The What And Why Of Custom Photography — Logan, Utah Wedding & Birth Photographer

I was recently out running some errands and walked by a chain photography location as part of my shopping. As I walked by I couldn’t help but stop and be a spectator of what was happening. There was a little 4 or 5 year old unhappy little girl crying because she didn’t want to have her picture taken. At the photographers request she was saying ‘cheese’ (between gritted teeth) for each picture. The mother was frustrated and threatened taking away bikes, toys, dessert, games, etc unless her daughter would smile. The photographer was posing the little girl based on images in a catalog and quickly firing off the flash on the camera. I continued about my shopping nearby and saw the mother and daughter leave a few minutes later. No one looked happy. How sad!

This brings me to talk about two questions:

As I turned to handy google to help see what other people had said about this topic I found this wonderful consumer guide by Marianne Drenthe. For me custom photography is all about my clients. Their personalities, likes, dislikes, hobbies, favorite places to go, where they would like to display their images in their homes, family heirlooms…it’s part of telling a story. Not my story. Their story.

I love to email clients to find out about them. Who they are. Are they wanting images to capture a special occasion? Milestone? For Fun? Each of these reasons plays a different part in their story. What props would they like to bring to a session? What would they like me to bring?

Someone can go to a chain photography studio and no story is really told. Rarely is true personality displayed. Many families who book with me are the same. The mother wants…no feels obligated to have pictures taken, the father is usually along because he loves his wife and children only think of their past experiences having pictures taken. My philosophy is that it is all about fun! I am silly. I make lame attempts at jokes, tease, have treats, make funny faces, embarrass myself and just play.

I had a session a couple weeks ago where I played and had fun. This family played and had fun. I love the images of Miss Ashlyn. This is who she is. She was singing a song to a stick she found. None of this was forced, timed or threatened.