"They" say we should let go of the past and live in the present, right? But doesn't looking in the past sometimes give us better perspective on the present? Or maybe help us to reach harder for the future?
I've been working on making my business "fresh" again and I logged into MySpace (remember that?! lol) to look for some pictures of my kids I knew I had posted there. That's when I came across the very first senior photo I had ever taken. It was my first paying photography job. It was my niece, Heather, who was graduating from Bloom Carroll High School in 2008 and her mom and step-dad (my brother-in-law) asked me if I could take them. I don't even remember what I charged for them but looking back now it was surely WAY too much! I remember I was using a Kodak Easyshare point-and-shoot camera (GASP!) with the on-camera flash. We did get some decent shots that day but we also got, well... not so decent shots. With the very little that I knew about photography and lighting and posing... *whispers* and selective coloring.. well... Heather, I feel like I owe you an apology! lol! I'm so proud of where I am now. Everything I've learned (no schooling, no classes, just me and my computer and my camera. Lots of trial and error, lots of reading books and watching videos!) has brought me to have a very successful business up to this point and it is growing more and more every year! So, without further ado, here is Heather's senior photo compared to one of my seniors from this year's senior photos. SHM. Is it possible to feel ashamed and proud at the same time? LOL!
I've been working on making my business "fresh" again and I logged into MySpace (remember that?! lol) to look for some pictures of my kids I knew I had posted there. That's when I came across the very first senior photo I had ever taken. It was my first paying photography job. It was my niece, Heather, who was graduating from Bloom Carroll High School in 2008 and her mom and step-dad (my brother-in-law) asked me if I could take them. I don't even remember what I charged for them but looking back now it was surely WAY too much! I remember I was using a Kodak Easyshare point-and-shoot camera (GASP!) with the on-camera flash. We did get some decent shots that day but we also got, well... not so decent shots. With the very little that I knew about photography and lighting and posing... *whispers* and selective coloring.. well... Heather, I feel like I owe you an apology! lol! I'm so proud of where I am now. Everything I've learned (no schooling, no classes, just me and my computer and my camera. Lots of trial and error, lots of reading books and watching videos!) has brought me to have a very successful business up to this point and it is growing more and more every year! So, without further ado, here is Heather's senior photo compared to one of my seniors from this year's senior photos. SHM. Is it possible to feel ashamed and proud at the same time? LOL!
After I put these two images side by side in Photoshop I wondered what some other "first" photos would look like compared to my recent work. Here is my first baby session versus my most recent baby session. This time my apologies go to the first image recipient, my dear friend, Parrie, and the adorable Peighton. Is the bottom picture of Baby Brady photographically perfect? Absolutely not. But there are so many improvements and growth is what is so important to me right now. It's what 2015 is all about for me. And look how much I've grown already!
Now, on to weddings. I haven't done a lot of weddings but I've done a few, mostly for friends, like my old friend, Mellany. This was my first paid wedding. Pretty standard photo at the altar with the bridal party.. we didn't go anywhere special to take bridal photos (which I always regret). The lighting was horrible because we were in a dark church and I was still using my trusty ol' Kodak Easyshare! *hands head in shame* ..and the "watermark". OY! The more recent image is from the wedding I shot in October with my new friends, Jaclyn and Chris. They ordered a 16x20 print of this image and I can't wait for them to have it hanging in their home. I will be so proud for them to tell their friends and family that I shot this image!
Last but not least comes my favorite kind of session. Families. Especially since I've discovered "at home" sessions.. I feel like family photos are just real life in pictures. Or at least that's what I want to portray in the photos I take from now on. Relationships. Not just between couples but between parents and kids and between the kids themselves. The "then" image is my brother and sister in law's family (here's Heather again! :). These are their 4 kids, who are feet apart from each other, kind of exhibiting their own attitudes but there is no connection between them. Poor Bryan, in the back, is out of focus, little Cody in the front, you can't even tell she has eyes. The "now" image.. this is from this past weekend with a family who invited me into their home to take family photos as they celebrated their 5 year wedding anniversary and the adoption of their oldest, Holden. They have bright faces, they're in focus.. I love the composition of this image as well. This might be one of my all time favorites.
I don't want to dwell on the past and have regrets about what I didn't know when I started out, how bad the equipment was that I was using, etc. I want to just focus on the fact that I have learned my camera and I shoot in full manual mode now (that means I don't put my camera on the little green square and let it do all the work for me! I tell it what to do!) I want to focus on how much I've learned about exposure and light and composition and capturing the connection between people over "posing" them. And I want to focus on my confidence as a photographer. I know I still have a lot to learn, and believe me I am learning something every single day about this passion of mine, but I have come so far.
I hope this post doesn't sound "braggy". I genuinely don't intend for it to be that at all. I just want to be transparent to you and to anyone who is looking for a photographer. I want you to know what you're going to get when you hire me.
Thank you, friends, clients and potential friends and clients, for sharing my love with me. Thank you for sharing your time with me.. your families.. your kids.. your love.
I hope this post doesn't sound "braggy". I genuinely don't intend for it to be that at all. I just want to be transparent to you and to anyone who is looking for a photographer. I want you to know what you're going to get when you hire me.
Thank you, friends, clients and potential friends and clients, for sharing my love with me. Thank you for sharing your time with me.. your families.. your kids.. your love.