Sanity, Sick Days, and Working from Home

Those of you who work from home know that while there are great benefits to the freedom of being your own boss and working from home, it also takes a lot of discipline and motivation. There have been numerous articles written on the art of being productive and maintaining sanity while working from home. I would say that I adhere to most of it: I attempt to rise at the same time each day, actually get dressed instead of working in sweatpants, create a schedule of tasks, allow for an adjustment period in the morning in lieu of a commute by having coffee and catching up on news and weather before starting work, and I do my best to avoid being distracted by household tasks. It is also imperative to take breaks and occasionally get out of the house, or apartment, as in my case. Overall I've gotten used to the career style of working as a freelance artist, but days like today bring a new conundrum: How do sick days work in this situation? I was beginning to feel under the weather over the weekend and by the time I went to bed last night my head felt like a ball full of carbonated water. This morning it was only worse, my voice almost totally gone. On one hand, I sounded worse than I actually felt, but on the other I did not feel well at all. I probably would have benefitted most from rest, but that's the other tricky thing about working from home, sometimes it's difficult not to work! I've been known to get pulled into an editing or retouching vortex and not realize that it is 2 a.m. despite my efforts to maintain realistic, regular business hours. Since I did not have a shoot scheduled my tactic was to ease into the day with a cup of Throat Coat, which is the photo today, and watch the rain from my window seat. I can't say that today was terribly productive, but I didn't have to miss out completely on productivity. I got more accomplished than I had anticipated and I really think it helped knowing that if I felt I needed to stop and nap, I could have. Now I'm looking forward to feeling better, I have a very busy April shaping up!

Josephine Rose

I had a wonderful shoot on Saturday with this amazing redhead, Josie. I sometimes equate photographing kids with wildlife photography: a lot of hanging back and patiently waiting for things to unfold, all the while ready to capture fleeting moments of magic without influencing them. On commercial shoots there are frequently what we call "baby wranglers" who attempt to contain and direct the children on a shoot. Under some circumstances it can be helpful and maybe even necessary, but I find that I get much more purity in the images by not trying to contain a child during a shoot. By simply spending time with them I am able to capture the wonder that can only be found in a moment when it is inherent, not directed. Josie is a sweet and happy girl so it was a very fun shoot on a perfect Spring day in Brooklyn. Josie's mom, none other than Shannon Lorraine, put her in one stylish outfit after another. Shannon is the founder of foundfuture.com, bringing you the best kept secrets in fashion and is also focused on sustainable practices, which by now many of you know I am an advocate of. Before long we may see Josie as the face of Foundfuture!

Marie

Become Your Dream

I don't generally use the camera on my phone for much, but the other night it came in handy to document a very "New York" moment. Sometimes the over stimulation of living here can be exhausting and at other times totally exhilarating. Recently it has been a bit exhausting so it was a beautiful and much needed reminder of how inspiring this city is. This is a pile of garbage that included a stove on which someone had written "BECOME YOUR DREAM". It's a nice sentiment on it's own and came at the right time for me, but the best part is that I have seen this before around the city- someone is tagging refuse with "BECOME YOUR DREAM", I've seen it written on another piece of discarded furniture! Now I'm wondering if there is just someone who is a bit fairy-like and enjoys spreading a positive message, or if it is the beginning of some larger propaganda, a la Shepard Fairey's Obey campaign. We shall see!