I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to explain why I started this particular blog and why it is private, but I find that I'm too wordy and say things that aren't necessary instead of getting right to the point. It's annoying. Keep it simple, Annie. Keep it simple.
Up until about a year ago I thought I was a portrait photographer. It turns out I'm not. In fact, with the exception of the few times I get to photograph friends and family who don't pay me to do it, I hate it. It's a stressful job and one that I'm not particularly good at. I'm not saying that I don't think my portraits are any good, but my brain is not wired to organize a group of living, breathing human beings in a pleasing manner. And let's face it, that's what they pay the big bucks for. And I hate having to drudge through hundreds of photos and edit. It's a tedious job, especially when you're not excited about what you're looking at. Also, there are a gazillion portrait photographers out there. So, yeah.
This revelation has taken some time to solidify in my heart and in my brain. Part of me was sad about it. When I first started I thought it would be my bread and butter, but even then I didn't enjoy it. I'd come home from shoots (except for a few) and Husband would ask me how it went and I would grimace. I rarely felt good about what I had come away with.
So the point is this: I am putting my portrait hat in long term storage. I may pull it out sometime in the distant future, but for now it's packed away.
This blog is for me to figure out what kind of photographer I really am. I just need a quiet place with a few trusted friends to explore what makes my boat float. I want to be braver. I want to make an effort to take my camera out as much as I can, to stop and actually take a picture instead of just think, "Ooh, that would be cool." It's time to put some effort into this thing.
While I can't commit to a photo every day, I'm going to shoot for at least twice a week. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up momentum and the photos will come more frequently. I know the only way to get better is to shoot everyday. I've been trying to carry my camera with me whenever I leave the house, but I'm worried it's going to get banged up in my bag and I'll end up with another dead camera. Someone really needs to come up with a functional purse/camera bag that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars. I'm just saying.
I also have this little goal of opening an Etsy shop at some point during this year and maybe start selling some of these. We'll see.
Thanks all of you for being supportive and excited about my photography. It helps me to keep going and think that maybe I'm not kidding myself. And you better not be lying to me because if I find out one day that I am like those fools on So You Think You Can Dance or American Idol who believed their friends and family when they told them they were talented when they obviously were not, I will hunt you down. Each and everyone of you. Kidding.
5 comments:
Well, I loved it when you took my portraits and thought they were my best pictures ever. (Even better than my wedding photos.) So, I hope that the hat doesn't stay in your closet FOREVER. But I hope you find something you love. And seriously, I think eventually you could open an Etsy shop, because I actually want the Fly South picture. I want to frame it and put it on my wall. I love it that much. So, keep working at it and good luck! Oh, and didn't Nicole have some of her photos listed on some website to be used as stock photos? Or am I dreaming? Maybe you could do that to make some bucks too.
Annie, your's definitely fall under the category of love. It was fun photographing you, it was fun editing them, it was fun to hear how much you loved them. I think the trick, really, is that I can't get paid for them. I have loved every session that I didn't get paid for. So, if you are ever in need, please call me!
I believe Nicole did do some stock stuff. I have also thought about that, but Etsy appeals to me more.
I want the Fly South photo, too- in size huge, please.
I too loved our family photos as done by you, but I can understand why you would want to move away from it. (And yes, it seems everyone's a portrait photog these days. Or a cake lady.) In all honesty, I think it takes more skill and talent to make beautiful photos with things and not people. Things don't understand "tilt your head" and "move into the light", and they don't care if you get a good shot. And you, my dear, make astonishingly beautiful photos with things.
I guess I know one of the first photos I'll be putting in my Etsy shop!
And I don't know. Having done the portrait thing, I think that's so much harder. Dealing with children who want nothing to do with looking at the camera or smiling and people who are uncomfortable and awkward and then finding good locations and lighting and figuring out flattering and interesting groupings and trying to keep it all new and not repetitive.... it's a tough gig and takes a certain type of person, which person I am not. At least not yet, anyway.
But thank you for the kind words. :) Warms my heart.
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