Personal Work | Pieces of Detroit (Part II)
This is the second part of an urban exploration photoshoot that I went on in Detroit late last year. I finally had some down time to finish working on them. You can find the first part here.
Hello 2014!
Last year flew, and I can’t believe it’s already almost mid-January. I also just realized it’s been almost a month since I last posted in my blog–oops! I guess with this whole polar vortex going on, it’s kind of a blessing in disguise— an excuse to not leave the house and catch up on the million things that I need to do!
I have to say, 2013 really was an amazing year. Sometimes, when you’re so focused on completing tasks from the daily grind, you lose track of the big picture, and it’s only when you reflect back, do you realize that hey, I guess I did do kind of a lot last year. So here’s a quick summary of the Top 5 things I did in year 2-0-1-3!
$550 {raised for the Humane Society of Huron Valley. I organized my first and very successful Doggy Portraits for a Cause fundraiser at their Walk N’ Wag fundraising event.}
63 {# of animals for adoption that I photographed for various rescues including: Home Fur-Ever Rescue, Tiny Lions Cat Rescue, Michigan Orphan Kitten Rescue, and Wishbone Pet Rescue Alliance/Allegan Shelter}
22 {pet photoshoots}
3 {Number of displays showcasing my work at local coffee shops in the Ann Arbor and Dexter area (Sweetwaters Downtown, Moonwinks Cafe, and Joe and Rosie’s Coffe and Tea)}
#1 { Voted Detroit’s Best Pet Photographer! :) }
2013 was great, but I know that 2014 will be even better! I have so many ideas and projects that I want to do, and I can’t wait to share them with you! Stay tuned, and of course, before I forget, a HUGE thank you to all my clients, fans, friends, and family who have supported me every step on this journey. Without you, I would be nothing. Thank you for letting me do what I LOVE the most–photographing Huggable, LOVE-able, and Kissable dogs and cats and their humans! Happy new year!!!!
Love,
Kat
Personal Work | Pieces of Detroit (Part I)
A couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to do something that I have always wanted to do, but for obvious reasons, could not have done by myself. And that something was to go on an urban exploration/photoshoot of Detroit.
To those that don’t live in the Detroit area, the city seems like a wasteland–headlines of bankruptcy and abandoned buildings–representing everything that’s wrong with America. To those that are local and active in the scene, there is an under current of positive energy and change happening. Abandoned buildings are quickly being bought up and torn down, and while it may be 5 to 10 years (or longer) for dramatic change to happen, it will happen. So I wanted to do some photographing before that happened ;)
For this photoshoot, our guide had us sign a liability waiver (if injury, death, etc happens), and I remember hesitating for the teeniest second before signing. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I’m one of those people that have an overactive imagination and can think of 239483 worse case scenarios before they even happen. But heck, I woke up at 5:45am to do this, and I AM NOT a morning person–so there def was no turning back now.
I have to be honest and say, I didn’t find this subject matter super inspiring, as it is way too depressing for my liking (I love photographing cute, happy pets, haha). Overall though, I’m glad I did it. Would I do it again? Maybe… it is kind of cool to see what once was and imagine how it must have been.
Btw, I used a regular full frame DSLR camera to take these images. They’re just cropped in square format because I am kind of obsessed with that form right now, thanks to instagram (and the medium format camera)… I also did not move any of the items; they are all taken as how I found them.
