Apparently I’m really good at monthly posts. Hm. No problem there. I have been thinking this month about what kind of photography I do more of. I have plenty of families, which I love, don’t get me wrong there! And a fair amount of headshots which are fun in that I can work on my posing and lighting skills because grownups listen better and we aren’t focusing our headshots around the whim of a preschooler and their speed. Mitzvahs are fun – 13 year olds have no inhibitions so DJ games and dancing and candid party pics are a blast AND they can also listen to directions for posed and family pics too.
I’m 100% ok not being a “traditional” wedding photographer. I did a wedding or two on the cheap for friends 12+ years ago when I was still “building my portfolio” and while it was fun I realized the market is full up with photographers better than me with the right lenses when it comes to big church weddings and the formalities that go along with it. Over the years I refined my portfolio and found my passion in portraits with the occasional event to be a good fit.
The weddings I’ve done have been small-ish or tiny and overall people who just want to throw a good party for family and friends. Did a wedding like this two weeks ago and it was such fun. Small wedding party, under 100 people, ceremony and reception in the same place, everyone having a ton of fun celebrating together. I have a similar wedding booked next year and I’m so excited for it as it’s a venue I’ve shot at for families before but never an event.
In an effort to keep my work my best, to challenge myself and expand my portfolio (because if you aren’t always learning and trying new things you’ll be bored and burn out easier), I think I want to seek out more elopements or micro weddings with a few low key under-100 sized events sprinkled in to keep it exciting. Part of this desire is a belief in the value of photographer (puts on my history major hat). Now more than ever, with people having cameras in their back pocket 24/7 we’re getting more and more images of EVERYTHING that goes on in every day life. From mundane pics of your avo toast to pics of friends and events. Which is great, but your phone dies and that memory is gone. Or it slips into the toilet before you uploaded pics to the cloud. Or you run out of cloud storage and keep forgetting to add more or clean it out. There is still value in photos that get printed out. Maybe they go in a photo album or photobook. Or even the big ones you hang on the living room wall to commemorate that momentus event. Even if your friends date gets the *perfect* shot of your vows, do you ever print it out? Is the quality going to be good enough to go on a 11×14 canvas over the mantle? Are you even going to get your hands on the original digital image? Pics from a professional photographer are why you hire us. And elopements and micro-weddings are just as valid commitment ceremonies as any big religious venue ones and deserve to be documented correctly.
Also? I want more queer families in my portfolio. A recent event I worked was very queer friendly and there were little AMAB kids running around in dresses and sparkles and a couple queer couples/families and I thought of something: I want to see what the photography world is like in our area for queer families. Maybe there’s someone running an awesome business for these folks and that’s fantastic. But if there isn’t, I think I want to figure out how to reach more of those families. My business is modeled on the idea that professional photography should be accessible for everyone – and while that often ends up meaning anyone without runway model good looks and body type, it absolutely includes non traditional families too. Single parents, same-sex parents, but also non-binary parents and/or kiddos. I wonder if these families realize that there’s a photographer out there that would LOVE to work with them. That they are worthy of professional family pics and their crazed three year old in his princess dress doesn’t phase me at all. I say bring it on!