Why you should appreciate your photographer...even if it's not me.

Let me preface this with this message: I LOVE what I do. I love my clients. I love my job. I love love love photography and design.


In an ever changing world where everyone can be a "photographer" because the quality of digital cameras has gone from good to ridiculously amazing, it's a hard row to hoe to stay a step ahead.  Sure you can put your camera and lense in auto and the focus looks great. Sure you can stand someone in front of a wall and get a good shot.  But taking that step toward a photography business is a little more serious.  

Knowing your camera is important. Shooting in manual is the only way to go. Light, focal point, depth of field, it all looks better in manual.

So let's discuss something.  Why should you appreciate your photographer?  Why? Well, here's a short list.

1.  Your photographer has most likely spent more on equipment (cameras, lenses, batteries, memory cards, filters, props, computers, editing software, classes, etc.) than he or she will make in a year.

2. Your photographer may also have one or more other jobs which require time and effort as well.  Your session very well may cause this photographer to feed her family fast food WAY more than he or she would like to admit. She may have a filthy house, a spouse and child who don't grasp the need to chase the light... Maybe they are away from their families on Saturdays and Sunday evenings and week day evenings after work just to do what they love.  And maybe...they edit til 2 am every night to keep their clients happy.

3. Let's say you have a full session, which in my case ranges from 1 to 2 hours.   This doesn't seem long to you, but after wardrobe changes and location changes, etc. sometimes you end up needing more time.  Now, say your photographer takes eh...300 photos in this time span.  Next, they will be uploaded to the computer, resized, culled, culled again, culled again and edited.  Editing is time consuming. It's mind numbing at times, but crazy rewarding as well.  You wonder why shoot in manual?? Well because if you have everything just right, editing is much easier.

Then you have the "can you make me skinnier?" "can you remove my birthmark?" "can you make me have a tan?" people....and o that's another story in itself.

If you cull your photos down to say 100 to edit.  That's HOURS of editing.  A wedding...that's like beyond hours...that's days of editing.   I can have any where from 2-10 sessions on my computer waiting to be edited at any given time.    At night, I sit with my computer, editing, talking to my husband, watching a tv show out of the corner of my eye. I take breaks to color with my son, give him a bath, feed our funny farm of animals, cook dinner, pick up, do laundry, etc.  Then, I sit quietly after my entire house goes to bed and I edit. I edit til 2, sometimes 3 am. Then I get up for work the next morning bright and early.


So...with all of this I say....appreciate your photographer, who ever they may be.  And if they are a little late getting photos to you, please understand they have personal lives too. They have parents and grandparents who need them, children who need them, family time that is much needed, friends that need to be seen, not just heard, a house that needs to be cleaned and sometimes, they need to know it's okay to take a break.

If you want to complain about cost, that's your right.  But I tell you right now, I know I don't charge enough, I'm on the "crazy affordable" side of photography these days and I get complaints all the time. If you want to complain about how long it takes you to get your photos, go right ahead, but sometimes, our personal lives need tending to as well.

I love what I do. I love meeting so many amazing people. It's seriously a dream come true to be able to photograph important moments in peoples' lives.  I sometimes want to pinch myself, just to see if I'm asleep. Please take it for what it is and hey, send your photographer a note that says "thanks" or "you're awesome" it will encourage them to keep going, even when the road gets rough.


Peace, Love & Photography,

w