The quest to find a niche and a specialty is one of self-discovery and patient expectation.  That’s the polite, artsy way of saying it seems to take forever and I don’t want to wait any longer.  Sometimes it takes a step or three back to “see the forest for the trees,” so that part of the plan for this summer.  Bottom line is that the imaginary discussion taking place during REM-sleep has actually provided some humorously perfect direction.

Also, if you need a good dermatologist in the Eugene area, Jay Park is excellent – and he gives good counsel, too.

One thing I am going to do with my blog is pose questions for the tens of people who read it.  All self-deprecation aside, I think it will give me a great opportunity to peek inside the minds of you all.  Hopefully it makes me a better photographer.

Question for you — what is the #1 thing you would want your wedding or portrait photographer to understand about you before the shoot happens?

I also thought I would share a little about my approach to portraiture.  No one asked me to, but it’s a blog and you are my captive audience, so here we go    {a well placed smiley face covers a multitude of sins}

I try to listen.  That’s always my first step.  Sometimes that means reading between the lines, paying attention to the mood and tone of the conversation, or the email.  Clients don’t always know how to communicate what they want, although it is my opinion that they DO know what they want – even if they say otherwise.  Ask some questions about which images they like and which do not “do it for them” and I bet you find they start to form an opinion.  The listening is something I work hard to do through the entire session.  Occasionally a client gets adventurous and would love to try something off the wall, though they aren’t coming right out and saying it.  Sometimes their insistence that they just “don’t want serious pictures” is really an insecurity about them.  I see that as my cue as a photographer to talk them through whether they really don’t like serious images, or, perhaps, they are simply nervous about making serious faces.  At that point I always honor their preference… but not until we talk it through.  Some of my favorite serious images in my portfolio would never have happened if I didn’t give some caring encouragement.  {you know who you are}  I don’t want to force people into my favorite box, which is the moody images, I simply want to relieve self-consciousness for people.  Listening is the only way that happens.