I have always had to acknowledge the opinion of many people that being a professional photographer is just a matter of picking up a camera and making pretty pictures. Since day one of starting photography as a career it has been my reality. I have been confronted with it head on (someone actually claimed that my image of a Haapiti anchorage taken while I was sailing French Polynesia was “cheating” when I told him it was a photograph not a painting) and as a prevailing attitude by the public discussed amongst peers. Of course I know it’s not true and most people I know who respect and value me as a photographer don’t either.
However, the mindset still persists and now even more with everyone owning a digital camera that can capture a perfect picture every time. I think the belief is ingrained in the process of photography just by it’s nature. Ever since the Kodak Brownie was invented and made photography accessible to just about anyone, photography has been a way for anyone to instantly (or ‘latently’ as with film) capture the world as they see it.
I truly believe that part of the art and craft of photography is the interpretation not just by the camera but by the photographer in post production. Even Ansel Adams did not capture his images perfectly in camera and present them that way. He had a vision at the scene and used dodging and burning in the darkroom to create his vision as he imagined it while he was taking the photograph. When I see images that are clearly not post processed (poor exposure, color balance etc) I wonder if the photographer has given any thought to vision or style. That’s where the next level of custom photography comes into the picture.
I recently came across a great website created by Marianne Drenthe that supports portrait photographers in their plight to educate consumers about custom photography. It is a well designed site (which is another beef of mine-why are some photography publications and websites so poorly designed when photography and design go hand in hand?!) and has excellent information about Custom Photography. No matter how you look at it, professional family photographs are an investment that keep on giving more than any other traditional investment.
This is an explanation I recently gave a potential client about my belief in family portraiture:
“I hope this eases your worry. The last thing I want is for you to be stressed about capturing
lasting memories of your growing family!! I think the coming years are by far the most
important in creating photographic memories for you to always have-even more than
wedding photos. Most people look at their wedding photos a couple of times after the
event but family photos will always remain displayed and kids love to look at photos
of themselves so they are viewed much more frequently and are clearly more valuable.
I always encourage people to realize the importance of investing in photographs of their
family. Not just because I am a photographer but because I am a mom, daughter, sister,
cousin, aunt and niece and I know how important photographs are to families for current
and future generations.”
I can’t express how much joy I get out of capturing your family as they play, laugh, cry, smile, giggle, run, splash, jump, hug, kiss and hold each other. It’s the real moments that give me the most chills when I am witness and editing a session and it’s the real moments that will make your heart flutter when you see those images again 20 years from now. I know that the tradition for many families is to have a perfectly staged and clearly captured image of everyone together but it just seems so odd to me to keep collecting images of your family that are not how your family really was when they were together. The perfect imperfections of a child’s expression or your hair blowing out of place all brought to light with technical acuity and creative vision have to be the most beautiful expression of your life that I can think of. How can you not invest in that?