for you! Email me here or at bethany@bethanyjphotography.com. Also, commission a portrait with me to collaborate on a creative art piece! Booking is open for 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

4 Ways to Re-engage Your Creative Thinking

Celebrating Your Originality

 

 

Last Friday I launched the 1st episode of my podcast the creativity cure. We talked about how to celebrate your originality. I focused on how we should embrace our unique perspective in life and cultivate it to bring joy, creative problem-solving, and a sense of freedom. You can listen to my podcast here to get the full recap. Below I expand on the practical ways I re-engaged creativity in my life.

 

 

Ask people what they notice about you.

Ask people what they notice about you. If you haven’t done this exercise it’s a great way to get perspective. When I asked a trusted friend to give me feedback on what they noticed about me it was surprisingly refreshing because they mentioned things I wouldn’t have noticed. Feedback is the tool that businesses, apps, websites, designers, and artists use to ensure they are communicating clearly with the intended party. In our personal lives, we can use feedback to understand what we communicate to the outside world. You may not realize that you give great advice or have an eye for detail. Hearing someone mention this will help you recognize ways you are unique and talented.

 

Journal Your Joy

When you find something that sparks life in you write it down. I started doing this when I had so many ideas my brain was scattered. By tracking my thoughts I was able to narrow down some consistent patterns in what excites me. Creativity involves being unconventional and that means our creative expression can be unconventional. Even if it seems mundane to you if you enjoy it write it down and think about why. The more you clarify what it is you enjoy creating the better you become at finding ways to express this at home or at work.

 

 

Remember Your Childhood

Adulting is hard. It’s work and life can be tough. When we are kids we may have been freer to think about how big and exciting life could be. Revisiting what you enjoyed is a great exercise to access that part of yourself. I know there were activities I simply forgot I loved. Finding ways to bring back my love for lighting in photography and music and dance became a way to bring joy back to my current life even with all the busyness.

 

 

Finding Time to Play

Finally to reengage your creativity find a way to facilitate uninhibited exploration. That’s how I define play. I don’t want to make it narrow but our brains thrive when we give space to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box. Play comes in all shapes and sizes but I do think it’s important that it’s not a stressful thing. Play for me is making up websites just to see what I can do. It can be writing or cooking it could even be how you create your workout. Play is a necessity and when life is tough a moment of creativity can inspire hope that things can be better. Play is important because we engage with pushing what’s possible. When we can freely think through our problems looking for solutions instead of focusing on limitations we open the door to new solutions and possibilities. Our ability to play is connected to this.

 

Hopefully, these are helpful tips but I am only one person so I would love to hear what has worked for you! Email me here or at bethany@bethanyjphotography.com. Also, commission a portrait with me to collaborate on a creative art piece! Booking is open for 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

What My Photography Was Like 5 Years Ago

Starting A Business While In College

When you don’t drink coffee.

 

I don’t know what I was thinking but I re-started my side business while in college probably from fumes of pure excitement. Formally I started Bethany J. photography in high school when a family friend hired me for Christmas photos. If you want to see the work I did back then and a cringe bathroom selfie of me in high school click here. I wanted to grow my business but I wasn’t sure how to go about it.  Have you ever been scared to ask people for money before because that is exactly how it felt at first? I decided to offer free sessions wherever I could in order to build my portfolio which was full of fine artwork. I think I had some imposter syndrome and didn’t feel official enough to actually charge anyone for my work. What I didn’t anticipate was how hard it would be to create family photography while also trying to create more in-depth work in school. I think any creative has been there if they have ever done both meaningful art and fun client work.  I don’t have a formula on how to do it but I can share my experience so you can get to know me a bit more. I have a big rebrand announcement coming and wanted to do this blog post so you can “grow up” with me and understand where I have been and where I am going. Stay tuned for next week’s launch of the new brand!

 

Getting real-world experience

Check out some of the work I created with my first clients. While I had worked on more artistic fine art photography learning to communicate with people for family and professional portraits was a new skill that involved learning to direct people on how to pose, and working with various lighting situations. 

 

 

Developing My Voice

While starting to shoot clients I was also in school learning to develop my voice visually. College is where I learned how to be purposeful with the techniques I had been taught as well as how to tell a story. Here are a few projects I think show my thinking over time by exploring self-portraits, costumes, and dramatic lighting.

Fairy Knots

This project was about my natural hair. I cut my hair in high school and remember being so nervous to have short hair. I learned a lot about myself having to accept my hair as it was. 

Growth

One thing I can reflect on is that during this period of my life, the growth really showed in my technique. I was able to bring that back to my clients. Here are a few samples of the work that I did with some great people!

 

What I look forward to is bringing back some of my passion when it comes from the fine art side of my practice while continuing to use the vibrancy and warmth that I brought to my client portraits. I also look forward to taking the time to make portraits with even more detail and thought. I hope if you are working on your own skills or craft that you choose not to give up. Everything takes practice and time. It took years for me to get to where I am and I still have room left to grow. I like to always say enjoy the journey the destination will come. I would love to hear about what your work looked like 5 years ago! Find me on Instagram @bethanyjphotography or email me by clicking the contact button. Also, stay tuned for my podcast The Creative Cure, and more information about my rebrand launch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Dress Did Not Exist

The Fine Art Side of Photography

 

Let’s talk about the art side of photography. What makes your portrait “Fine Art?” I could give you a dictionary definition or dive into what makes art well- art. I think that it would be much more fun to show you what it means to me. I am going to share behind the scenes of creating the above portrait and how photography like painting, designing, or drawing is an art form. I am also going to share how you can create your own fine art photography.

 

 

Gathering Ideas

I had a vision in my mind of a vague idea for a portrait. It started with fans, gold lines, and playing with color combinations. I knew that the dress would be white but I didn’t know exactly how it would look. I am not Picasso with the pen but getting ideas on paper helps me to start thinking of possibilities. I looked at some of my favorite photographers for inspiration and continued playing with the idea in my head for a while. Art to me is about intention. It’s making choices to frame something or nothing in a particular way. When deciding on what you may want to photograph as fine art consider playing with sketches, color palettes, textures, and more. Collect these elements in one place so your brain can start imagining where your photo will go.

 

Creating The Canvas

The day came to shoot the portrait and I was nervous and excited. I am always nervous to do a good job but excited to make a new piece of work. When you think of a blank canvas you may think of a white plain piece of paper. For me, my canvas is an unedited photo. How I compose the subject, light, fabric, and exposure all create the base for a polished portrait. Having the basic sketch in mind helped me to walk with some confidence and guidance as we took photos. Photography is in part a time-based artform. I am composing a moment that will not exist exactly the same way ever again. I began to play with fabric and the train of a bridal gown letting my initial idea morph. As the picture became clearer in my mind I began to work with more excitement and my friend posing went along for the ride. It looked crazy but I saw the vision. Having a plan is important but considering the environment, you are in when you are photographing is just as important. There may be something special about that moment and as an artist, you can decide how you want to incorporate the uniqueness of the moment into your work. Street photographers capture unplanned uncanny moments of humanity. Landscape photographers capture the fleeting daylight, clouds, or weather. Photo Journalists capture history as it happens. As a fine art photographer, you tell the story and frame it for the audience leading them on a journey.

 

Finishing Touches 

After the session was done I uploaded my photos at home and looked through them. I looked at the expression, color, and reflections and began the polishing stages for the portrait. I considered making the gown a different color, creating a really full fluffy dress with insane volume but decided on adding just a touch more shape. I like to collaborate with the subject of the portrait so I spent a lot of time going back and forth with some questions with my friend in the photo. I listened to her thoughts and incorporated them into the final portrait so that we both agreed that it looked great! Getting feedback as you finish your art piece is incredibly helpful for navigating if the image is saying what you would like it to say. In my case, I wanted to play with shape and texture without looking bridal.  My friend’s collaboration helped me to make the finishing touches with the right emphasis and detail. Check out some of the processes as I transform the finishing touches. You can see me going back and forth on the pink but in the end, the contrast of the white won.

 

 

 

Art Is…

Art is intention, invention, creation, and experimentation. That is what I do. I construct and build and at the end of it, all my hope is that you see an amazing person presented beautifully. You may never know all of the behind-the-scenes steps and that is ok. Part of the joy is in the process. I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look! If you want to collaborate on an art piece or commission please email bethany@bethanyjphotography.com or click here.

Join the conversation about how 6 hours of drawing class taught me a lot on the latest episode of The Creativity Cure Podcast here.

 

What is your creative process? DM me on social media or email bethany@bethanyjphotography.

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