Life is a transformative process. We, as humans, are constantly changing, improving, and growing – or at least we should be striving to do all of those things, right? Insert well-known cliche saying here: “Its the journey that matters, not the destination.” (I actually love that saying, because its totally true)
As artists and entrepreneurs, not only are we constantly striving to improve ourselves, we’re also constantly striving to improve our craft and our knowledge of the business we’re in. Every year I find myself trying to overcome some new obstacle that I know is keeping me from being better. In 2015 I found myself trying to realize more precisely what my brand was, and what I wanted my public perception to be. Last year, 2016, was one of the hardest years of my life. I found myself learning how to weather major personal problems and learning how to cope with those problems in business. It seems that 2017 is turning out to be all about escaping an identity crisis as a photographer.
As I sit here typing this, I’m trying to remember when my photography identity crisis began and I can’t seem to put a beginning date to it, its been happening for THAT long.
Every time a new editing style emerges, or a new technique hits the mainstream, I’m all over it. I am that photographer that fawns over new styles constantly. I can’t even deny it. Is there some sort of ‘lack of editing consistency’ anonymous group I can attend? I need it. Hello, my name is Danette, and I’m addicted to changing my editing and shooting style as often as the weather changes. Send help.
Anyway, am I being dramatic? I don’t think so. This is a problem that I know exists and I’ve been making a conscious effort to be consistent this year.
Why does it matter?
I mentioned that in 2015 I was really intentional about building my brand. Having a solid consistent brand is super important in the process of building trust with future clients. A solid brand represents the entirety of a company’s public perception and reputation. Thats why its a big deal when major companies change their logo, and why consumers don’t always take kindly to the change. People like feeling a sense of familiarity with a brand.
So anyhoozers, my brand as a photographer is super important. I spent much of 2015 and 2016 building a great website, choosing bold colors and themes that represent me, growing my knowledge of branding, and creating a strong personal presence within my brand. After all, I don’t have the money to hire a familiar celebrity face to represent my company. I have to be that familiar face.
All that to say, I worked so hard on all those different aspects, and completely neglected the consistency of my work. My work! The foundation of my business and my brand!
Every time I came home from shooting a new client, couple, or wedding day, I’d sit down and begin my post processing by choosing an editing style that I felt fit that particular client or session. I chose what I thought looked best and what suited each session individually.
Wait, so whats wrong with that? So long as the photos look good for that session, won’t the clients be happy? Maybe. BUT MAYBE NOT! Do you see the caps? I’m truly upset!
Clients book me because they a.) see my work on my website and are drawn to it, then b.) identify with my brand. If I’m editing photos whichever way the wind blows me that day, clients don’t really know what they’re going to be getting. They may have seen one session and connected with it, then I end up editing their session completely differently because I was ‘vibing’ with a different editing style that day. So wrong guys. If my brand is expected to be trustworthy and consistent, it needs to be consistent throughout, including my post processing.
The Solution
I obviously needed to be very intentional with my post processing. Intention is key in being successful in anything. I’m not a decisive person. I don’t consider it a weakness, necessarily, but I do know that my journey of getting to an end goal looks very different than someone who is decisive. After some thought, I landed on a plan.
I spent the next few days going through roughly 150 photo sessions from the past 4 years and choosing RAW images from a variety of different situations. I was really purposeful with the photos I selected. Different light scenarios, differing skin tones, night time, naturally lit, artificially lit, on camera flash, off camera flash – as many scenarios as I could think, I began compiling a folder of sample photos.
After amassing a collection of around 100 images, I began building a preset that would be flattering in all situations, and that I felt closely matched my brand. I spent a few days considering all of the most popular presets like Mastin, India Earl, Dawn Charles, etc. and built something that I was happy with, but that I also felt matched the artistic style that I’d like to be representative of my brand.
What I was left with was a collection of photos across varying situations that I felt were fluid with one another.
A Tip
Not to long ago, Adobe released a really cool feature within Lightroom called “Compare View”. Its similar to the side-by-side before/after view that already existed in Lightroom, but now Adobe allows you to specify an image to be placed on the left-hand side of the screen, so you can then go through your photos and compare each photo you’re currently editing to a reference photo. Its been SUPER helpful with staying consistent across the board, not just within a session, but also in making sure all of my sessions are consistent with each other. I’m able to pull in a few reference photos for every new session I’m editing, and I’m able to compare the photos I’m currently editing with photos I’ve edited for brand consistency! If you haven’t tried it, definitely give it a whirl!
Compare View can be found in the develop module in the bottom left-hand corner, just above the film strip.
Maybe I’m cliche, because I do constantly try to remind myself that my artistry, my business, and my brand are a journey. With art I’m not really sure there’s supposed to be a destination. I feel like as artists, we need to constantly be pushing ourselves to grow and learn. Why? Because once we stop growing and learning, we stop improving, and that would be a real crisis, and a sad ending to what could otherwise be seen as a beautiful life, career and story.
Share on: