What Being A Professional Photographer Has Taught Me
Jumping into photography full time has been one of the hardest journeys I have taken up. I got into photography by chance and had no thoughts of ever becoming a professional Photographer. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I consider myself blessed to have stumbled into this beautiful profession. Running my own business and all of the behind the scenes tasks – that no one really sees, has taught me a lot. You never really have a day off and there are so many things to account for. Even with all of these things to contend with, photography has taught me these three things…
People Have More In Common Than You Think
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I believe that life is all about your perspective on things. If you pay close attention to the news media, some of the viral stories found on social media – your perspective on things can easily take a negative turn. Being a Photographer has exposed me to some of the most positive and beautiful moments; and it has gone a long way in keeping me optimistic. I’ve learned that people want to love and be loved. They gravitate towards making connections with other people; and even though there are a lot of things that people do differently, there are so many more commonalities that we have with each other.
I recently had a weekend full of various portrait sessions. And as I reflected on the sessions and how they went, I noticed that each of my clients were all from VERY different geographical regions. One of the families were from Brasil, another was from France, and one of my maternity couples were from Minnesota and Texas respectively. I had a family from India, a soon to be father was from Chicago, and I found out that one of my client’s parents lived in Encinitas, CA – where some of my wife’s family also lives. Some of my clients spoke different languages, had names that were different than ones that I was used to, etc.
Event with all of these differences, they were all so very similar in the excitement and nervousness that they had about becoming a first time parent, for example. And I could relate to this myself and found myself connecting with them on these things… I have yet to find a father that did not think that their baby girl was the apple of their eye. I think the same of my own daughter. One of my recent clients emailed me for the first time. In the email he sent me, he said something that will always stick with me. He mentioned that he wanted to schedule a time to take pictures of he and his one year old daughter and that she was, “his entire world.” I can 100 percent relate to this because my wife and daughter are my entire world. I though that this was so beautiful.
I’ve Learned to Be Excited For Other People’s Life Moments
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As a professional Photographer, I’ve learned to be excited for other people’s life moments. Often times my clients are complete strangers – but I find myself connecting with them and being enthusiastic for their special life moments. When I first started off as a Photographer, I would need to generate energy and enthusiasm out of nowhere. I would figure out things to chat about that got people to engage with me and for the most part it was all artificial.
I now find myself being excited for the milestones in people’s lives very naturally. There have been many clients that have supported my business over the years and I have grown to know their family and that I genuinely love. One particular client that I have photographed their maternity portraits, their engagement, their first baby shower, their wedding, their family portraits, their daughters baptism, their second maternity session, and their second baby shower! I consider them friends and I love them… I have pictures of so many of my clients, at my office, and I’m surrounded by all of these special moments I have had the opportunity to be apart of.
One of my long time clients recently emailed me and needed to cancel their session. She said that it may seem totally random – but they were moving out of the state in a weeks time and just could not fit in pictures. I had their picture up on my wall in my office and as I looked at it, I found myself getting emotional that I would not get to photograph them anymore.
There is Nothing More Important Than Family
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Photography is a tricky thing because many people do not see the benefit of it right away. It is in times of reflection that we sometimes look back on the photographs that we have taken; and in these moments the photographs that you have with loved ones are priceless.
In 2017, I lost my grandfather to cancer. I found myself looking back at our wedding pictures of him on the dance floor, having fun – and these moments mean so much to me. I wish we had many more of these photos taken because they mean so much to me now. I’m guilty of not taking enough family portraits and it wasn’t until recently that I FULLY understood the importance.
I have a client who reaches out to me every two months or so for family portraits. At first, I thought that this was very odd. Why do they need so many pictures?! When I really took a step back and looked at it – it was such a beautiful thing. They were one of the small amount of people who see and understand the value of photographs. They value family in the present. And this is beautiful.
Life is hard. It’s easy to focus on all of the negative things around us. I’ve been blessed to have found photography because it has changed my entire perspective on life. We have so much in common with one another and there are so many beautiful moments in life. I am glad I get to be apart of so many of them!
