Avery Rae
Bio
Tell me, how do you love? Is it through gift giving? Physical touch? Maybe you're more of a verbal lover? Whatever it is, never loose sight of it. This is how we bind together as humans, this is how we create and conquer.
Stories (2)
Filter by community
The reality of photography
This is a true story of the reality of being a photographer. When I was 17 I got my first job working at a photography studio. We mainly took pictures of families, newborns , newlyweds Etc. When I got the job I was very excited, but I was terrified at the same time. It was my first time shooting in a professional setting so instinctively all these questions came to my head oh, and they haunted me. “ what if I'm not as good as I thought it was” “what if the client hates their pictures” “what if the camera breaks in the middle of a session”. Naturally I tried to brush it off to give the client the best photos that I could give them. a family of four came into the studio one Friday evening, your typical American traditional family. they wanted some newly updated Family Photos, mom had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, and they wanted some with her in it. I spent 2 hours shooting this family. Making sure I had every angle, position, lighting Source Etc. When the session was done I spent another hour and a half editing these pictures down to every Last Detail, I even edited out fingers that weren't supposed to be in the place that they were. The whole thing took me three and a half hours of My Blood Sweat and Tears. When the photos were done I called the family back to view them. Stop them down, put the flash drive in the computer, set all the photos up and put it on a slideshow. I wasn't really looking at the client as the photos were passing by, but I could hear scoffing and grunting. When all 35 images ran through its course I paused and asked the client these simple words, “ so what do you guys think?” The question that haunted me finally became a reality. I was followed by the words ``I hate these pictures, it's not what I wanted .” I remember feeling a sense of shock run through every nerve, bone, artery in my body. I was speechless. I genuinely didn't know what to say and the only thing that came out of my mouth was. “ I hope you have a good day”. Not only was that lost money for the studio but that was a reflection on my photography. From that point on I really took a step back and thought about how I wanted to approach each session. The photos in that session we're beautiful. It was my demeanor that made the session unbearable for the family. Being a photographer isn't about the poses and the angle , it's about capturing every family's uniqueness and their beauty and how they love. It may sound crazy but in the four years that I've been doing this I can remember every single client's laugh, their smile, how they have interacted with their family. I remember it all. It's easy to pick up a camera and start clicking a button. Oh, it's not easy to capture what each person is like outside of that photograph. That's what makes this field so unique. We are giving families something not only to put on their wall, but something that they can look at and say “ man, that's my daughter, sister, mother, grandma.”
By Avery Rae4 years ago in Photography
