Over the last two days, I have been taking the Badass Class with a few other local photographers. The teachers, Sergio and Kelly, are from Arizona and are simply fabulous people. I met them at a photography conference a couple years ago, got to know them better at last year’s conference in New Orleans, and now will run up and hug them whenever I see them =)
I was excited to take this class. I was excited to learn a new techniques and to have our website and work critiqued. I was excited to have a couple days where I thought of nothing but photography. I was excited to have this jump start to our wedding season since we have a lot of unique weddings this year. When one of the first slides Sergio presented said, “it’s not about your camera” I got giddy. It was so refreshing to hear about how you have to photograph with your heart as well as your eyes and that your attitude matters as well.
One thing that I heard a couple times in this class by different people was that they were surprised to see Studio Laguna’s work. This has also been echoed by peers of ours in the wedding community. That we’re better or different than they thought we’d be. I need to change that. I think that I’m so worried about being seen as conceited or self centered, that it is coming across to others as a lack of confidence.
There are a LOT of really good photographers in the Twin Cities, and we’re proud to be a part of that group. And now this class has made me more confident to step into our own niche.
I’ve already made some changes to our website this year (showing more of the images we love versus the images I thought others might like) and after the class I immediately made changes to our home page and About Us page. I think there will be even more reworking of the types of images you will see in the galleries and I will start blogging a tad different as well.
I learned to BREATHE while shooting…to stop thinking about the next shot…to stop worrying about all that is around me and just take a moment to get the shot right. That 20 ok images isn’t as good as 1 amazing image. It is going to change how we shoot, not only our techniques but our mindset.
This class has helped me get the guts I needed to step outside of the box and just be our crazy selves. And now I can shoot off camera flash like no one’s business 🙂
You go girl!!! I am so excited for you and I can’t wait to see what comes when you let go and let yourself out!!!
Your work IS good. I’ve been following you for awhile (as evidenced by the minneapolis skyline pic I pinned on Pinterest awhile ago that you recently commented on) because I love your work. Why did people think Studio Laguna work wouldn’t be good? Do you talk your work down to lower expectations?
Mostly, I just wanted to comment to say that I like the layout of your recent blog posts that have the pictures enlarged rather than the thumbnails. I’m not sure if that’s a product of this Badass class or not. Your readers don’t get a wow factor from thumbnails like they do when they can scroll through lots of already visible photographs. Just wanted to voice my opinion and encourage you to keep the new method!
Denise,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I think people are surprised when they see our work because I don’t talk about it much. I don’t talk about how I would be perfect for their needs or how my work is better than others. I talk about other people, not myself. I’m realizing that by saying, “yeah, we’re ok” makes people think I’m saying that we aren’t good. So I’m going to work on that =)
The blog posts came out of discussion and critique at the Badass Class and are a perminent change! Thank you!!!!