I apologize for my “wordiness”……I never did very well in English or grammar!! lol
We as photographers bring with us a vision that has developed over the course of our lives and do I dare say….is still developing today. Our vision is chiseled from our experiences, our relationships and our triumphs/failures. It all determines how we see the world…..our vision.
Photographer A and Photographer B’s vision / interpretation of the VERY same thing will be very DIFFERENT. You can place two photographers in the same lighting, give them the same camera and lens and have in front of them the very same subject and you will see the world two different ways….or in our case 3 different ways!
Last week, I got together with my photographer friends and we started to chat. Why do your clients hire YOU? I wrote a blog on this before, but in a nut shell, I’d like to think, they hire you based on the vision you bring to the table, your personality, your interpretation. Do they like your interpretation of the world…of them? Anyone can take a photo of how you looked on your wedding day or during your senior year, but can that same person create an image that will help you remember how you FELT on your wedding day, can they portray the EMOTION that you were feeling on that day? Ultimately, you are hiring us as photographers to help tell YOUR story….so is the photographer you choose bringing your vision to life……this my friends will depend on their style-which includes editing techniques, composition, lighting, how they interact with you, their personality and everything in between. Visit several photographer’s websites and you’ll notice a vast difference in the above.
(Here are all three dorks: photo courtesy of Joelle Watt)
At our get together we each took turns photographing each other….mostly just for fun! (You can’t get a room full of photographers and NOT expect them to bust out their cameras–it’s unnatural)…. but my point is…….We were each shooting with our 50mm lenses and we each were in the SAME lighting but each of our images look so different. Is there one better than the other………in my opinion…NO! But to a client….you may gravitate to one more than the other-because guess what-not everyone likes the same thing! I bring a completely different vision to the table than other other two (and vice versa). The other two ladies are incredibly talented but they see the world differently which in turn represents it’s self in their images!
Someone asked me once, what is one of the biggest mistakes you ever made thus far (because trust me I’ll make a million more) in your photography career? My answer….comparing myself to other photographers. I might admire their work but I will never be able to shoot like them no matter what fancy lenses or cameras I use, I haven’t gone thru or experience what they have. My business didn’t start to take off until I started to shoot from my heart…..until I developed my OWN vision. So all you new photographers of the world, here is my little tid-bit of advice: don’t try to mimic photographers you admire, instead allow them to inspire you but shoot from YOUR heart-trust me it won’t look anything like theirs…instead *gasp* it will be your own!! You might be shockingly surprised how GREAT it can be! It’s incredibly exhausting when someone hires you to try to provide them with a vision that is not your own…..wouldn’t it feel so much better and be less stressful to have them hire you for YOUR vision………………which is beautiful!!
I just thought I’d share some “behind the scene” photos…courtesy of Joelle and Courtney! The top image is their photo of “behind the scenes” and the bottom photo is the shot I ended up with. Don’t ask what the heck we were doing in these photos…..we are dorks!!
(top image Joelle Watt, bottom image jen mcken)
(top image Courtney Katherine, bottom image jen mcken)
I’ll leave you with a FUN example. I LOOVE “the brown bubbley” ( it’s my guilty pleasure). I’m from South Western PA, around here, we say “POP” but my best friend from college is from Michigan, over yonder, they say “Soda”. My point? Depending on where you grew up, what part of the country you came from, your experiences with the “brown bubbly” will determine which one you use. I asked this question on my Facebook Fan Page and just to show you, here’s what a handful of them had to say.
JEN……JUST WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOME DRIED ZUCCHINI?? I STILL HAVE SOME LEFT AT MY HOUSE! 🙂
I wanna hang out 🙁
@ Amanda…..I KNOW!!!!! Let’s set a date! It won’t happen unless we have a date!!!