Two for one!

Hi!  So your probably scratching your head on the two for one title...  Ill explain. I thought it would be much easier to compile two topics into one blog post, saves me time and maybe you some time :) But I think both are equally good to read.   I will start off on a Mini title of " How I got started" I think everyone likes to read about a photographer and how they got started.... right?... well maybe just the photographer who's in your area and offers photography services.

I'm willing to share my mini novel on how I got started. By the way I kind of talk about it a little on my website in the about me section.. that's also a novel beware :) Some people wouldn't put an about me on their website as long as mine but I think its good to know the person your hiring on to do your photographs!    I started out with a Kodak 8 or 10 mega pixel point and click camera that really only fends for itself by pre programed settings depending on what you were photographing. What it was pretty much doing was the camera is picking and choosing the right setting according to your selection. Anyways I got into the little things like trying to correctly set the kids together to get a somewhat good shot so I could show family, choosing what to photograph at what angle, what was pretty in my eyes and what was just plain ugly.. from there I started to do unique things like photographing the small details of things like an over head shot of my daughter holding a redish orange leaf in her hands that just seemed as if it didn't have a crinkle on it and the fall day light was perfect. After doing these things for a while and just packing around my little camera; my mother law had always lugged around her DSLR camera that she was so famous for using ALL the time and I mean all the time.. not that that is a bad thing, its actually good because she got a lot of good shots because of her consistency to wear that thing around her neck like Jay Z wears his bling around his neck... but back to the fact that this is who really truly introduced me into the life of the DSLR cameras. My mother in law Ann opened that door for me the day she was holding my newborn daughter Karlee back in 2006, she said " here look through the view finder and it will automatically adjust the lens and just push the button" this is while she was holding my daughter over her shoulder sleeping... As soon as I took a few shots I was pleasantly surprised that I could definitely use one of these cameras and thought I just took some amazing pictures! After those pictures one of them was her favorite and it looked just right so from there she printed and framed the picture for keeps.   If I were to have been in a store before when I owned my little what I thought was the best thing on earth Kodak camera and would have even looked in the direction of those big hunky DSLR cams I was immediately intimidated by them and  walked the other way!  but because of Ann she has opened and encouraged a spot for photography in my life, though I never really thought I would eventually want to offer it to the locals in my area it has blossomed that far because of her willingness to share and encourage and show me/teach me all about the cameras other than the manuals themselves fresh out of the box! My desire for a DSLR was strong and eventually was given one by my wonderful husband who also had faith in me to take on more than just a Kodak and no editing skill what so ever.My ability to photograph has always been a natural one but the skill of mastering photo shop is still a work in progress! I have learned much but certainly not all of everything in adobe or at least how to do it along with everything that goes into photography itself... this is why I am glad to say or proud to say I am self taught! getting a degree in it or taking some classes in it is never a bad thing.. I'm considering it just because!  

So this is really how I got started, it might sound kind of not so fascinating but to me its everything, it does mean much to me because I wouldn't be here typing if that one little sentence Ann had said and all the encouraging that she gave along with it. So if Photography is something you TRULY love with your little heart then do it and take the advice many have given to me and I will now give to you.. Keep it up and keep practicing.. If your looking to make a lot of money off it fast ... good luck.  Some of the Professional photographers I have spoken to have said to me its not always about the equipment you have its more about what you know. So with that said learn it up, teach yourself , read, ask and study!   

So what about the other half of this post... oh yes more photography talk!  

Am I a business or a brand? No one has really ever asked me that before but I thought about it and kind of sort of asked myself upon this one. I would have to say that I don't think I'm really a business but I think of myself more of  a brand of photography. I say this because in the state I live in, if you make less than I believe 10- 20 thousand dollars a year off of photography then you really need not to apply for a business license though you are permitted to do to reserve the name even though you are not paying taxes out. In this case that is not the dollar amount I have made! I hope one day photography can bring me to those heights! Under state law if your under that money bracket then your just considered a paid hobbyist or just a hobbyist.   Some people have asked me how I started my own business, again I really don't think of myself in that manner even though I use marketing like listing sites to get myself out there and I carry a business card with my information on them, I believe that I'm just another brand who is bringing what I have to the table if you will because every one is creatively different and unique. I recently have gotten a email of hate against the sole fact that they think I'm running a business that was not anywhere near the level of professional and they also didn't forget to mention that "did you know fact" of 90% Photography businesses fail within the first 5 years?. My response to that was that I never thought or stated I was a business but really just another brand of photography offering what I have at a professional level that is off of what I have done so far and had pleased many. I know I'm not a photographer who works for Elle magazine or anything BUT I know a lot because of my willingness or more like discipline to teach myself on the matter of photography So am I a business? no, a self taught brand of photography? YES! .. this sums up this blog for me again and as always I hope you have enjoyed!   

Vee