Yervant said something in a course recently that is absolutely true. We shoot they way we see the world. People can copy what we do, they can try to post process to get similar effects, but they'll never quite get it. Because no two people are the same. So yes, people can copy, but it'll just be a copy.
Cameras are advanced. So advanced that they can set up shots, seek out people and even follow them around the room. Anyone can take a wonderful shot. Anyone can set up a 'canned' pose, you know, those poses that everyone wants at a wedding or portrait shoot. Like formals, the wedding party jumping, rings, details, candids, the flowers on the train, etc.. At the big store photo studios, it's close-up, head and shoulders, 3/4, full length, full length different angle, sitting looking behind you, 'connection' pose - looking away from the camera. Don't get me wrong, they look very nice and they sell. But does it take talent to take them with the technology that's out there? No, not really. The camera will do most of this work for you and when you can hit the shutter 100 times, at least one will turn out.
So why hire me or another photographer? Well you don't have to. Is it prestige? 'Ooh, I have Joe Buissink and paid $100,000 (my made up number) for him to shoot my wedding and he shoots film, and digital and movie stars, and aren't I rich and special.' Well maybe. But more than likely its because of his amazingly beautiful images, that's why the stars hire him. Your cousin, armed with one of the new fancy cameras, might take nice images, but she or he won't take them the same as Joe. Only Joe can shoot the world like Joe sees it. Only Joe can put his emotion into his photos. And only Joe can tell your story the way Joe does. And people pay Joe very well for for that vision. Only Yervant can tell your story like Yervant. Only Parish can tell a story like Parish. And only I can tell a story like me.
I see the world, like you see in my portfolio. So yes, that is the style you will get. All the time. That is what you pay me for, to tell the story and to interpret that story with photography. The way I see it. I shoot from my heart, how I feel at that moment. No one can copy me and I can't copy someone else, nor would I want to.
You hire a photographer for how they interpret your story. How they can tell your story through film or pixels. Find a photographer whose story telling you love and you can't go wrong.
No two people see the world the same. A machine can't duplicate the emotion, interpretation, and story telling that each photographer puts into an image.
Light is our paint, and the Camera is our brush.
With love and light, and, love of light,
G
georgeMetzler Photographer.
putting the Hot back in photography.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Restructuring and Refocusing
Wow, it's been a long time since I've Blogged.
What I've been up to in the last year or so: a couple of weddings, a few portraits, a few fashion shoots, and a swack of 'for me' stuff. Not terribly much. I've been trying to find my focus, my voice, my direction. What kind of photographer am I? Who do I want to shoot? and Why do I want to shoot it? It has been a bevy of courses and soul searching. All in the name of finding my direction.
What kind of photographer am I? I'm a Fashion, Beauty and Editorial Photographer. This was a struggle to define. I enjoy so many different types of topics and types of photography and I dabble in all of them. Which is why I originally thought Wedding Photography would be the perfect fit. Then I took a Matthew Jordan Smith course with CreativeLive on Fashion and Beauty Shooting a couple of weeks ago. When he told of how he comes up with story ideas and storyboards and picking the 'hero' of the story and how he composes and why, well, it was like he was describing what I love to do and why I do it. Model shoots with Stories are my passion. I even design and create costumes so they can be 'just right'. It felt like the puzzle piece just slipped into place.
Who do I want to Shoot? I could do commercial, and probably will, but my main focus is going to be creating Fashion stories for everyday women like you and me. I don't want to say "Glamour" because that brings images of overly made up, fluffy haired, over airbrushed/soft focused 80's Glamour portraits. Yea, um, no. Not that. What I'm shooting for are more Fashion/Beauty, Burlesque-esque sometimes, but not Boudoir; think Old Hollywood Glamour. On location or at your house.
Why do I want to shoot it? I think Boudoir does give women an ego boost. It shows women that they're sexy and playful and sassy and mysterious and all those wonderful things that, well, we all are. But there are lots of wonderful Boudoir Photographers in Calgary. I want the same feeling, the same ego boost for my clients, but I wanted to do something a little different. Something that could be hung on your living room wall or sit on your husbands desk for all to see and say 'wow'. Fashion and Beauty: Art with you as the star, showing the world just how beautiful you truly are.
What I've been up to in the last year or so: a couple of weddings, a few portraits, a few fashion shoots, and a swack of 'for me' stuff. Not terribly much. I've been trying to find my focus, my voice, my direction. What kind of photographer am I? Who do I want to shoot? and Why do I want to shoot it? It has been a bevy of courses and soul searching. All in the name of finding my direction.
What kind of photographer am I? I'm a Fashion, Beauty and Editorial Photographer. This was a struggle to define. I enjoy so many different types of topics and types of photography and I dabble in all of them. Which is why I originally thought Wedding Photography would be the perfect fit. Then I took a Matthew Jordan Smith course with CreativeLive on Fashion and Beauty Shooting a couple of weeks ago. When he told of how he comes up with story ideas and storyboards and picking the 'hero' of the story and how he composes and why, well, it was like he was describing what I love to do and why I do it. Model shoots with Stories are my passion. I even design and create costumes so they can be 'just right'. It felt like the puzzle piece just slipped into place.
Who do I want to Shoot? I could do commercial, and probably will, but my main focus is going to be creating Fashion stories for everyday women like you and me. I don't want to say "Glamour" because that brings images of overly made up, fluffy haired, over airbrushed/soft focused 80's Glamour portraits. Yea, um, no. Not that. What I'm shooting for are more Fashion/Beauty, Burlesque-esque sometimes, but not Boudoir; think Old Hollywood Glamour. On location or at your house.
Why do I want to shoot it? I think Boudoir does give women an ego boost. It shows women that they're sexy and playful and sassy and mysterious and all those wonderful things that, well, we all are. But there are lots of wonderful Boudoir Photographers in Calgary. I want the same feeling, the same ego boost for my clients, but I wanted to do something a little different. Something that could be hung on your living room wall or sit on your husbands desk for all to see and say 'wow'. Fashion and Beauty: Art with you as the star, showing the world just how beautiful you truly are.
Think...
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