I am a PHOTO-EDITORIALIST

To bring yourself up to speed you’ll have to read yesterday’s post about how I wouldn’t classify myself as a photojournalist.

I am not a PHOTOJOURNALIST

So today is not about what I’m not [double negative, I know], today is about what I am. Today is about me and the craft that I’ve honed for years and my career’s trajectory of where  I am today – I am a PHOTO-EDITORIALIST.

[editorial: a newspaper or magazine article that gives the opinions of the editors or publishers.]

Let’s take a stab at how I would define that…

Don’t get me wrong, I love candid, spontaneous moments. That’s exactly what I first loved about being a professional photographer. It started the spring of 2005, hunkered down on a rock beside class III rapids on the Deerfield River. I was there to photograph a dozen or more rafts navigate the biggest stretch of whitewater on the trip. If the rapids got a little rough I’d see people flip, flop and fly into the air and land in the water; that was just pure awesomeness [for me, at least].

I get a similar feeling now when I observe and capture a truly genuine moment of love or laughter at a wedding. That instance, that is a photojournalistic moment. Even if I’ve staged myself to be in the right place at the right time, I’m letting the event unfold around me without orchestrating or directing. That is a component of how I want to view a person’s wedding, a large component. Sometimes they are the big moments – The Kiss, The First Dance, The Toasts, etc… BUT my most favorite moments are the ones in between, The Hidden Moments. The ones that weren’t on my schedule, they weren’t on anyone’s schedule, actually they almost never happened but they did and I was so lucky to be present. Camera(s) in hand and the stars aligned for that moment.

But I don’t think that stringing together those candid and unpredictable moments can complete the story I want to tell. I complete my storytelling by stepping in and have an opinion, a point of view. Point of View [POV] that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned over the course of my career. In my early years, I waived the right to a POV. I thought that was something my clients would appreciate. I can be whatever sort of photographer you want. I’m a chameleon! In these early years I would shoot an assignment and ask my client various questions, simple questions. If they didn’t have an opinion some people would snip back, “You’re the professional photographer, just do it however you want.” In my misguided effort to be overly flexible, I was also not being the professional. So sure there are just about a billion ways I can light this, a billion ways I can shoot this and which lens do I pull out of my bag?? I quickly realized that it is my job to figure it out. I still approach any shooting assignment as a collaboration but I work within my expertise and POV.

I take the editorial approach, storytelling. I let life unfold naturally but step in with an opinion and expertise where necessary. Taking the hardline, wedding photojournalist approach would mean that I would forego a fun wedding party jump shot, no photobooths, no posing in front of gorgeous backdrops, no fixing near wardrobe malfunctions, no goofing it up for the camera and who knows how in the world a true photojournalist gets the formals together.

Me, I’m happy right where I’m at right now. I’m happy that I have a natural ability to observe and create amazing images, when appropriate orchestrate and direct to achieve something special and I don’t second guess my myself or my instincts.