Throwback Thursday - The Epic Journey | Georgia Portrait Photographer
This is a public announcement.
I am apologizing to my clients that booked me in the year 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013.
I am SO sorry that you had to endure my poor camera and editing skills. I am sure at the time you thought I knew what I was doing. But the truth is...I had no idea what I was doing. As I look back on the past 6 years of calling myself a photographer, I can't help but cringe at the fads, phases and downright ignorance I had in my starting years. I am going to share with you all an epic "Throwback Thursday" and hopefully you all will cringe, laugh and be totally thankful that I have used the past 6 years to grow into a better photographer!
So continue below at your own risk. I promise it gets better at the end! =)
There I was, circa 2010 with my converse, bomber jacket and way too much eye liner. Slinging my nifty Nikon point & shoot around my neck. I was a fresh, bright-eyed new photographer about to take on the world! I thought I was the bomb and that I surely didn't need any help or training in my new found endeavor. Google and YouTube were my best friends and I used this awesome photo editor called Picnik, (who here remembers that!!) I booked my sessions and snapped away! Were they in focus? Who knows! Were my horizons straight and did I have enough white space? Probably not. I pointed the camera, I shot the camera and I slapped a "vintage" filter on the image and called it a day!
circa 2010
Lets fast forward to 2011 - 2012. I purchased my very first DSLR, the Nikon D5100 with a kit lens. I now was using Photoshop for editing and I had this thing for hazy, brown and lifeless edits. Literally, I took my black and white image and made them brown!! Then I seemed to have loved this look SO much that I edited everything that way. *face palm*
circa 2011
circa 2012
Now in the year 2013 there were career changing AND life changing moments that really made a difference on how I worked and edited! The image posted below was one of my prized images. It was the "best of the best" and I was sure I was on the right track! So, with as much confidence as I could muster, I submitted this image to a professional photographer that I have been following and looking up to for years. .
circa 2013
Guess what? She responded...
"...I took a look at your work and I am sorry to say that it appears you are not a professional photographer, my suggestion is before you venture out and ask anyone else what you asked me, become seasoned..."
I was heartbroken. I was angry. I mean seriously! Who did this lady think she was!! (Insert sarcasm) - Just because you have over a million followers and you have awards for your trade DOES NOT mean you know what you are talking about and can tell me I am not of the same caliper.
I thought she was rude, I thought she could have just lied and said I was great. But the truth is, she did me a favor. After that short conversation with her, (note: the conversation went on past the above, but it wasn't any less harsh) I sat down and re-thought everything. Was this something that I loved enough to get out of my own way and learn the trade the right way? Was it worth it?
My answer? YES!
circa 2014
Now I wish I could tell you from this point on I was awesome, but sadly the awesomeness took some time. I got a new DSLR, the Nikon D7100 and I learned how to shoot in manual mode. I took classes. I read books. I learned and absorbed as much as I possibly could.
From 2014 to mid 2015 I worked hard. I tried different editing styles, I succeeded and I failed a lot. I went from out of focus and lifeless images, to overly sharp and really light images.
circa 2015
Here we are at the end of 2015 to the brand new year of 2016. You have cringed and enjoyed a little taste of my photography journey. At the end of 2015 I got my beautiful Nikon D750 and I finally got into my defined style of Fine Art & Documentary photography.
Now I do want to take a moment and THANK you all.
Thank you to all my awesome and wonderful clients and supporters who endured this journey with me. Some of you have been life long clients who I love to the moon and back! Some of you may be just starting out in the photography industry and you may think you are already amazing or you may be feeling overwhelmed. Just know that we all start somewhere and you WILL get better! Listen to your peers, never stop learning and practice, practice, practice!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read! Now, I did promise that the end would be better. So come and enjoy some of my most favorite images from the end of 2015 to now. =)
