Today I was reflecting on how my photography has evolved since I started taking it serious in 2005. One of my earliest challenges and one of the most rewarding projects was when I helped a friend make the 2009 San Antonio Bikes and Babes Against Child Abuse. It was a project to help raise funds for the Bikers Against Child Abuse (B.A.C.A.) San Antonio Chapter. If you never heard of B.A.C.A., it exists with the intent to create a safer environment for abused children. You can read more about their mission here.

I had never made a calendar up to that point so it challenged me to learn how, fast. I was brought on after things with the previous photographer fell through. There was a deadline to meet to get these calendars out before the end of the year. Everyone involved in this project donated their time and energy as all the profits were going to go to the San Antonio B.A.C.A. Chapter. Due to time constraints we had to use locations more than once. Here are the front and back covers of the calendar. All images for the calendar were taken by me.

It is interesting to see what you can accomplish when you challenge yourself. Before this project I didn't think I could do half of the things I was able to accomplish. My post processing skills definitely increased. The image that had the most post processing in it was the model with the biker doing a stoppie next to her. In the final image he looks a lot closer to her than he actually was. There were a lot of other distractions that had to be removed. Here are the before and after images of that shot. At the time I felt very accomplished as I was an amature photographer with little post-processing knowledge. We raised a good amount of money for a good cause, all while learning more about our tradecraft and ourselves. Ah, the good times!