It’s Working With...Wednesday! Each Wednesday, we include a guest
blogger who shares tips on what mamapreneurs need to know about working
with someone from a different industry. This week’s guest blogger is
Emma Easley Darden of Reversed Lens Photography.
Working With a Photographer
by Emma Easley Darden
We all love to take pictures of our kids. That’s part of being a mom,
right? You snap pictures of them when they’re cute, and sometimes even
when they’re not. One of my favorite pictures of my daughter was taken
right after she’d dumped an entire box of Cheerios out on herself.
Sometimes, though, you realize that you need--or want-- more than just
the photos that you can take day to day. That’s when you bring in a
custom photographer.
First Things First-- The most important part of your photography
experience is something that only you can do: figure out exactly what
it is that you want. That sounds hard, I know. The easiest way is to
browse through photography websites and see what jumps out at you. Do
casual photos that are focused on lifestyle interaction make you grin
from ear to ear? Or are you more drawn to a composed, traditional
setting? This should help you begin to narrow things down a bit.
Talk to Me-- The next step is to meet with the photographer that
you choose (or maybe even a couple, if you’re completely indecisive
like me) for a consultation. Ask to see samples of their work, their
products, and get a sense of how a session will progress. Now is a good
time to talk the minutiae so that when you get to your session,
everyone is on the same page. As we tell every person who walks in our
door, by the time you finish with a consultation, you should have
determined two things: that you love the photographer, and that you
love the consistency of their work. If one of those pieces is missing,
think twice.
It’s all in the details-- While creating beautiful images is our
job, there’s actually a lot that you can do, both before and during
your session, to maximize your experience:
—Be adequately rested, fed, and if your little one is small, diapered--
I know that that sounds like the most obvious thing in the world, but I
often tell clients to treat a photo session like the first day of
school. A tended child is much, much easier to photograph!
—Think long and hard about what you wear. Again, think
about the first day of school. My daughter isn’t even in pre-school and
I often plan out her outfits for playdates. So, yes, that makes me a
little anal. But clothing can quite literally make or break how your
images come out. Family members should wear similiar hues: neutrals,
earth tones, ocean tones, etc. Pick an area of the color wheel and
stick with it. Also, bottoms matter. Legs should be covered if at all
possible because any area of exposed skin will naturally draw the eye.
And choose similar fabrics: all casual or all dressy; all jeans or all
khakis, etc. When all of those legs are piled on top of each other, you
don’t want one set to stick out.
—Above all, relax. Most photographers that I know
build in enough time to ride through a diaper change, a temper tantrum,
a nursing break, and any other of the vicissitudes that make up a
child’s day. We know that you want your child to be a perfect angel.
But they’re in an unfamiliar mode and we’re trained to work with that,
ride through it, and create beautiful images, often in spite of it.
It’s all about trust-- Once you’ve decided to utilize their
services, trust your photographer. Most photographers that I know have
had a passion for what they do for literally decades. They attend
workshops and continuing education, they participate in professional
organizations, and they continually hone their craft so that the images
that they can present to you are fresh, fun, and creative. They also
likely spend more money and time than you can possibly conceive of to
design the images that you are presented with. There’s a lot of people
who think that the advent of digital photography made being a
photographer a simple venture. I could go on and on about that. But the
truth is that it still takes two things: an eye for the extraordinary
and a whole lot of equipment.
As one of my favorite photographers says, “Custom photography
ultimately is all about is choice and experience (as in THE
experience). Think Lexus vs. Hyundai, think Nordstrom vs. WalMart.”
Making the choice to hire a custom photographer means that you will
have access to someone whose sole passion is creating beautiful,
lasting, amazing images for your family (and who can present to you
with beautiful, often one-of-a-kind products). Having access to those
images can literally change how you view yourself and your
relationships. When you can look at an image every day that shines with
happiness, it gives you a chance to see your world differently. And
THAT is a beautiful thing.