Baby Shower: A Party and a Reunion

Pleasantries and great fun from the 40th birthday and Baby Shower of my dear dear friend who I had not seen in over 10 years. Such a joyous reunion and amazing occasion.

Photographers Recollect Life Quite Differently

When people consider memories, they think of them as in good or bad memories. Photographers are a slightly different breed of rememberers (if that's even a word). We remember in "how good we thought we were" at the time we took a photo. We remember by "what camera we used." We also remember by "how we edited at that time" and "what was I thinking by posting that photo."  We are quite the eccentric bunch of individuals.  I can honestly say that my memories of my work have been love/hate memories.  Though I now have an incredible following (which I am humbled by everyday) of over 1K likes, it is still not enough. I want more...I want to be better...I want to be recognized...I want to be the best....until something reminds me of how far I have actually come.

When I look back at some of the work I have done, I am in awe of how my style has changed, yet how my vision has remained intact.

This very night, while putting together a new downloadable pricing packages, I came across one of my first Senior sessions. What struck me was not how many of the photos were bad, but rather how many were STILL good. Despite the fact that I didn't understand lighting and under exposure to the extent that I do now.  Despite that fact that I wanted to pretend like I knew everything and now I openly admit "I'm a forever learning photographer." Despite that fact that now I am amazed I was even paid for my earlier work, my earlier work is still my art. It is still my experience. It is still something I can enjoy.

What's more is that no matter how much I despise the techniques I used at the time, someone will always have my memories somewhere in their album, Facebook page, school year book, or even wedding album.  I am forever engrained in this family. That is something for which I can be very proud.

So how does this overcritical, perfectionist, sadist photographer feel about this shoot? I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to shoot such a beautiful and intelligent young woman. But really, it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is what my clients will remember about their experience.

-Ollie