When you're a teenager with a DSLR camera, you think you're a photographer. Once you put a small object into the foreground of a shot and blur the background, it's all #photography on Instagram. I'm not going to say that I didn't go through this phase, because trust me, I absolutely did. But everyone at my high school would do photo shoots with their friends and I never understood the hype about their photography. The pictures weren't artistic whatsoever. When I say artistic, I mean like awareness of angles and posing and shadows. Pointing and shooting is the easy part, and some people only care about that. If it's better than an iPhone quality they'll pay anyone to take their picture.
Having the artistic passion and vision is another thing, though. If your imagination is as wild as mine, you need to make your idea tangible or it'll haunt you. Because ideas like "Werewolf Little Red Riding Hood" aren't necessarily original, but your execution could be entirely unique due to your art style.
Your brainchild could become an incredible photo shoot and you get to put it in your portfolio! I love looking through my themed shoots because you can see the story unfold as you go. That's what's truly special about concept shoots. It's a story.
When it comes to normal portrait sessions, I see so many people looking uncomfortable or just out of their element in general in their pictures. If you don't know enough about your client to put them in a setting that fits them, your photos will lack that extra spark of personality. I'm a pretty bubbly person, so I like to chat with my subject while I shoot. I make them laugh and loosen up and they start to literally glow before me. Their confidence goes through the roof and I get amazing shots because they don't look or feel forced. They exude emotion that I get to capture.
My photography isn't just about taking cool pictures and getting paid. It's about expression. It's about making little individual representations of the client and showing them how awesome they are. Because if they show me their true colors, it's my job to use my art to prove I got the message.
