my quibbles with business

you know that i love about film?

​it's timeless.
it never lets me down.
it doesn't inhibit my art, but rather heightens it. 

but what i love most is that it's complicated, and that scares people. 

​digital photography is easy to pick up and learn. it's easy to pick up a digital camera, learn its tricks, maybe throw it into manual mode, and then edit photos in photoshop. in our day, that passes as being a "professional." 

with film, you don't have that luxury. many of the old cameras I've collected over the years have no pdf manual uploaded anywhere, and as a young artist, i had to clean, rebuild, and learn each camera's unique ways of shooting, alone. 

i love that about film. it takes stamina and patience.

i began my artistic journey on film, but sadly, fell trap to adopt a "hybrid model" of shooting both film and digital. i found that brides were in a hurry on their big day and didn't want to sit down and plan lighting and location and how to properly document their day on film, because it seemed inconvenient, and they had way too much planned for any photographer to document, let alone a film photographer. 

so i found myself shooting film when it was convenient for me, and digital the rest of the time. 

that meant that these brides weren't really taking into consideration that my depiction of their day could either be a work of art, or just grocery list of the day's events. after a few weddings, and feeling very dissatisfied with my work, i knew that shoots and weddings could be documented better by:

--finding clients who were willing to sit down & plan out breathtaking moments because they actually cared,

--& changing how i did my photography. 

film is so hearty, and raw, and like i said, timeless. it's stood the test of time because it is, in and of itself, high art. it's all about mirrors and mechanics and beautiful lighting, rather than photoshop, digital reproductions, and jpegs. it's EASY to be a digital photographer. a digital photographer is the antithesis of an artist who knows and understands the background of photography, and respects the old, tried and true ways.

i sold all of my digital gear in 2017 and vowed to never pick it up again. if i was called to be an artist, then i wanted to do it right, and do it well. i wanted to stand out from the crowd, not be another digital photographer who edits their photos with film presets, or only shoots 10% film when it works out for her. 

because, who wants an artist to work for them who never gives their all? who just wants the lazy, easy way out?
​
I've worked hard to build the beautiful business i have, and continue to build it by urging clients to understand my way of seeing the world through film, and how it can elevate their big day, whether that be a wedding, a maternity shoot, or an intimate family home session with a newborn. 

film is worth the wait.

it's worth the effort, the money, and the time.