Staying True to Yourself in a Shallow Sea

I'm not naturally a competitive person.  Even in the world of auditioning back when I was an active opera singer and actress, I found no pleasure in winning a role OVER others...just in winning the role because I'd have a chance to make it mine, to honor the brilliance of the composer or playwright and make the audiences FEEL something when I performed.

Photography is a little bit different.  With the right equipment and training and practice, ANYONE can be a decent photographer.  Not everyone has the God given pipes to be an opera singer or the stage presence to be an award winning actress-all the training in the world can't make you sing The Queen of the Night well.

In this camera business, however, it's all about what's in your camera bag, how you advertise and present yourself to the world, how much you have to invest,  and how many clients you ultimately have.

My photography portfolio is pretty hefty for someone who has only been pursuing it professionally for nine months.  Part of that is because I'm at home a lot, with photography as a huge focus of my day to day life.  

There's not the same instant gratification in photography.  Oh, there's the the thrill *I* get when I'm on a shoot and know there will be great photos, the excitement of the editing process, feeling sure that my clients will feel soooo good about themselves when they see the finished product.

But in a world where the only gratification is basically FB, and people on FB are constantly inundated with funny memes from George Takei, photos of everyone's kids, theatre pics, vacation photos...my pics just go into the mix like a dime a dozen.  I remember when I first set up my Gilded Lily Photography fan page...and the first group of fans came quickly and heaped on the praise lavishly for every photo I put forth.  Then it began dwindling and I had to do a LOT of publicizing and word of mouth and begging to hit even 100 fans.  And even now I am lucky if I get a few "likes" on a photo much less comments.  It makes a person doubt themselves, a lot.  For someone like me, with a lot to lose because of my extenuating circumstances, doubt myself even more.

I've noticed there are a LOT of photographers out there who don't do good work, have three times the fans, and ten times the praise that I do.  It's hard not to think that it's because I'm not great at what I do, that they must be better than I am.  But with a critical eye, I can see the flaws...the blurry images, the hasty editing (if any), the less than stellar composition.  I see the flat expressions on the faces.  I see the badly copied work of other photographers, myself included (hey, sometimes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!)...and I know I'm not that person.  My work is always original, clean, bright, and me.

It's frustrating to see that kind of photographer get the kind of attention and praise I want.  But it doesn't make them a better photographer.  It doesn't make them have my personality, my eye for cool compositions, gorgeous color and clarity, or my ability to draw the best from my subjects.  It just means they have more superficial friends who believe in paying lip service to support their friends regardless of actual talent.

In a world where talk is cheap, our brains are saturated with new shiny things every minute of every day, and true talent is hard to see, it's difficult to hold your head up high and keep plunging ahead.  But I do.  Because I'm starting to realize that like my opera career, it's not about winning more roles or being better than the others.  It's about being the best that *I* can be, keeping my creativity, integrity, and diligence intact, and striving to be better every single day.  I'm in THIS for the long haul...just like I spent 20 years as an actress, 10 years as an opera singer, and soon to be 5 years as a blissfully happily married lady.

I don't want to be a decent photographer.  I want to be one of the for real legitimate great ones.  The one whose photos you recognize when you open a wedding magazine before you look at the photo credit.  It's going to take a lot of hard work and practice to get there, but I'm going to sure as heck try!

I want to make my viewer FEEL something when they look at my images.  :)

The Dreaded Self Portrait

So most photographers market themselves along with their talent.  Since I'm working on my new website, it seemed a perfect time to take some for myself.  I have some shots early on of me with my camera, but my husband took them in the studio, and I wanted everything on my website to be taken by me.  So today was designed as "self portrait" day.

We went to a favorite spot by a local pond and I began my little nightmare of trying to do all manual settings and focus for things that I was taking myself and couldn't correct on the spot.  With the very bright sunlight, and the shadows created by the trees, it was a frustrating trial and error period.  I had my hubby stand in for some of the shots, but at 6ft, he's 6 inches taller than I am and it's hard to gauge the right height setting just by guesstimating. :)

But after about an hour, I had some good shots that represented me (and a really sore face from smiling and laughing at myself so much) and I'm happy to say it's all over.  :)  Now I know what so many of my subjects feel when they're smiling and trying to look their best at me...and why I'm glad that I cut my session times down.  I had no idea how exhausting it was just to make faces for an hour...and many of my old headshot sessions ran 2+ hours!  For those folks...I am so sorry...I hope your faces have finally stopped hurting!

As hard as it is to be in front of the camera instead of behind it, it's really good to put your face out there.  On the internet, in this competitive world of photography, it's really hard to make a connection based just on the work and what the person has to say about their philosophy.  A good picture that represents you (and shows not only your idea of a good photo and composition) helps people at least a little bit in their decision making process.

Happy Saturday!

The Real Deal

(I got some important news yesterday and my darling hubby brought me home flowers, which I promptly photographed.  Of course.) :)

So, now that I've officially been in business for six months (SIX MONTHS!?!), I've been working on the  business side of everything.  I have a business bank account and credit card, I have a financial tracking system online, I log gas mileage, I have business cards...and I'm currently designing a more cohesive, comprehensive and user friendly website complete with blog so I can have all things in one central place.

I bought a Droid Bionic with 4G smartphone with a credit card application so that I could better run my business remotely.  I admire technology and appreciate it, even if I'm a bit of a luddite.

I made some valuable equipment purchases...in addition to the Canon 50mm 1.4, 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8 macro, and 70-300 telephoto lens already in my bag, today I bought a Canon 24-70mm, 70-200mm, and a wide angle 10-22mm.  And I bought a backup DSLR...a Canon Rebel T3 12.2MP (not quite as nice as my 18MP but it'll do the job in an emergency!).

I recently got a camera raincoat...basically a way to protect my camera if shooting in less than perfect weather.  It's the smart thing to do unless your camera is water sealed.  Add to that a little pop up diffuser for indoor photography and I'm ready to go. :)

I'm all set for my upcoming weddings!  Headshots are easy in terms of equipment (The camera with one portrait lens and a second portrait lens and nothin' else!) but weddings are a whole other animal and I'm shooting three this year already and one next year.  I've learned that different lenses do different things, and it's nice to have the proper selection.  I'm still drooling for a few fixed length lenses (like the 85mm 1.2, the 50mm 1.2, 24mm 1.4 and the 35mm 1.4) and my dream full frame camera (Canon Mark II) but for now, I've got what I need, like:

shootsacs, tripod, hotshoe flash, lens hoods, collapsable light deflector, umbrellas for on the spot lighting setups indoors...and let's not forget the numerous back up batteries and memory cards, camera cleaning tools and hairbands for my crazy red hair that's always getting in the way!

It's weird to have something creative that you love become something planned and businesslike, but at the same time it's exciting to have made the investment in myself and my talent.  I just hope I can live up to that investment.

Tomorrow morning I have a photoshoot...of me.  I'm taking a photo for my website's homepage banner.  It's really important for branding for people to have a face to put with the work.  Me, my dress, jean jacket, and cowboy boots will try to enjoy being the subject of a self-portrait! :)

Stylized Bridal Shoot!

I love stylized shoots!  I get great practice while creating the pictures I see in my head when envisioning brides and it helps me to be a better wedding photographer.  In a few weeks, 4 of my lovely friends and models are donning their fluffy white gowns and letting my artistic inspiration run wild.

I'm collecting different bridal things as we speak, grabbing items from my own wedding (thank you Mom & Dad for the hope chest!) and planning items that I will be making and creating.

So excited!!! :)

Trying out the Shootsac :)

Gearing up for a busy few days of shooting...tonight it's the final dress rehearsal for "Othello" at Cedar Lane Stage (it's also this fine theatre company's final production)...Saturday I'll be back at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn photographing a talented opera singer and actress, Maureen R....and then Sunday taking photos of actress and director Rebecca P.  here in Manassas.  Hoping for perfect weather and making the most of these two very photogenic beauties.

I'm psyched to have my brand new shootsac (I know, I know...it makes me giggle too!) in Deep Sea Blue on my shoulder; it fits everything I need for a standard shoot while protecting my equipment beautifully.  It's not the fabulous $200+ bag I've been wanting but for $30 you can't go wrong.  :)

Diet Coke Homage

My first professional website is near launch, and I've been working with web designers to create something simple, colorful, and user-friendly.  For the "About Me" section, I've decided to do it in pictures, not words.  So I've spent the last few weeks taking photos of things near & dear to me.  Besides my husband, puppies, and other special things, I realized that there is something that I'm just SLIGHTLY addicted to...Diet Coke.  :)  So I grabbed my trusty mini cans out of the fridge and took some fun pics, put them together in a collage, and can't wait till they're on the site.  I shared the photo with the Diet Coke page on FB and they called it "extraordinary"and asked to share it with the rest of the FB community...yay!

Supporting Local Businesses

I think all small businesses are difficult to launch.  It needs to be a mix of paid and free advertising, word of mouth, and hard work on the owner's part to get the name and/or product out there.  In this overexposed social climate, interesting things to look at and buy are a dime a dozen.  Photographers, talented and not so talented, are also a dime a dozen.  How does one distinguish oneself from the pack?

I don't have a niche quite yet.  I started out taking headshots and then moved on to families, kids, pets, products, couples, weddings, staged shoots.  I would love to focus solely on engagements/weddings, but every time I try to focus on that, I find myself drawn back to love of photographing, well, EVERYTHING!

I do love taking pics of people.  It calls to me.  Getting that secret smile, or that faraway dream, captured in the eyes.

And I love Love.  I can't help saying it.  I think when you live your own fairytale you can't help but be enamored of the romance in those around you, especially the ones caught up in the giddy excitement of planning their wedding.

Now on to the hard part...getting maximum exposure for the business without being that annoying person who is always plugging her business.  I have some really wonderful supporters and friends...those who share my FB page with their friends, who give me photo credit when I've taken their pictures that they use...the ones who mention my name when people they know are looking for a good photog...and those who link my websites with theirs.

I wish everyone could be so great and take a minute to support a small business.  I try to pass along the word to everyone I know when I have a talented friend growing a business.  I become a fan of so many different local pages.  I tried a cupcake (pictured above) from a DC Area cupcake place and it was heavenly...so I promptly snapped a shot, friended their page, and shared the photo with my delicious sentiments with my friends.  It takes me just a few minutes to do it, and no skin off my nose.  I do it without thinking what *I* will get out of it...I think that's the only way to be.

I also need to become a little more of a shark when it comes to business, I think.  It's not my nature...but it might be the best tool for swimming and making it to shore in a very full ocean.  :)