photo assignment - Coffee

Brian has come up with a little plan for me to get behind my camera more often for fun and creative development. Also it's good blogging material, and he's ALWAYS after me to blog more. He's going to give me a photo assignment - weekly, maybe. Feels like pressure to me! I'm such a horrible critic of myself. I get all tied up in knots thinking things like, "is this creative enough?" "Is this the best thing I could do?" BUT, I also am VERY driven to meet any challenge and deliver on any assignment. So, here's my first submission. I don't know if time will allow any others, so this might be it. With Valentine's Day coming up, I put a little (yeah, probably obvious and cheesy, but if you can't be cheesy for V-Day, when can you?) twist on it.

Love triangle...

I just can't choose which I love more - editing video or editing photos. I've been straddling the fence this week with projects of each type to get to and get delivered, and I really don't feel a pull one way or the other. With photos, I really enjoy imagining how my clients will use the photos...I get such satisfaction when I find the MONEY shots - different than video because it's just a shutter click in time, and I can see where I have captured someone's beauty, their personality, or maybe I even feel like I can see a bit of their spirit in their eyes. So, yeah, I can relate just a LITTLE to those psychos who plaster their walls with photos of their obsession. LOL When I edit photos, I get to listen to Pandora, and the production flows a lot quicker which means I get the satisfaction of a job well done quicker.... All good, right?

With video, I still get to imagine my clients enjoying the work, but it's actually a little easier. I can be pretty confident people will be glued to the flat-screen, but maybe it will be a dinner party with friends...maybe with the parents (mom with a tissue, of course), or maybe a quiet romantic night for two and a bottle of wine. Fast forward 10 years, and maybe the kids are cracking up at dad's hairdo or some dorky thing he said to mom during the ceremony to get her to crack up. What's not to love about all that!? I feel like I get to be a little more artistic in production, which is so much fun for me. I love video so much because yes, a photo can catch a moment of a teary-eyed hug, but only video also catches the crack in the groom's voice as he tells his mom how much he loves her. Oooohhh, that melts me.

I just don't know how I could enjoy what I do any more, and I'm so thankful I don't have to choose! I am so blessed by God's provision and my family's support to be able to do what I love. I sit here typing this, thinking of clients of the past who we've shared such precious, funny, and even deliciously awkward moments with and clients of the future whose stories are yet to be told. I'm so excited that photography will actually allow me to share more with the families who enjoy my work and use me over and over again - like for baby's first year or for senior portraits and then, YEARS LATER, I get to capture the wedding memories.... I'm such a sap. I think that's a good quality for what I do, though, so I ain't apologizing. ;)