Graduation

This post isn't about hair-cutting techniques... It's to announce that I had my official "graduation ceremony" at the Hogwarts School of Hair Wizards on Tuesday of this week. I won't get into what the graduation ceremony consisted of, or how my peers and I perceived it, as this is a public forum and I should best keep negative opinions to myself... However, I am happy that this phase of my life is soon coming to a close and I can get started on the rest of my career. I know there are some aspects of cosmetology school I'll miss, but I'm really looking forward to thinking outside of a set of given parameters, if that makes any sense. My last day of school is scheduled to be December 3rd.

Anyway... my graduating class got majorly short-shafted on class-time and final projects we were promised (oh, look, I guess some of that negativity managed to creep in after all...).  The final project was supposed to consist of bringing a model in to the school, and styling them (including cut/color, style, makeup and wardrobe), then having a professional photographer take pictures of the final result for use in our portfolios. I'd already planned what my theme was going to be, picked out inspiration photos and wardrobe, and was merely waiting for the assignment date to be given so I could book a model. Alas, the project was called off, so I made a decision last night to take it into my own hands. I'm putting the specific idea I had for that project on hold for now, as it was rather ambitious, and I really need a salon environment and a professional photo setup to do it justice, but there's no reason I can't plan my own "final projects".

(one of my original inspiration photos... I'll come back to this one day!)

So, I put out a public service announcement on Facebook asking my friends if anyone wanted some funky hair for free.  My plan is now to do one "final project" per week until I'm employed again full-time. This is still quite ambitious for me, but I feel like it's something I can commit to, and it will keep me busy working on hair.  Plus it will be really useful for my portfolio. I intend to gather up some willing victims, do either cut, color or both, style them, do makeup, and then take pictures using my own digital camera. I took a portrait photography course at NYU a couple of years ago, so I think I'm up to the challenge. (Yet another skill I get to practice! Huzzah.)

I'm hoping my first project will take place sometime during Thanksgiving weekend. I have a model at the ready, and some photos for inspiration...

 (a new inspiration photo... let's see how this goes!)

I'm super psyched to see how this idea will pan out! Stay tuned...