At the beginning of 2015, I resolved to begin a 365 photo project. I wanted more photos of my family, but I had also just acquired a new (to me) full frame camera and needed to force myself to learn how to use it.
Many fellow photogs warned me how difficult it would be to complete a 365, and I heard many stories about 365's that were started and abandoned halfway through, so I decided to reward myself with an album if I finished it.
So, I began. It started out easy enough; I have a super cute little girl that I could just photograph all day...how hard could that be?
Turns out, very hard. Not only does life get in the way of shooting and editing, but some days I just got a creative block and couldn't get past it. A very supportive hubby helped me in those situations.
After a while, I think I began to sub-consciously combat these creative blocks by over-shooting on days when I did have camera in my hand. This over-shooting led to several developments in my photography that I am excited to share with you and use to rebrand my little business:
My "photo a day" was turning into mini documentary-style sessions.
What is a documentary-style session, you ask? Well, simply put, it's when a photographer documents an activity without providing direction. It is capturing authentic emotions, details, and actions that truly make you, you. It's capturing real love, real passion, real joy, real connection, all in the moment, without worrying about whether everyone is smiling, looking at the camera. At the time, however, I was just getting caught up in the beautiful details of our daily lives as I feverishly and obsessively tried to fulfill my 365-photo resolution to myself. Then, when I sat down to choose one photo for my daily project, I would be overwhelmed with 50, 100, 150+ photos to choose from. But, here's the thing...
I actually LOVED it. Without realizing it, I was transforming, finding my voice, awaking my passion, and igniting my soul. As corny and cliche as that sounds, I truly loved EVERYTHING that I was learning about myself and my craft. The overwhelming amount of personal photos, coupled with my paid client sessions, forced me to streamline my editing somehow. Client sessions still got most of my time and attention, but in order to keep up with the demand of the 365, I streamlined the editing of those photos and ended up loving them even more. It wasn't just because they were (mostly) photos of my loved ones. They had depth, light, emotion, connection...everything that you could want in a photo of your family. They were even getting a great response from my followers on social media...people who don't know me or my family personally, but felt a connection to us through my photographs. However, as time continued to go on and I fell more and more in love with my personal photos, I realized something else...
My paid client sessions were NOTHING like them. Sure, every once in a while, I would sneak in an unposed daddy or mommy photo in between newborn set ups. Or snap some photos of families walking from one location to another, or turn and grab a photo of mommy and baby laughing together. But, for the most part, I was focused on posing everyone perfectly, making sure I was following the "rules" of posing, etc etc. While that has been fine, it isn't ME. I need to follow my heart and document the moments that matter and the connections that are real. I guess what I am trying to say is...
I want to tell YOUR story. Over the next couple of months, I will be working to rebrand my business toward the documentary style sessions. I will still offer posed newborn sessions because I LOVE them, but everything else will focus on telling a story through my lens. A big announcement will happen once I have everything ready to roll out, but this is a little insight to the "why" before it all happens. I am so excited for this next chapter and I look forward to capturing these amazing moments and memories for my clients!
Jecca Lynn Photography: You create the memories. I capture them.