It’s the first week of March and, for photographers that means one thing:
We are all really, really, reeeeeally ready to shoot.
Though I’m sure it’s different in different areas, my shooting off season is December to March. In those months, I may shoot a couple of weddings or a couple of portrait sessions but, mostly these months are really low key when compared to my high paced wedding and portrait seasons (I’m looking at you mid-March to mid-July and early September to late November). The past few months, I’ve had a lot of meetings and a lot of marathon emailing sessions and I’ve done a lot of mentoring sessions and written a lot of text for blogs and magazines and talked myself blue in the face about photography but, at the same time, I’ve been shooting way less than usual. Now that it’s March, I am bursting – BURSTING! – at the seams to get out there and photograph so many different things.
So! Since I know I’m not the only one in this boat, I thought it would be fun to share three different ways that I keep my work fresh in both down times and insanely busy times. Let’s get started!!
One: Keep Your Eyes Open!
There are so many opportunities and places and people and ideas to photograph but, sometimes, it’s easy to get stuck photographing the same thing over and over again. Every once in a while, I love to repeat locations (for example, the photo below of Kelly was taken at one of the same locations used for Megan’s senior photographs) and I definitely have favorite spots but, most of the time, it’s good to shake things up. Your locations and your ideas are just as unique as the people in your photographs and, because of this, there are a crazy amount of opportunities for each and every session. Keep your eyes open when planning your session and when shooting your session! There are countless opportunities in every single session to highlight your subject’s personality and also countless opportunities to take a creative chance and have an awesome time making fresh, unique, and crazy good photographs.
Two: Break Out of Your Comfort Zone!
If you have always wanted to photograph a bride standing in the middle of a forest but are worried about bugs, photograph the bride in the forest anyway! If you have wanted to try making a flower crown but don’t feel crafty enough, try to make one anyway! If you have always wanted to try prisming or shooting through things or freelensing, try them! There are so many doors in photography and, while some photographers shoot creatively by shooting through broken lenses or with tilt shift lenses, others shoot creatively by shooting intensely styled shoots and others shoot creatively by photographing the simplest, most beautiful details and others shoot creatively by breaking countless other boundaries. Photography is limitless this way – there are so many different things each photographer can learn and so many risks every photographer can take.
Here’s a little story: I am terribly afraid of horses and have been for, like, all of my life. But! I also think that horses are gorgeous and I absolutely love the connection that horses have with their owners. It’s beautiful! So! Despite my fears, I’ve done several shoots with horses – one with Zahara that you can see here – and, even though I was (literally) shaking in my boots at every single one of these sessions, every single second of my discomfort was worth those photographs and, even more than the photographs, it was worth breaking out of my comfort zone so that I knew I could continue to push myself in ways I never thought possible. Once you start breaking your own limits, you’ll feel more liberated than you ever could have imagined and, as a result, your photographs will skyrocke. There are a lot of chances to take risks in photography. Take them!!
Three: Be True to Yourself!
I know. It’s the cheesiest saying ever but it’s also insanely true.
Photography is about people and, if photographs are shot with true intention, the photographer’s personality is going to come out in their photographs. If you don’t want to photograph people wearing matching white shirts, don’t photograph people wearing white shirts. If you don’t want to photograph a bride standing in 500 flowers, don’t photograph a bride standing in 500 flowers. But! If you do want to photograph a couple sitting in a cafe or a senior reading a bunch of books, photograph them! If you want to photograph a baby laying down in a wreath of flowers, photograph that baby! You are in charge of your photography and, because of this, it is so important to be true to yourself. And bonus! The more you push yourself and embrace your personal style, the better your photographs are going to be. There’s no way to escape that and, luckily, it’s like the best thing ever.
There are so many ways to keep your photography fresh and, if you keep your eyes open for opportunities, break out of your comfort zone, and stay true to yourself, your photography will feel fresh and unique. While it’s easy to become complacent about your work or get comfortable with the level of images you’re creating, I think that it is so important to constantly push yourself harder and create the best images possible for yourself and for each and every one of your clients, too. Keep those photographs fresh, y’all! Your work will skyrocket if you do so!
Here’s to kicking off the Shooting Season of 2015! I cannot even wait for it!!
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* Lissa Chandler is a creative portrait and wedding photographer in Northwest Arkansas who specializes in lifestyle family, senior portrait and wedding photography. Lissa is known for creative and emotive photography in Northwest Arkansas and currently lives in Fayetteville with her family: a husband who is making waffles, a four year old who is flying airplanes and talking about his favorite colors (white! black! green! orange!), and a two year old who is running around in a 12 month dragon costume screaming “I’m Zack!” like the green side of the two-headed dragon on Dragon Tales. Lissa is currently booking 2015 Spring Senior Sessions, 2015 & 2016 Weddings, and 2015 Lifestyle Newborn and Family Sessions in Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, and all of NWA. She is available for wedding work nationwide. *