What I Stand For As A Photographer

As a photographer, I work with people from all walks of life. I photograph people of all ethnicities and orientations celebrating some of the most special and proud moments of their lives. This includes starting their first job or launching their own business. They might be getting married or having their first child. They may even be celebrating having the family they’ve been building and nurturing for decades all in the same place at the same time. Whatever the case may be, these people are important.

Yet I am often warned by my clients before we even meet in person, “You have your work cut out for you… I don’t photograph well…” This simply is never the case. In fact, I have photographed so many people who believe they are not photogenic, and the vast majority of the time, they see themselves in their photos and think, “Hey! I look great!”

Photography Integrity

As you may have experienced in your own life, we are often the most judgemental of ourselves. Our family and friends will tell us how beautiful, smart, and amazing we are, but we just don’t see it. My mission is to help my clients see themselves the way their family and friends do. This often means helping my clients heal from past hurt and preconceived expectations of how they should look compared to how they do look.

A couple of years ago, I photographed a woman who had just come out of a divorce. She was having her photo taken to celebrate a milestone birthday, but she didn’t feel particularly good about herself at the time. In her consultation, she cried to me about how much she needed this photo session in order to heal from her previous relationship which had left her with crumbled self-esteem.

Ultimately, she loved her photos, and just over one year later I was photographing her marriage to the love of her life.

When you are choosing your photographer, be sure that they make you feel comfortable and confident. Choose a photographer with integrity. They should be more dedicated to making you happy than to showing off how conventionally attractive their clients have been in the past. Here are qualities you should expect and recognize in your photographer:

• They listen to you.
• They adjust your package to suit your needs rather than forcing you into a package you don’t need or want.
• Their values with regard to tolerance and inclusion align with your own.
• When you make negative comments about yourself, they are quick to let you know that those are unnecessary.
• Their website and social media show a variety of clients. Not just the conventionally beautiful ones.
• They understand what it’s like to be insecure and in front of the camera, and they challenge themselves to do so on a regular basis. This will make them uniquely able to put your mind at ease when you’re out of your comfort zone.
• They are in photography because they love it, and because they actively seek to provide a great experience for their clients. Not because they love the glory of being an artist.
• They are open and speak up about their values, causes, and interests.
• Their contracts and invoices are clear.
• They follow up with you.

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