I had an interesting e-mail the other day. It was a simple inquiry about family portraits. Without a phone number to call, we exchanged a few messages where I gave a few helpful preparation tips and I answered a few questions . In one of the messages, the statement arose, “Sounds good. You must be a real photographer!”
I was a little confused at first by the statement. “Of course I’m a real photographer,” I thought. Quickly though, I realized what she meant after re-examining some of the messages. Amidst all of her questions, she mentioned how she has been unhappy in the past with how her family photos have turned out. I think I must have put her mind at ease somewhere along the way. But still, the line, “You must be a real photographer,” continued to make waves in my mind.
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I have been in this profession for 11 years now. It’s so much fun meeting and working with great people that I rarely feel like I’m working. I feel very blessed for that fact! In the passed 11 years, I’ve noticed how quickly the trends change in my industry and how many copycats there really are and how many, for lack of a better word, wannabes there really are too. Oftentimes, my wife will show me a few pictures on her phone while perusing Facebook.
“Are these good?” she’ll ask. Sadly, not many of them are (in my humble opinion).
“Notice how the lighting is yadda yadda yadda and the lack of care with the clothing yadda yadda yadda and how unflattering the body position is yadda yadda yadda,” this is when my wife usually zones out and thinks about what she wants me to buy her for Christmas or what she’s going to wear for work the next day. Who knows.
I guess my main point is that in the photography industry, the number of “photographers” out there is simply HUGE. So huge that I think the public’s perception of quality has been brutally attacked and the people taking photos aren’t any different really. Forgive me if I seem like I hate every other photographer in existence; that isn’t so at all. There’s a lot of talent out there and much to be inspired from. I do not wish to bash anyone out there at all. The sentence, “You must be a real photographer,” I think just further revealed to me that it is NOT easy for the consumer to find a quality, professional photographer these days.
So I got thinking, what is it the amateur photographers lack that true, quality professionals do not?
Could it be knowledge? Knowledge of the nature of light, proper body positioning, refining and posing, customer service/experience, proper display options, etc. etc. I think those all count but I think if I could point to one glaring difference: VISION.
As I said before, my wife shows me photos on her phone that pop up on her Facebook news feed. I can’t remember many times where the imagery was recognizable as one specific photographer’s work over another. The amount of copying and replication for what someone else did is never ending. I have never wanted to be the next Drake Busath, Van Frazier, William McIntosh, Monte Zucker, Clay Blackmore, Jeremy Cowart, Tim Schooler, Greg Gorman Fuzzy Duenkel……. even though these are all photographers in the U.S. that I admire very much. I can only be me. Nate Grant. I think that’s definitely one thing that separates myself from others in town. When you have a portrait created by myself, you know it’s from me. My portraits…are me. 🙂
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