My First Real Friend-ographer

It started with a ring. 
When my husband and I got engaged, I knew that planning a wedding would be a challenge. But I think the part that I was most worried (I mean super stressed) about, was finding the right photographer. A few of my family and friends joked that I should figure out a way to take my own wedding photos. It usually went something like this: "You could just set your camera on a tripod and do all your own portraits with a remote, can't you? ... No? Well Okay, but I'm sure you know someone who can do them for you. No big deal."  That was when it dawned on me. I had very few photographer friends! I knew very few people that were passionate about photography like me, working in the same field as me, trying to grow their own businesses like I was. 

And if I'm honest, a lot of that is my fault. Somewhere along the road that brought me to pursuing photography as not only a hobby, but an honest-to-goodness profit-making business, I got this idea in my head that all other photographers out there -and there are many!- are in competition with me. That makes them the enemy. Seasoned photographers were the enemy because they knew more and had more skill than I did. Inexpensive photographers were the enemy because they were beating me on price. So I think I must have subconsciously shied away from making connections and friendships with other photographers, so I wouldn't have to worry about us "stealing" clients from each other. There would be no "talking shop" in case I give away some trade secret! It's a lonely way to do business, and it also wasn't really going to help me grow as an artist.

So when my search for a wedding photographer ended on Brenden, I was beyond excited to find that she was someone who could become my friend. Here was not only a very talented individual that I could learn from, but someone who also "got" me on a personal level. We could hang out together and talk for hours about anything!

The lovely thing is, I soon realized that I'm not competing with Brenden, and never need to. I began to understand that other photographers were different enough from me that we shouldn't really compare ourselves. Each of us has something different to offer to our clients, and clients need only choose to work with the photographer that suits them best. Not only are our styles different, but our favorite subjects are very different as well! For instance I am not 100% comfortable photographing newborns. I'll admit that posing them properly is a skill set that I have not yet fully mastered. But newborns are Brenden's passion! Her business So Cute Photo focuses almost entirely on babies in their first 10 days of life. My photography focuses more on families (with slightly older children), couples, and high school seniors. I love a good close-up portrait, especially if it focuses on the eyes.

Through Brenden I was introduced to other creative people, and even joined The Rising Tide Society, which focuses on all of us building each other up, instead of worrying only about the bottom line. I'll go more into detail about that another time.  But for now I'm truly enjoying these new found friendships, and striving as always to continue to grow as an artist.