Lots of hate going around the internet these days. Orange County wedding photographer Becker won the PDN award for “most influential photographer of this decade”, and people cut him to pieces because his work isn’t influential enough for them. Even though, in the photography industry at least, Becker as a person is BY FAR one of the most influential leaders out there and is in my opinion the main catalyst of positive industry change. ~10 years ago he took the cold-shoulder mentality that other pros brushed him off with, and used that to fuel his efforts to create COMMUNITY and friendliness amongst even competing professionals.
One thing I learned, (maybe from Becker?!) is that your energy is in limited supply each day. Consider each emotion or action throughout the day as if you’re spending a dollar. And you only have so many dollars. Life is short, energy is precious, so why spend your energy on negativity? It serves no purpose. Well maybe it serves a purpose for people who need to release their anger regularly, to vent frustration or something. They say it’s not good to bottle up anger. But bottom line, hate mail is just a bad habit that needs to be kicked. If you’ve got anger to vent, take up boxing.
Anywho I got my own “hate mail” the other day. On my blog actually, next post down, go ahead and read it! Someone named Michael called my recent images “fake”, because they were staged photos of models. Thanks for the opinion! You’re right, I’ve been posting a lot of Photog Shootout events lately, and not many real weddings. Oops! Sue me. It’s winter time, how many weddings are YOU shooting in December / January? ;-)
It wouldn’t feel right if I just deleted the comment and censored people’s opinion of my photography, so instead I’m going to take a minute to at least mention WHY I shoot photos together with other photographers in a “staged” environment. Oh, and I’ll be posting portraits from all of my REAL 2009 weddings. So eat your heart out, Mike!
Alright… (Oh by the way- Click on my website. The photos in my main portfolio are ALWAYS real-world clients. I don’t believe in using modeled portraits to sway potential clients who are about to hire me; I only ever use on-the-job wedding photos. Modeled portraits are strictly a blog, Facebook, and “for photographers” thing… (Apart from ONE of my favorite images of Rachel Amara, a friend who models for me regularly just because we enjoy shooting together. To view her PRIVATE portfolio, click here…)
1.) I enjoy shooting with friends. And I can’t exactly have 10 friends tag along at all my weddings, can I?
2.) Practice makes perfect. Especially during the winter when there are as few as 0-2 weddings a month, you gotta stay sharp. I’d NEVER let myself go from November to March without shooting some portraits!
3.) As a leader of the Photog Shootout community on Facebook, I attend a LOT of photo shoots. Plain and simple, I have been blessed with the opportunity to do LOTS of photo shoots, with LOTS of friends.
Looking back over my 2009 year, I’m really happy with the images. More importantly, my clients are happy! I hope that a similar thread of quality and style can be seen in all my images, which to an extent I’ll consider a good thing. When a bride and groom hire me, they know what they’re getting- awesome photos! Of course there’s always room for improvement, and one should always stretch upward to that next level. 2010 will be better than 2009. Just like 2009 was better than 2008, and 2008 was better than 2007… But here’s 2009. Thank you, to all the couples who hired me and let me be a part of their amazing weddings! Each one was truly memorable, and I say that sincerely. To me each wedding day is such an adventure, I feel totally pumped each time I show up, pull out my cameras, and go to work.
I have many goals for 2010- venues I want to shoot at again, new locations and ideas I’d like to try out… And of course behind the images I’ve got a few changes planned for my workflow and business. Branding is getting tightened up, slowly but surely, and I’m also going to have a helper or two with client correspondence, paperwork, and album design.
…Okay I’m done typing, this is getting un-exciting. Photos, then I have other work to do. Without any further ado, here’s 2009 in review! (Remember, these are real brides and grooms, and in numerous instances we had no more than 5-15 minutes to knock out the wedding portraits! I hope you think I rocked ‘em…)
Take care,
=Matt=
by Matthew Saville
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