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A Photographer’s Diary – Intro
I spent the past weekend in Destin, FL trying to relax my brain and figure out this bold new journey I was going on with my photography business. I racked my brain for what seemed like 10 straight hours, trying to think of something interesting to blog about. I wanted so badly to come up with something that would make me the next Chase Jarvis or Strobist, but it just didn’t click. What am I doing wrong? Then it hit me. I’m trying to hard to be something I’m not. I love to tell it like it is, yet for some reason with this blog and my business, I try to be something I’m not. It works…a little. But I think people see through that. Why try to do what Chase does with his blog? Sure, I love doing the behind the scenes videos and will continue to do that. I’ll definitely keep posting my work, because I love to share. But I don’t scour the internet looking for the newest gear or the newest social trends. I want to do this my way. I want to shoot sports but I want it to be my style, even if mine looks like someone else’s. So far I don’t think it does, but I haven’t found the person already doing it yet. So I have decided to add something new to this blog. By the time you get to read this, I’ll either already be typing it or it will already be posted. I want to share with you what it’s really like to be a photographer. It’s not all ‘beautiful’ ‘amazing’ weddings. It’s not all gorgeous landscape shots or big budget clients. It’s work! And it’s TOUGH work. It’s awesome and it’s stressful all at the same time. It’s very very competitive. I’ve met some good friends doing this and some people I want to slap in the mouth (since I’m speaking freely). I’ve also seen some AMAZING things. Sometimes it sucks and I want to quit. Sometimes I think I’m the best photographer around and sometimes I think I’m the worst and want to hang it up. Anyway, with all that said, I’m going to take you all on my journey, and why not? I think people would really be interested in how it really is. So, once a week I want to share my experiences. I want to do more than just show the most recent images from a senior portrait session and talk about how ‘awesome’ it was. I want you all to know my struggles, successes, frustrations and just general opinion on…..photography stuff. Think of it as ‘No Reservations’ meets Matt Lange. I’m the Baton Rouge, photography, Anthony Bourdain. He’s a far better writer and host, but I’ll try. So strap it in. It’s going to be fuuuuuuntastic.
Matt
Well said, sometimes, we try to emulate the success of others into our own work. It worked a bit but not always. After all, by trying to emulate others, we essentially became their followers. People see the work, they’d just say that, hey…. doesn’t so and so do the same with their work? In the end, the credit goes to the person we tried to emulate and not ourselves.
When I first started off, looking at Chase Jarvis, Strobist and a few other local photographers around me, I was like, HEY! I love their work and I want to try and create images just like them! But then, as time goes by, as I look back at the things I’ve done. I realized that, at the end of the day, yes, what I did is beautiful, but is it really mine?
I’m proud that recently, one other budding photographer’s work was commented to look similar to mine and they could see the same patent or treatment that can be seen in my work. But is it really fair for that photographer to be told that what he put an effort in doing looked like someone else’s work?
It’s time to put our foot down and say, hey, this is me, this is how my work looks like. You hire me for what I do, not because it looked like someone else. At the end, we and our clients would be more appreciative with the end result.
I could be wrong but that’s what I think.
Matt I just found this old post. This is exactly what I spoke of in a prior post. It may take time for others to find your blog but I know there are thousands who are interested in the “way it actually is”. Keep it up my friend. Are you on Flickr. If not it is another way to get your work out.