London Calling

Cheers from London!

After spending a week in London, I can finally say I understand what Henry James meant when he wrote,

"It is difficult to speak adequately, or justly, of London. It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable, or easy, or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent."

London is indeed a magical, magnificent place. Andrew and I hope to visit many times for work and play.

The wedding this weekend in Kent, "The Garden of England," was surreal and stunning all at once. Everywhere I turned, there was something inspiring to photograph. The church was built in 1233; the manor house, which is owned by the bride's family and was the site of the reception, was built in the early 1600s. I think my definition of the word "old" changed this weekend. I felt like I had been dropped into the set of a Merchant Ivory film!

Since our wake up call comes in 4 hours, I will sign off by sharing a few photographs from our week.

Urban Intersections: It's a Small World, Afterall

Ascending the last subway stair, I glanced up from my sun-flare stupor and saw an old friend out of the corner of my eye. Andrew and I stopped abruptly, as worlds collided in midtown Manhattan. There, standing a few feet from us, was California photographer Carey Schumacher! This random intersection was an unexpected highlight of our NYC visit. I'm always amazed that in a city of over 8 million people, you can simply bump into an old friend who lives across the country. These small-world reminders make me laugh, because they confirm my belief that we are more interconnected than we know!

After catching up with Carey and her son Mat, we made our way to the MOMA. My favorite sculpture resides there, and I've always wanted to share it with Andrew. It was a perfect way to end our day because the sculpture conveys themes of urban intersections and human connection. The sculpture,"City Square," was created by Alberto Giacometti in response to urban life. The figures in the sculpture appear to stride toward each other, but they would pass each other by mere millimeters if they were to continue on their course.

Giacometti observed urban life as an art form, "In the street people astound and interest me more than any sculpture or painting. Every second the people stream together and go apart, then they approach each other to get closer to one another. They unceasingly form and re-form living compositions!"

Off to B.C., eh?

We're here in Victoria, British Columbia for a beautiful wedding coming up on Saturday. Exploring the city was our first order of business today! it's especially enchanting at night.

Stay tuned for more action-packed Victoria photos soon!

Who are you?

	“Who we are is the most important thing about photography.”
	— Sam Abell

I love talking to photographers. In the last week, I've picked up a consistent theme from the ten-or-so conversations I've had: Where's the work?

Everyone is asking: Why? Is it gas prices? The economy? Uncle Bob?

While a combination of these factors is the likely culprit, I've noticed another: schizophrenia.

Don't take me literally here. I'm not referring to a photographer's mental health. Rather, I've noticed many photographers lack a strong sense of identity. This leaves them vulnerable to the whim of trends.

In the course of many workshop portfolio reviews, I've seen work from individual photographers which looks more like a collection of the best images from a diverse sampling of stylistic influences. Looking at a photographer's portfolio, I can clearly see a visual history of all the workshops the photographer has attended. One image was clearly made after the photographer attended Yervant's workshop; the influence of Denis Reggie is evident in the next, followed by a photograph that could be on Joe Buissink's website.

What's amazing to me is that the photographer has been so successful emulating the styles of each of these industry icons, but the collective result is still a failure. A prospective client looks at their work and has no clear sense of the photographer's identity!

It's natural to be influenced by industry icons and to think: "If it works for them, it will work for me!"

This starts a process of photographic experimentation, resulting in new images that make their way into the photographer's portfolio. While these images are well-executed, they create ambiguity in the photographer's marketing message. Ambiguity actually works against the photographer's marketing and sales efforts. The inspiration drawn from successful photographers has an unintended effect, one Rachel calls "visual schizophrenia."

When you compare LaCour's work to Yervant's, you might think it's surprising that he is a great source of inspiration to us. While our photographic style and approach is divergent, Yervant has crafted a unique identity, which is clearly communicated through his branding to his marketing message to his photography. It's strong and unwavering.

The most successful people in any field stand out because of a personal investment in their work. They have found a way to express who they are through what they do. This becomes increasingly true in a saturated, competitive market.

So, I encourage you to answer this question: Who are you?

How do you approach photography? What is your style? Can you articulate this to your client in two sentences? Is your branding and marketing message consistent with who you are photographically? Do your images work together to reinforce your identity or do they work against each another? And most importantly, what artistic inspiration do you have outside of the photography world?

This requires an intentional effort of specialization. You must ask yourself, how does this new style, approach or technique fit with my identity?

So if sales are down, don't just run out and buy the latest action set or add trash-the-dress sessions.

Start with finding yourself. Then the clients will find you.

New York Minute

The view from the Four Seasons' 45th floor, looking uptown toward Central Park

Quick self-portrait near Times Square

I spent Saturday shooting at the Four Seasons in Manhattan. It was an intimate little wedding, with just eight people in attendance.

This is the kind of trip that I refer to as a "surgical strike" — in the morning of the wedding — out first thing the next morning! That was a total of 19 hours in NYC!

Some Fitness Friday Fun

I spent a few days in Philadelphia this past week visiting my brother, Phillip, who paints some pretty amazing murals around Philadelphia, like this one (before and after):



Anyway, I've been waking up at 5:30 am every weekday morning for the past couple of months doing an awesome fitness Bootcamp. So from 6-7 am we work hard running all around Freedom Park doing something different everyday. Pushups and tons of variations - clapping pushups, diamond pushups, military pushups, etc. Lots of abs and core strength work. And if anybody wants to know about Tabata Squats, I'd be happy to tell you. They're killer! So my endurance has skyrocketed. I have to cinch my belt a notch or two tighter now. Fat has melted off and is being replaced by muscle. Where are these weird ripples coming from? But other great benefits are that I have so much more energy now throughout the day and I feel much more focused and productive! Oh, and I've been eating a lot healthier. Nothing revolutionary. Just being smarter with food choice.

So, while I was in Philly, we decided to make a fun little video. My only intention was to share it with the folks at my Bootcamp, but of course I showed a few photographers who cracked up over it and so I figured I'd share it with the world. Prepare for the cheese: