One of the things I love about portrait photography is how it allows me to marry so many different areas of my studies and passions within photography. The first thing that really drew me in to photography was the old images of the Great West by Ansel Adam and Edward Weston. I loved the way their landscapes drew me in to a land that I had never seen before and may not even exist anymore. I then fell in love with the street work of Diane Arbus loving how much passion she put into every portrait and how much of herself she poured into her work. As my education continued I became obsessed with the fashion photographers of the 60's like Avedon and Penn and was enamored by their ability to create these amazing moments out of nothing. In my last couple years at NYU my attention turned towards documentary and the impact that a photograph could have. I started following the work of amazing documentary photographers like Sebastiao Salgado, Joel Sartore, Tyler Hicks and Ed Kashi whose work was literally changing the world by showing us amazing people, landscapes and wildlife all in need of our attention. It was an almost full circle education starting from a place of wonder and enchantment ending in learning how to preserve the wonder in our world and help others find it (although an education never really ends and I continue to learn and be inspired almost everyday).
When I take a portrait I get to incorporate little pieces of everything I've learned over the years mixing a little fashion with documentary and sometimes even some landscape and nature too. One of my favorite things to shoot is families. Whether it is a couple just engaged starting a new family together, or a family with a few kids celebrating a holiday I absolutely love being welcomed in to a family for a day and getting to document their memories. For newborns and babies I love shooting in the studio and getting those fun quirky baby moments, but after about one-year-old I love to get families outside of the studio and shoot real moments.
When I was little my parents never really got any professional pictures taken of us. I would see my friend's family portraits and they seemed so awkward, formal and staged. Even now looking back at them all dressed up in frilly costumes with fake smiles plastered on their faces we laugh at the pictures and say things like "OMG I can't believe your mom made you do that." That is not the kind of portrait I ever want to make! So if you are looking for that I am not your gal! I watched an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras the other day for the first time and it just made me so sad! These kids made to look like dolls and smile for the camera- that is not real and it is certainly not what I would want to remember! My goal is always to get real moments. Real memories. I want to give my clients the fun unstaged photos my parents took of me and my sister (except the pictures I take are in focus, composed and have proper light unlike the ones from when I was a kid- sorry mom and dad).
I read
this amazing letter a couple weeks ago about the power of a family portrait and cherishing memories and it really hit home to me the importance of a great portrait. Yes Sears or JCPenny may have a portrait studio where you can go get a family portrait done with prints and files for $99, but what you are getting compared to what you get when you hire a professional is like comparing apples and oranges. I have clients ask me all the time why portrait photographers rates are so expensive. The answer is really long and if you want a great in depth article about it I suggest heading over to this
amazing article written by Marianne Drenthe. To begin with there is the equipment cost, which with cameras, lenses, maintenance, computers, monitors, software and props can easily run you about $30,000. Not to mention the approximately $175,000 of tuition for a fine art or photography degree if you want a properly trained artist taking your photos. Then there is the matter of time. I may only spend a couple of hours actually with the client taking photos, but there is also:
- booking time: 30 minutes to one hour (client contact time + paperwork)
- pre-session prep time (30 mins – 1 hour, includes equipment and back up equipment checks)
- one hour travel time TO session
- 15-30 minutes prep time at client's home or location
- 90 minutes-2 hours with client photographing subject
- one hour travel time FROM session
- 30-45 minutes uploading time from digital cards from camera to computer
- 30-45 minutes time spent backing up the original images
- 5-8 hours editing time to present you with a diverse gallery of edited images
- 1 hour prep time getting ready for ordering
- 1-3 hour of emails and meetings with client about order
- 1 hour sorting through and checking order
- 30 minutes-1 hour prep time for delivery
- 30 minutes-1 hour getting order shipped
- any additional phone time or time needed for add on ordering, shipment issues, quality issues
That can easily add up to 20+ hours working on 1 client's shoot. Many photographers spend about 2-4 hours editing the images, but I spend an average of 8 meticulously doing post production on each and every photo I show you. Some photographers will only do this to a couple as examples, but I want each and every image I deliver to a client to make them smile and to be something I am proud of so I will spend hours upon hours making sure everything is perfect.
Below are two examples of photos I love from recent shoots in New York and LA.
Now below are examples of the before and after:
Yes anyone with a dslr camera these days can take a decent picture. And a lot of people these days even have photoshop and can try and do post production, but if you really look at the images out there you will see a difference. If you look on craigslist and see a photographer for $99- look at his/her stuff there is a reason the price is that low. If a photographer is charging $350 for a wedding there is a reason- you are not getting an experienced professional, you are getting someone bored looking to make some money with a camera. There is so much that goes into making a portrait, because really a family portrait is more than just a picture it is a memory and if done right it is something you will have for the rest of your life. After all doesn't everyone always say when the house is burning down the first thing you grab is the family pictures? So it's my job to make sure those pictures are awesome and I got to say it's a pretty cool job.
