This Might Not Be the Road Less Traveled

I love my blogs. I don't mean this blog - I mean the list of blogs that I follow and read (almost) every day. Probably safe to say they are an obsession. But I LOVE them. I've learned a lot (probably everything) of what I know from them, which makes them even more valuable.

Anyway, one of them is Scott Kelby's blog and my absolute favorite feature is Guest Blog Wednesday.  I've met (ha...it feels that way) so many amazing photographers and learned some pretty cool stuff from this feature of his.

However.

This past Wednesday, David Ziser was the guest blogger. David is an amazing wedding photographer. He's done books and courses, you get the idea. Anyway, his post discussed the current state of wedding photography. Suffice it to say...not looking so pretty, my friends. I remember him referencing Wal-Mart in the same sentence as wedding photography. NOT GOOD.

AND THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO GET INTO???

And yet.

After I read David's guest post, I made my way through the rest of the blogs that I didn't get to read yesterday (I said I read them almost every day), I had a hard time believing the doom and gloom. I totally agree that wedding photography has changed - but I see it more as a change of style. There are definitely still wedding and portrait photographers who are successful in their business, but they are not taking traditional portraits and posed photographs.

So here's what I'm taking from this. #1: Now is a great time to get into wedding photography. (I know you're scratching your head. Stay with me for a second.) Because things have changed, for me there is no "old way" or "new way," there's just my way. So there. #2: A good picture will always be a good picture. A good picture inspires people (okay, at least in my book that's how it goes, but there are lots of reasons a picture is good) and inspiration is what keeps people coming back.

Wedding photography, though, is not simply about the pictures. It's about the experience. The experience of the wedding, the experience of the bride, the experience of the picture. If this experience is what is at the forefront of a wedding and/or portrait photography business, I think it is still possible to succeed. So this is what I want from my photography: I want the person in the photograph to feel like I captured the essence of who they are. I want to get to know my clients on a personal level, so that I can fully capture who they are. I want the people who see the photograph to feel like they know the subject personally. And above all, I want everyone involved to enjoy the experience. It should feel authentic, fun, and glamorous.

I promise there will be more fun and glamorous here in the future. And just because this post needs more fun, here's a picture.

This is one of the awesome towel animals that our cabin staff made for us when we took a cruise back in October. Isn't he fabulous?