Being a professional photographer, its not often that I am in FRONT of the camera. The past few years, I’ve been making a conscious effort to have more photos taken of myself. Not only does it give me insight to how my clients feel, but I’ve noticed, when I post images of myself, they get the most engagement.
So, I asked another photog, and friend, Hannah about the importance of getting in front of the camera and this is what she had to say:
I’m an expert photographer of all things. My passion lies in photographing people and can say with 100% confidence that I know exactly how they should be positioned, what should be said or done in order to capture that perfect moment that translates the intangible to the tangible. But put me in front of the camera and the confidence I just so ostentatiously verbalized becomes unexplainably elusive and quickly dissipates like a drop of h20 in a dry…very dry…desert.
After kick-starting my business though, I realized how important it was to begin taking photos of myself and sharing it on Facebook, Instagram, my website–basically with whoever or wherever people were willing to pay attention. Because in a sea of lively, thriving, make-waving, talented photographers + entrepreneurs, my differences and uniqueness had to be captured and relayed through these photos of myself. I needed to be different. I needed to show people who I was as a wedding and lifestyle photographer. I needed to show people that I was an artist that could give more than my just my artistry. I needed to show people that I am a photographer, business woman, mother, wife, friend, coffee-lover, traveler, wanderluster, chocolate obsessed, candle collector, foodie, a weirdo…the list goes on and on. I needed to show people me.
Once I began to share more images of myself through multiple digital platforms, I found myself attracting like-minded clients that would quickly turn work relationships in to long-lasting friendships. I found myself documenting weddings and lifestyle sessions that I had always dreamed of capturing. I found myself befriending fellow creatives with similar interests. So listen friend…sometimes this self-photographing thing can and will be a bit daunting…terrifying if you will. It’ll leave you feeling vain and self-absorbed. But you just have to remember…do it for your art. Do it for your business. Do it for you. So flip your hair and take the goddamn picture.
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Love every single word of this! Awhile back, Hannah and I did a trade. We photographed each other so that we’d both have photos to share on our website, social media, etc… it was such a fun session and I can’t wait to get back in front of her lens!
