Yesterday was International Women’s Day and social media exploded with people praising all of the hardworking and successful women in their lives. Personally, as someone that goes to a predominantly female school, I see these types of women everyday. They’re driven, organized, and they usually accomplish more than I do on any given day. Graduate school is rough, and I think it takes a special type of person to get through it.
As I finish up my midterm week, I’ve thought about what makes people successful (I’ve written before about motivation, work ethic, etc). But at the end of the day, I think it’s important to reflect on where you’ve been and how much you’ve improved. Just yesterday, I spoke with classmates about how we survived our fall semester. It was a difficult and emotional time, but we did it. And here we are.
I also thought about where I’ve been photography-wise. On my Instagram alone, I can scroll back and see the transition from my DSLR, to my phone photos. I can even see my editing style devolve too – almost painfully so. So I took some time and redid one of my favorite photos so it looks a little less
cliché. If you want to see my post about how I took the original photo, check it out here.
Here’s everything: original picture, black and white edit in my portfolio, 2017 edit with text, and the new and improved 2019 edition. I found the old text to be a bit bold and distracting, so I did the exact opposite and made it larger and darker. I also masked it behind the subject and windows, so it looks more natural.
Oh how far I’ve come.
Andy Chen Photography 