Photography is so much about tossing out ideas to see what works and what doesn’t. The BEST part of working with Kim and now Katie is that we have someone else there to either embrace or knock down our ideas. We have a sounding board to stop us or encourage us. And sometimes just laugh at us if I’m being totally honest!
I can’t tell you how many times Kim has kept me in check! SO many times I get an idea and although it might be totally awesome I forget to think about the technical stuff like lighting/exposure/etc. and Kim will be there to remind me just WHY it wouldn’t work. OR we’ll stand there together trying to figure out how to MAKE it work!
All that to say, lots of times we just try an idea and it never sees the light of Photoshop, getting cut at the Lightroom stage. You get it off the camera, see it big on your screen and laugh to yourself like “what was I thinking?”
But then there are other times. Times when the idea might not be something we love but we wonder if our client will love it. Meaning, there are lots of shots we don’t blog simply because we don’t love them but that still make our client’s gallery b/c everyone is different and we never know what they will truly love. This is a HARD industry because it’s so much a matter of taste! What one person loves another person may hate!
Once I saw a comment thread about Carrie Sandoval’s work being grotesque because it looked like she was posing dead babies since they were sleeping. Um WHAT? I read the entire thing and was in SUCH shock because people had thoughts I had NEVER considered about our work as newborn photographers! Shock isn’t even strong enough of a word! But it just goes to show that everyone has a different opinion! And please know Kim and I adore Carrie’s work! Just so we’re clear! HA!
ANYWAY!
I wanted to share this because I love hearing about other photographer’s process as they work! So here’s how we got this shot…
It started because we had the idea to include Lucy’s little baby shoes in a shot. SO we lined them up and got this…
Do you see those sweet little pink blobs?
Yeah. They didn’t really add much to the shot, in fact, they kind of took away from it because it’s hard to tell what they are. And Noah is so stinking cute that the focus is instantly on him anyway!
So a little editing and shoes? What shoes?
Now it’s all about Noah!
BUT, what if Emily really loves the shoes? That’s why sometimes we give our clients an option we may not ever let see the blog! And sometimes, LOTS of times actually, we trash an idea before we even start editing.
So what’s your process? Do you ever give your clients something that’s not 100% YOU? Do you have tons of ideas and only some totally rock? The process of brain storming and idea tossing and collaborating is probably my favorite part of working with Kim (and now Katie too!). It’s exhilarating and makes everything more exciting and fun!