Live and Learn, everyday!

So it has taken me a while to figure out exactly how I wanted to say everything I have to say for this blog post. First of all, anything I say is not meant to offend anyone. I am simply talking about my experiences and things that I have learned over the past few months while being in the photography industry. I have learned so much in a short time, and have met some wonderful people who have helped me finally feel confident enough to write about this.

"Why is everyone copying me??"
This question is a common question that I have heard from quite a few photographers. We spend all this time thinking of new ideas and concepts to use for our sessions. Things that we really feel are showing a new side to our creativity, things that we feel really sets us apart from the other 100 photographers in our area (okay, maybe there aren't that many other photographers in your area, but it sure feels like it can be that way). You get done with the session, you post the previews on your blog or on Facebook and anxiously wait for all of the comments praising your abilities. You feel great and proud of yourself for doing something new, and you should! And then.. a few days/ weeks later you happen to come across another page for a local photographer and your jaw drops. They have the same prop, in the same location, and even attempted to shoot from the same angle (or so it appears). That sucks. All of a sudden that feeling of originality that you keep so close to your heart slips away and now you feel as if someone is stealing your thunder. Okay now maybe its not as dramatic as how I described, but it could be. I have seen so many different photographers complain about this very circumstance. Now, I can understand in some cases where it continually happens and its by the same person, that it can get a little frustrating.. but please try to remember, this isn't always the case. So many things become a trend in photography. You may think you are being original, but now with the power of google and pinterest (or probably just the internet in general) it is rare to think of original ideas that have never been done before. If your inspiration is coming from something online, then it isn't original! I know how hard it can be when you see someone else imitating what you feel is your idea, but please try to not put so much focus on it. Its going to happen sometime during your journey of being a photographer. Even when people try to really copy everything you have done in a shot, its still impossible to get the same look and feel. The only thing that can be original and unique in photography is YOU. Which leads me to my next topic....

"I just want to be myself..."
I have seen so many people struggle with what exactly they want to accomplish by being a photographer. Some do it for fun, others do it for money, and some do it for both fun and money. Its so exciting when you first start and you are ready to take on any session you can get. You start promoting, you do sessions for free or dirt cheap to help build your portfolio. Some take on too much and never have the time to really get to know what they want to do. I really feel its important to take the time and experience different types of sessions to figure out what you can/ want to do and what you can't/ don't want to do.  When I first started I did all of this- the free/ cheap sessions (still do sometimes!), took on everything that came my way, and was more focused on the fact that I could be making money with this skill rather than doing it because I loved it. Which is normal, you start up a new business and of course your main motivator is going to be money. Business=Money. And it was stressful.. I kept thinking that when people weren't booking it meant they didn't like my work. I couldn't understand why people weren't booking.
Was I not advertising right? Was I trying to reach the wrong market? Did I just suck at photography? What was going on?! I saw people booking with all of these other photographers that I felt my work was just as good as, but why them and not me? Well sad to say this thinking is typical of me.. I expect things to just work and go the way I plan of course. Haha. So I moped for a while and then all of a sudden one day it clicked. (haha get it, clicked, like a camera.. ok done with corny jokes). I thought about all of the things I REALLY want to accomplish by being a photographer, and none of the things involved me making a bunch of money. So once I took the "all-business mentality" I had, out of my business, all of the stress went away. Now I'm not saying stop thinking about making money, because if this is what you do for an income of course you will think about that. What I am saying is I stopped looking at money as a main motivator for what you do. In art there is no way money can be your inspiration. It has to be something else. It has to be a feeling or a memory, something that can stay with you no matter what. Money will come and go, but I really feel that you can't truly grow as an artist until you stop looking at money as your main motivator. As soon as I stopped trying to sell my service I really feel I learned so much about what I truly want to do as an artist. I have decided this is not a competition, I am not doing this to compete with anyone else and try to get as many customers as I can. I want people to come to me because they actually like my work, not because my prices are good. If we can all get back to what it is we love so much about photography, it will show in our work and the money will come with the customers that love our work so much. Just be you and do what you love, that's what this is about!!

Once again, these are my opinions based off of my personal experiences and may not be your idea of how things are and that is okay :-) Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and please feel free to leave any comments you may have! (please keep it constructive and positive) <3

Sincerly,
Amber Tyler
Owner/ Designer/ Photographer