The Photographer’s Quandary
At the end of 2020, I committed myself to growing into a more serious photographer. As I made this commitment to myself, the realities of this profession began to become more apparent and more real. The long hours shooting, the cost of travel that is needed get to certain locations, the combination of luck and skill it takes to nail the perfect shot, the slow growth and lack of interest from the community. Even as I post these blogs I wonder if it’s worth it or if I’m doing the right thing. But above all these realities was the truth that not everyone will appreciate your work and at one point or another…everyone wants a freebie.
I made the decision to grow as a photographer while deployed to the middle east. Through a serious stint of deep depression, I found that taking photos brought me so much joy and helped to keep my mind off everything negative going on around me and there was no shortage of negativity. It became, in my opinion, a healthy coping mechanism where if I was ever stressed or sad I could grab a camera, walk around the base and take some photos. I watched countless tutorials and did endless hours of research until I knew exactly which camera I wanted to buy, the lenses, I even knew how to use everything on the camera before I ever held it in my hands. Photography would be an outlet for me and an enjoyable hobby that I knew I could transform into something profitable. I knew that I had to be diverse as well, taking pictures of mountains and bison wouldn’t be enough for me to grow. I knew I had to study product photography, street photography, portraits, events, everything. Again, even as I post this blog I know there is still a lot for me to learn. Call me naïve, but the one thing that I thought was that I would have my photography appreciated by people who knew the process and the meaning to the art form. Sadly that hasn’t always been the case.
Every entrepreneur must start somewhere. To create clientele or some source of revenue you first need the proper exposure. I started on Instagram, the “photo sharing app” because that makes sense, right? Not necessarily. The app is flooded with what I like to call “Pocket Photographers”. Without a doubt cell phones have come a very long way. There was a point where you wouldn’t dare to think to take a picture on a phone and now, there are phones on the market with more megapixels than some DSLRs and even mirrorless cameras. But the are a certain niche of people love to take quick pics with the camera tilted or an intentionally blurry image, slap a filter on it and call themselves photographers. While this is sometimes true, it diminishes what actual photographer must go through to provide their art to the world. Despite this, I continued to post pics on IG, reels, story updates, anything I could do to break into the “scene” so to speak. There was recognition from some. A few brands reached out to me and asked if I was interested in being an ambassadors for their products and brands; some I liked, some just didn’t align. Then came some real opportunities to test my skills in portrait photography. I was fortunate enough to have coworkers that understood what I was doing and even some of them that love the craft themselves. My first legitimate photoshoot was a maternity shoot for a coworker who did photography herself and everything about that experience was amazing. She left the creative freedom to me, allowed me to plan the time, location, even took into consideration when I offered clothing recommendations, props, everything and the photos came out amazing! From there, other photoshoots came rolling in. From family photoshoots, business headshots and profiles, puppies and parents, even a car photoshoot or two and all of my clients trusted in my style of shooting and creative process and from those opportunities came some of my favorite photos and experiences. But to everything there is an opposite and a community of people that refuse to allow artists to express their freedoms.
Over the years, I have unfortunately worked with clients that have essentially wanted me to compromise my creative process, how I edit photos, even wanting me to alter photos. This was particularly bothersome for me because I promised myself that I would never rely on Photoshop or any software that significantly altered photos. Changes to exposure, color enhancements, texture, clarity, that’s one thing but completely removing objects or “defects” that I felt made the image beautiful or real caused me to have a slight moral dilemma. But believe it or not, this hasn’t been the worst part of growing as a photographer. For me, the worst thing about attempting to grow has been those who felt as though my work, regardless of the level of work, was not worth anything or they wanted everything for free. Now, I’m not saying that I’m some world renown National Geographic photographer or some YouTube photographer with millions of followers or someone with published works. But if someone takes the time and effort to scout out photoshoot locations, takes into consideration the time of year, sunset and sunrise times, invests in gear specifically for a shoot, etc., a little appreciation goes a long way. Self reflection is important and I realize that I still have a long way to go and I can still grow in a lot of ways. But to those who use and abuse artists’ gifts or expect quality work with no compensation….smh.
In any job there’s always room for growth and ANY constructive criticism is appreciated; however, it’s disheartening to have a client say “Well the pictures came out okay, but I wanted them to look like this Instagram profile.” Understand that like painters or sculptors, photographers each have our their style and method of photography. A tattoo artist, while they may have a specific niche of tattooing (Grayscale, neo-traditional, etc.) they will never try to mimic or reproduce another artist’s work. The same goes for painters, sculptors, graphic designers, and photographers. Our style is what makes us unique. Compromising my artistic integrity is something that I will never do and giving away my work for free has come to an end. This isn’t my normal type of blog or information that I want to share; however, I believe it is an important topic to discuss as Photography is an art form, a means of personal expression. At no point should you ever compromise who you are or accept less from others just to please others.
