Gear & Tech Reviews

A Personal Perspective on Recently Losing My Job Due to Covid-19
At 43 and after nine years of loyal employment, a little over a week ago, I was let go from my day job as a legal administrative assistant/paralegal due to “cutbacks” from the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m actually not writing to gripe about my former job or even about losing that job, but to cast a light on trying to find a silver lining for my current unemployment situation and hoping to help others in similar unfortunate circumstances find a silver lining as well. To do this, I have to give you a little bit of my “backstory”. Perseverance in the face of dramatic change. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies in 1999 from UCF and most of the electives I took throughout college were legal-oriented. I’ve worked in the legal field since 1997, even though I veered off track and went into the information technology field for seven years working as a web developer for a credit union, but during that time, I also maintained working as a part-time legal billing assistant on the side. From the age of six, I started drawing and I don’t mean “stick” drawings. I was already sketching things as I saw them with detail. I began painting at the age of 12 and writing poetry around the same time. The interest of writing poetry flowed into writing short stories and then into writing song lyrics. Growing up, I spent summers at my grandparents house drawing random objects and scenes on big pads of paper. In middle school, I took a few art classes, just because I wanted to go to a class where I could do something I liked, not because I felt like I could learn something – even though I did enjoy my teacher’s critiques. I still remember her name. 🙂 My drawing of my middle school was published on the annual catalog handout when I was in 7th grade. In 2001, just three months after 9/11, I took off on my first trip to Europe and picked up a camera for the first time. From then on, my travel photography collection grew – as did my travel photography fans. I began showing my work, then selling my work – very successfully – before I ever learned anything about photo retouching. My travel photography (now retouched…) I think it wasn’t until a decade post-Bachelor’s degree, that I went back to school – to Eckerd College – and joined the Visual Arts program because I finally became genuinely interested in learning technical art skills such as things like: perspective, depth, texture, etc. I was pretty close to finishing that degree in Visual Arts but I was laid off from a legal job too early before a planned move to New York City so I ended up moving up north earlier than expected. College artwork from Eckerd College. Once I hit the Big Apple, I obtained this position as a legal administrative assistant (in which I later took on a wide variety of paralegal duties), however, my creative juices blew up. I started a photography workshop group called NYC Digital Photography Workshops, which today is a 5,500 member group, and offers over 120 hands-on workshop topics on photography. In 2013, I began photographing headshots for actors and portfolio photos for models. I officially opened my own photography business as Dawn M. Wayand Photography in 2015, adding portrait photography services to the mix as well. I was also painting regularly in my spare time. In late-2015 I began writing professionally for The Adorama Learning Center and to date have written 75 feature photography articles and gear and tech reviews for their website. In 2017, I also started writing feature photography articles for B&H Photo’s website Explora. Finally, in late-2018 I contributed a few articles to Digital Photography School’s website in which my first article, Center Field – 9 Acceptable Ways for Breaking the Rule of Thirds in Photography, received over 9K likes in the first few days after publication. Shooting a model portfolio on location down the street from my old home studio in the SE Bronx. In 2019, I had put my camera down for a year after my apartment/home studio burned down in December of 2018 and instead, became even more serious about painting. I created over 50 paintings throughout 2019. Did I mention I was also still working full time in the legal field? Just a small sampling of some of my recent paintings. Circle back to 2020. As you can probably tell, I have been struggling for several decades with balancing work in the legal field and following my passions as a creative. I’m trying to look at my recent departure from my former job because of cutbacks due to “Covid-19” as a possible blessing in disguise. Was it the push I needed to jump out of the legal field and into doing what I love full time instead? I hope. Since I was let go, I have been taking inventory of what I need to sustain a living as a creative and have started taking steps to build up what I need to get there. Since all of this time I’ve been working full time in the legal field, it’s been difficult to find enough time to dedicate to getting everything done that needs to get done to make things happen to move toward that goal. Now that I temporarily have more time on my hands, I can pursue those tasks and hopefully, move toward doing what I love for a living – successfully: writing, photography (including teaching again through my group) and art. That’s my silver lining. I hope others who have been let go in the face of these horrible circumstances take a moment to analyze their situation, dreams and desires and if they are not already doing what they love for a living, contemplate possibly taking a leap of faith and pursuing doing what …
5 Ways to Help Stimulate Ideas During a Creative Block
Many creatives sometimes face a lull in their production of new works or the continuation of an existing work due to a “creative block”. They may often find it difficult to conjure up an idea to work on a new piece or to even finish a piece they’ve already begun. It can feel like the end of the world (or at the very least, your career) when this occurs, but alas, there is hope! Below are five tips that have worked for me in the past – as a writer, an artist and a photographer – which I hope will help you to overcome a creative block and get you back on track to create more new and extraordinary works. 1. Start a creativity journal. Keeping a small notebook with you at all times can come in handy for jotting down that fleeting idea that you might have during the day (or night) that you may forget after 10 minutes otherwise. A creativity journal can also serve as a place to create sketches of things like wardrobe ideas you would like to shoot, recording lists of names, places or words and descriptions of things to use in your prose and much more. A creativity journal can serve as a record of your thoughts and ideas – something you can refer back to during those times when you might have a creative block. 2. Look to other media for inspiration. Sometimes looking through your favorite magazines, reading a good book or taking in other works of art at a museum can be enough inspiration to spark the creative flow in someone going through a creative block. Other forms of art such as watching a film or listening to music can also be just as inspiring and motivating to cause a boost in your creative juices. 3. Experiment with new media. Try drawing or painting one of your photographs. I very often will take my charcoal pencils out and draw one of my photographs. You can also try to sketch out a scene from your story you are crafting, or describe in words what you want to photograph. Flirting with other art mediums can not only assist in getting the creative juices flowing again, but you may find you like practicing in a new type of art! 4. Assign yourself a project. There are numerous books as well as websites and articles on the internet that are devoted to daily, weekly and monthly art and photography project ideas for artists and photographers to aid individuals in getting their creative juices flowing again. Writers can also set goals for projects – one popular organization that aids writers is NaNoWriMo which “helps you track your progress, set milestones, connect with other writers in a vast community, and participate in events that are designed to make sure you finish your novel”. Some examples of projects for photographers might be: Shooting a monochromatic theme for an entire day. This helps you to become more aware of your surroundings by looking for things that are one specific color. Taking a photo walk and shooting with only one prime lens (a 50mm is a good example). This also helps you learn to zoom with your feet and experiment with different angles to capture a subject. Shooting one self-portrait a day. Each self-portrait has to be different, which forces you to dig into the deep crevices of your mind to come up with a new way to shoot a portrait of yourself every day for a week, month or even a year. 5. Participate in a contest. Sometimes a contest can be all it takes to get your head back in the creative game, especially when there is some type of incentive involved. Many contests and competitions are based on a theme, such as “best travel destination” photo or a “tell us your best travel story” writing contest. Since the actual “what” is already decided for you, it’s only up to you to determine how to create it. Participating in a competition can not only get you practicing your craft again, but it may also yield you some type of reward! Creative blocks are not the end of the world. They are just a small bump in the road to becoming a better, more creative individual. Creative blocks can provide you with opportunities to look at other works and try new techniques granting you continued education, practice and production. Have patience. Don’t look at a creative block as an obstacle, but as part of the creative journey.
5 Tips for Taking Care of Your Mental Health While Hibernating During the Novel Coronavirus
You’re not alone. Not this time. With the exception of our frontline heroes who are supplying medical care; law enforcement, public safety and EMTs; food and agriculture; utilities; communications and information technology; transportation and logistics; critical manufacturing; public works; hazardous materials and chemical workers; government operations, military and national security employees; among others; most of the world is self-quarantining at home, many of us – alone. Other than the masked trip to the supermarket, if that, most of us have been stuck inside for weeks now, if not longer. Cabin fever may be starting to set in. If you’re hibernating alone, it may be hitting you harder than others – that need for in-person human interaction and physical touch. Spending an exorbitant amount of time alone now compounded with the fear of the Novel Coronavirus pandemic can be enough to set off anxiety and depression in someone who may have never previously experienced these mental issues. I’ve put together – and would like to share with you – a short list of my five tips for taking care of your mental health during this hibernation period whether you are alone or with someone else; and whether you currently feel fine or if you are starting to experience anxiety or depression. Take care of yourself first. It’s important to make sure you’re consuming healthy options for food, trying to get in 30 minutes of some sort of exercise daily whether it’s working out to a streamed fitness workout online at home or taking an early morning walk (with all available safety precautions, of course!) and getting enough sleep at night. When you let these things fall to the wayside, not only will your physical health become more vulnerable to illness, but your mental health will suffer as well. If you currently suffer from any type of mental illness, you probably already check in regularly with a psychologist or psychiatrist, however, with a majority of the world currently forced to stay at home, those who hadn’t suffered any sort of mental illness in the past may begin presenting symptoms of anxiety and/or depression now. Many licensed mental health specialists are currently set up to participate in video appointments via Skype, Facetime or other web and phone applications. In taking care of yourself first, this also includes taking care of your mind too. Don’t be afraid to seek out guidance and support from a licensed mental health practitioner when you need to. “Dirty on the outside is dirty on the inside.” Or so the saying goes. This period of isolation at home is an excellent forced opportunity to not just clean your home but to get to those lingering organizational tasks that you’ve been putting off for ages such as scanning, backing up and shredding old hard copy documents; culling through and disposing of or donating unused items in your garage that have been accumulating over the years and/or reorganizing or rearranging rooms in your home to make better space or harmony, etc. Sometimes additional clutter in our lives can cause our brains to function at a less optimal level than if things were better organized for easier retrieval and if our surroundings are minimized to allow less intake on a daily basis. Explore creative outlets. A creative outlet can be an excellent source for releasing stress and anxiety. So you might be thinking, “what if I don’t have a creative bone in my body, I’m all left-brained!” Things like culinary art (cooking), musical arts (singing, playing an instrument, dancing), visual arts (photography, drawing, painting, collaging, etc.), textile arts (sewing, crocheting and knitting, etc.) and more – are not just natural talents and can actually be learned. Many stores can deliver what you need as far as materials and there are many classes online via YouTube as well as specialty schools and workshop groups. You may find or learn a talent you never knew existed within you and continue with it after we are released back into the world again. Make plans for the future. A great way to try staying positive during a time when things begin feeling less than so, is to sit down and make future plans. Work on a budget for retirement or a savings budget for something you really want to purchase or a trip you’d like to take (once this pandemic disappears and allows us to travel again!) Work on a travel bucket list: make a list of all of the places you would like to travel to at some point in your life. Make a bucket list of experiences you would like to have in your life. Then really think about how to make it happen and write it down. Writing things out on paper or typing these things out on your computer gives you documentation to reflect back on which is always better than trying to reflect on memory alone. Keep in mind that this situation is only temporary. Research has commenced. Companies are racing to find solutions to combat this global health crisis. Many things have changed in the way we are doing things to survive. They will continue to do so. We adapt, because that’s part of our natural survival instinct. If the past has been any indicator, this will not last forever. Keep the hope. Stay strong. Stay safe.

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