"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things but their inward significance"
- Aristotle
A week-ish ago I debuted the improved website and new session offerings and was thrilled to find them well received by my friends and family. Now I want to take the time to explain a little more about why I made the changes, and I couldn't think of anyone better to "illustrate" than my adorable almost 1 year old godson.
Photography for me has always been about preserving the moment and not entirely about the actual image itself. While I strive to create an image that is amazing, I will forgo "perfect" photographic principles when I need to in order to make sure the meaning in the moment is captured. Thats why I have never been a big fan of doing studio photography. Now don't get me wrong, I think it is a beautiful art. Many studio photographers work amazingly hard to handcraft amazing portraits that will leave you in awe. And really its out of respect for that art form that I don't pursue doing it myself. Because yes I could buy a few of the props, the posers, the backdrops, and set up a little studio at clients homes or in mine and attempt similar shots but mine wouldn't come anywhere close. Why? Because my heart isn't in it and I am not willing to make the investment in the supplies and training needed to really take my studio photography to an art. Posing, planning, and editing for those sessions is a LOT of work and its not work that I personally feel inspired by.
When I first started in photography 3 years ago I started just for fun. Mike & I had purchased a DSLR after our wedding and with a baby on the way I wanted to be able to take really awesome photos of her growing up. As the idea to venture into professional photography started to formulate I really had no idea what kind of photography I wanted to do and so I tried it all. I still believe that was the right decision when I was first exploring. However, now that I have had a chance to try it all, I figured out what I really love to do and thats lifestyle photography. And because I really love it my lifestyle sessions are often my best work.
So with that revelation in mind, I followed the sage advice I got from Noa Azoulay of Feather Love Photography, and set out to present myself to the public with only the work I really loved. Instead of trying to showa range of photography dappling, I picked photos that showed work I am truly proud of and loved making. In doing so I won't attract every client and I won't book every gig and I am totally ok with that. I want to work with people who love what I love to do. I want to go out on a job anticipating great synergy with my clients instead of worrying if I have oversold on my ability to do "everything". That may mean that previous clients and even close friends choose not to book with me, and even that is ok. Photography, like any art form, is subjective and personal. Its more important to me that a prospective client, especially those who happen to also be my friends, end up with photos that they absolutely love and that capture their personality perfectly. I may be the right photographer to do that, and I may not be. So from here on out I am a lifestyle photography, only. From that perspective and vision I am happy to approach any type of session, but from now on I will also be leaving the studio work to do those who do it best.
In addition to changing my portfolio I also needed to set my sessions up for success by changing what I was offering. I love showing up to a session and just being an observer & documenter of your family. I love seeing & capturing the unique characteristics of your relationships. I love preserving moments special to your heart, whether they are big milestones or just that sweet sassy little look your two year old gives you. So I am most excited to be introducing "at home sessions" to my offerings. I chose to do this as I was going through my portfolio and realized most of my favorite images came from photos I took at mine and my friends home. They came from moments where we weren't worried about keeping our photography outfits clean or coaxing our little ones to sit still and smile. Those awesome photos came from moments when my clients forgot I was even there and just enjoyed each other. There is something about being at home that just helps everyone relax and "act natural". These sessions are opportunities to have beautiful photos of moments you would normal grab and iphone for and take a blurry shot with a weird filter. I want to recreate moments where your kids just make you smile and your spouse or significant other gives you that warm fuzzy that makes you realize "this is the life".
SO to show you just what I mean I enlisted the help of my adorable godson for my first "official" at home session. In this session we set out to accomplish two things. First to capture those adorable moments of a 1 year old just being a 1 year old amongst his favorite things, at home, where he is often the happiest and most cooperative. Second we wanted to document the big milestone of G turning the big 1year . So as a reward for all that reading you just did here is an sweet cake covered little boy and his beautiful momma!
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