Pre-Boda

Ellos son Itali y Victor. A Itali la conocí en uno de mis tantos cambios de carrera y de Universidad en el año 2011. Siempre ha sido una chava muy dulce y alegre; la impresión que tengo de ella es la de alguien muy positivo que atrae mucha buena vibra. Inicialmente me contactó para cubrir su boda pero lamentablemente no pude aceptar el trabajo, sin embargo, le ofrecí tomar las fotos de pre-boda y aceptó. 

Victor e Itali se conocieron en el gimnasio. De las cosas de Itali que Victor notó al instante fue el cabello tan largo y bonito que ella tiene. De ahí siguieron platicando y ahora son la pareja tan bonita que ven en las fotos.

Me da mucha satisfacción que la gente que me contacta para que trabaje con ellas se sienta con la confianza sobre mi trabajo.

Hoy (si todo sale bien) tomaré otra sesión pre-boda. Ésta tiene un valor especial para mí porque es una persona que conozco de la preparatoria y le tengo mucho aprecio. Espero poder compartir algunas fotos en estos días. 

Edit: Por alguna razón las fotos no se ven de la calidad que son. Espero poder arreglarlo pronto.

ABOUT RETURNS AND FORESTS

Nah, I'm coming back to this blog. I decided I'll keep this to post personal insights and personal photography, the other one will be related to client work mostly. Maybe at some point it'll be a fusion... I don't know, I'm confused. Anyway, I decided to embrace what I started and I started this to let out some things related to the photography field. Now, what I'm about to say now is not to crush anyone or to make bad comments about other people's work, but I've been wondering, what is it so interesting about people being photographed in the woods? I mean, seriously. Probably when it first came out it was an interesting setting for photoshoots, and I still think it's interesting for lifestyle photography since you have to focus most of the time in the person not the location (but of course you can also take full advantage of location to make the photos more interesting), but for artistic photography, I feel it's kind of dead now, unless the photographer offers something else than a girl spacing out as if she's having a spiritual encounter with Jesus H. Christ, and smoke bombs. 

Of course I'm not innocent; for some time I wanted to live or travel somewhere near the woods to emulate the same photos I'm talking about now, but after seing so many of these elements, over and over again, I find it very annoying, why? Because I feel many people are more excited about their setting engaging the viewer rather than the model or the photograph itself. I think being in the woods and having tons of smoke bombs should be used as a prop not as the main subject, and there are many ways to use them for your advantage. 

The dreamer by tyler_mcgown

Tyler's photo is a good example of how you can use these elements to make your photo more interesting rather than letting the environment and props take over it. 

Untitled by single moment

Compared to this example where there is a lot going on, the smoke bomb seems to serve no purpose other than being a distraction from an already confusing composition. It seems as if the smoke is coming from the girl's behind; again, very distracting.

For photos without a purpose, without a concept, a smoke bomb can go terribly wrong. Of course it might be appealing at the beginning since it offers an ~enigmatic~ ambience, but other than that, putting smoke bombs in your shot will not make the photo better... if not, they can only make it worse. I really don't want to be mean, again, I'm not innocent from being curious about trying to experiment with smoke bombs but if I ever do it, I'll try to use it as a prop instead of making it my focus, unless I want to do a study on smoke or gas.

So my final thoughts are:
1) Smoke bombs will not make your photo amazing.
2) Being in the woods will not make your photo instantly magical.
3) Never place your smoke bomb near someone's ass because, well, you know what happens.
4) If you happen to have smoke bombs and a forest nearby, use your props and location to your advantage, don't let these take over your photograph. Don't abuse of your elements.

SOME WORK

I wish my absence had something to do with having a lot of work but the truth is I have been lazy, very lazy. These are some shots from a client session I had yesterday. They were very nice, a little bit serious, but it was okay. I was very nervous though, it's been months since I had a paid photoshoot and felt all the pressure. It ended pretty quickly but the truth is, I had a hard time because I really tried to take them out of their comfort zone, that being, posing in front of the camera to smile. The younger brother was very helpful, that is why in some photos they look relaxed; that's what I was looking for, I loved the kid.

I'm waiting for my client to confirm these 20 photos I chose from the session because I need to print them and order the photobook, so I can start preparing the photobundle I'll give to her. I'm so nervous.

I've had other people asking for my photography services but when I tell them my prices they never reply back. The thing is, in my city the photography business is a terrible competition. While I might not be the best photographer in town, I feel that my prices are reasonable for the quality I offer, but there are other people who charge less but obviously offer lower quality services. Which is okay, I much rather have clients who really want to pay me for what I do, than people who are just feeling like I'm the only photographer they can pay. It's hard, but I hope that little by little I can start putting my work out there for people to see. I've had brides contacting me for their weddings and when I tell them I charge 500 dlls, they back off. I don't know, I seriously feel that, while I'm not super cheap, I'm not charging that much, but hey, that's okay I guess.

Demotivational charge

This week I had the fortune to have two photoshoots. The first was with a family, my cousin's family; his wife called me a month ago asking me for some pictures and I was glad enough to do it that I didn't even charge her (not even a minimal amount). Just a week ago, another cousin called me asking me for a video for his husband and some photos, again I was happy to do it since I really need some practice and portfolio material, but then it started to get me. I was thinking of the money I could have right now if these photoshoots weren't asked from family. I really enjoy taking pictures, and most of the time editing them, but I've been feeling terrible since I don't have good equipment to carry on and I really have to fight in order to get some.

These are just a few pictures I happened to like a lot from the first photoshoot:

This is my niece, she's a very shy girl. When I entered my cousin's apartment I called her a couple of times and she ran to hide behind her mother. I asked my cousin's wife if she was shy or difficult to talk to, she just told me the baby was a little bit slow in terms of socializing but sooner or later she was going to feel curiosity, so I kept talking to the baby. I tried to ask questions and tell her I knew her games, that I was a kid too, and by the end of the photoshoot she was carefree and ran to me to have her picture taken.

We went to a beautiful place near their house; I wanted it to be in natural light because I still am not very confident with flashes (also I don't own equipment), so I tried to do my best with natural light. I told them to carry things for the photoshoot, they thought these were props but my intent was to have something that they could use as distraction so the pictures would turn out more natural.

It is hard enough for me to talk to people when I'm not used to (though I'm trying and I think I'm doing a pretty decent job), so it is harder to tell them "Hey, pose like this! Do this!" so when I take pictures like these I usually start by telling people: "Talk about something funny", the rest is up to them. 

My cousins were singing songs so the baby would dance and just after her dance, she dropped a bottle of glitter. She was extremely worried and everyone was mocking her (in a friendly way of course), so expressions like these are the ones I like to capture.

I feel happy about these pictures but now that I look at them I think of many ways of doing this job better; I suppose that's how it works. So, thanks to this shoot, I got one client. Since I uploaded these photos at Facebook, my cousins friends saw them and started making positive comments about them, so, one of these friends added me and asked me how much I was charging for a photoshoot and here is where I'm having a problem:

"Professional" photographers charge around 500-700 dlls for a photoshoot in my town and since I'm not a professional (I plan to become one though), of course I can't charge that much money! Nobody would pay me that much money for my photography! When this person contacted me, I told her I would charge her 60 dlls for 200 photos per session and 30 edited photos, she said it was great and she also told me about her little niece. I told her I would charge two sessions, so I now I will have 120 dlls in my pocket, but just after I told her the price, I banged my head to the table because I just realized maybe I could've charged a little bit more. 

The thing is: How do I balance the price of what I do? I was planning to charge small amounts of money and then charging more. I even told this lady that I wasn't a professional, that I was just starting and I was going to be cheap, but I want to know what's the limit on cheap stuff? This person thought 60 dlls was great, I want to know what's the limit, if people think that, I don't know, 100 dlls is a good deal for a simple session. I guess I'll have to investigate, it'll be hard. 

It's scary to be comissioned, I'm always afraid I won't do the job well, that something will fail at the very end. I'm also afraid to reject events because I don't have the right equipment to cover it. It's shameful and that's why I don't put myself out there, trying to sell a product. I feel like I'm still inside my nest, trying to fly and people come and feed me small amounts of food because I'm really scared to be out there hunting for my own stuff. 

I guess nobody with a good advice read this, I wish someone did though because I really need guidance from someone who knows this deal and business. Still, I'm happy I will be having two photoshoots soon, aside from all my insecurities and the fact that I know I'm selling a cheap product, I'm hopeful that this will be a good impulse for something bigger.