Photography for All!

Photography started out as a simple hobby for me years ago. I enjoyed taking pictures of flowers, bugs, animals, still life objects, but didn't get too much into portrait photography. I was too socially awkward, or maybe I didn't think I was good enough to do it. Whatever the reason was, I mostly kept my work with inanimate objects, or living things that couldn't judge how my work turned out.

After meeting my fiancée, who had been modeling for over five years at the time, focusing mainly on boudoir modeling, I started to get back into being behind a camera. I got to meeting people within the local photography and modeling community, and even spent some time in front of the camera, too. The creativity started flowing almost instantly. I had so many ideas for photoshoots and so many new connections within my community that I started in almost instantly.

At first, I was only doing it to express my own creative ideas. It wasn't about making money, it wasn't about getting recognition or going viral or anything like that, it never has been, it's always been a creative outlet. And that's what it remained for a short while, until I had a friend of mine ask me if I would do a boudoir photoshoot with her. Of course, I said yes. She had just gotten out of a pretty bad relationship and she needed this as a sort of therapy, she wanted it to be with someone she trusted.

This was my first actual shoot with a person, much less a boudoir shoot (that wasn't with my fiancée), and admittedly, I was nervous. I still wasn't exactly sure what all the buttons on my new camera did (I had been out of the game for awhile), I had no experience posing people or giving direction, I had no lights, no soft boxes, not even a flash. Nothing. But, I did what any good friend would do, and I gave it my best shot.

She was blown away. After I sent her the pictures, which even at the time I didn't think were anything amazing, but not bad for someone who only halfway knew what they were doing, she responded back to me, saying:

"I literally cannot explain how these make me feel. Like yes, looking 'beautiful' is great but they mean so much more. For the LONGEST time I was never 'able' to do things like this.. and you taking these beautiful shots in a place that I get to call my own after a long traumatic break up.. It just makes me feel whole again. I'm sorry that got so sappy but I'm literally crying because I'm so happy about these. Literal tears rolling down my face. I'm so happy to see myself in this light. Reminds me that I'm in a really good, healthy & happy spot in life. So again, thank you for doing so much more than just 'taking pictures' ❤"

And it dawned on me in that exact moment that that's what I wanted to do with my photography. I wanted to get that reaction out of every single person I shot with. At the very least, I wanted them to have fun during the shoot and to see themselves in a different light than what the mirror showed them everyday. As a person who struggles daily with body image issues, doing this hits close to home, and I set out to make it my mission.

Another client I shot with struggled a lot with body image, and had been apprehensive about showing skin before. We shot together, and the end results were simple, but so important and satisfying for her.

She reacted to the photos, first telling me that I was amazing, when in truth, my job was easy. My job is always easy when working with beautiful humans in front of my lens. She told me she hadn't felt that amazing in a very long time, and that she hadn't smiled or laughed as much as she did during our shoot.

Once I got more comfortable capturing images of actual people, I started to experiment with editing a bit more and found that I almost love editing the pictures as much as I love taking them.

This was my first silhouette portrait. The couple had told me they wanted one, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the light to cooperate with me. This picture was actually taken in the middle of the day! This project truly brought out my love for editing. If I can't get what the client wants on the camera, I can surely make it happen later on in photoshop!

Make no mistake, however. I still love getting creative and working on special themes for magazine submissions or just for fun. I especially love working on things that are a bit more dark and creepy. This particular edit was used for a magazine submission about spirits in the water. We did an entire photo series of her in this really amazing old wedding dress we found at Goodwill. The series told a story of a woman drowning herself in her wedding gown. The why is never told, left up to the viewers interpretation. The dress unfortunately didn't survive the shoot, but the results were totally worth it.

Making people smile is amazing, and people having fun and letting me show them a different side of themselves, helping them embrace their own beauty and encouraging them to feel confident in their own skin is all wonderful and so rewarding, but life isn't always smiles. Sometimes, people want you to capture pictures that are a bit more disheartening. As an example, my best friend's dog was on his last legs and she wanted pictures of him before he left this world for the next. Having known the dog his entire life, I was honored to take the pictures for her.

This picture from that set is probably my favorite. We had just taken a picture of them on this wooden bridge, both of them were looking away from the camera toward the creek (another really great picture), and he lifted his paw up and set it on her hand. I'm glad I caught it in time before he moved it, as this picture is now printed and hung up in her home.

Apart from everything I give to others through my photography, and everything I get back from them, what I give most to myself through it is a chance to see growth within my art. Sometimes I get down on myself or I get to thinking that because I don't have fancy lights or equipment or a studio of my own that I'm not good enough to be doing what I do. It's times like that when I look back at where I came from...

...and then look at how far I've come.

And I'm happy with my growth. I'll most likely never be the best photographer in the world, and I'll probably never have fancy lights or a big fancy studio. I'm okay with that. It still isn't about the money for me, so long as I'm still making people feel better and giving people good experiences.

That said, I do charge for photoshoots, because although it isn't all about the money, I am taking time out of my day not only to take the pictures, but also to edit them. However, I only charge $25 per session, if I do charge. I see other photographers charging hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for photo sessions, and while I understand that, yes, they've put in a lot of money into their craft and they put out amazing quality work, I always felt that pictures are something that everyone has access to. I don't think that just because someone doesn't have an endless amount of disposable income they shouldn't be able to get pictures of themselves or their families taken. What about young people just starting out? Why should they have to wait until they're older to get family pictures taken and only have cell phone pictures to look back on? Or disabled people who have a limited income? They should be able to have pictures taken without going broke. Single moms who are taking care of their kids all on their own should be able to have pictures of their kids on their walls without being in debt until those kids graduate college.

I know the pictures I have in my wallet and the pictures hanging on my walls are constant reminders of why I get up every day and go to my day job. I know the pictures I've gotten of myself have made a huge difference in my own self confidence. I don't think anyone should be left out of that just because their piggy bank might not be stuffed as much as the next person's.

With that in mind, I have considered the idea of having a membership to my photography business. For a certain dollar amount per month, you could pay a discounted fee for all photo sessions, for a slightly lower subscription you could be entered into raffles for discounted or free photo sessions. I truly wouldn't charge any more than $5 a month for the discounted price tier, and probably only $1 or $2 for the raffle tier. However, doing things this way instead of charging everyone $25, I would not only expand my customer base and thusly the reach of my art, but I would also be able to make consistent profit from it rather than having some months where I get no shoots and some months where I get 50.

It isn't a fool proof system just yet, but I'm sure I could really do something amazing with it if given the chance. I have an eye for amazing things.