Pro Photo Business Forum

Maintain Your Own Vision
by Bryan Lindsey
BCL Photography – Houston Wedding Photographer

On your journey through photography (for fun and profit), you are going to get a lot of advice. That’s a good thing – it’s why you here on the Pro Photo Business Forum. But I would caution you against losing your vision.

What do we mean by that – “losing our vision?” Well, as you solicit opinions from others, do not necessarily take them at face value – consider the background of the person providing you with the opinion. We should ask ourselves why we care about their opinion in the first place: Are they a professional photographer from whom we are trying to learn? Are they a potential client? An existing client? Your average Joe? We can learn many things by soliciting the opinions of all these individuals – but should we let them dictate our photographic style? Our vision?

For example, I recently submitted some photos for review to a West-Coast photographer I admire, and some of his feedback included “too dark” and “too traditional.” Well, his work is sometimes a little “bright” for my taste, and he occasionally throws out some shots that seem…well, just weird (to me, at least). So, understanding his style and preferences helps me to interpret his feedback. Now I have the choice of (a) heeding his advice and modifying my style and artistic vision to be like his, or (b) take that specific feedback with a grain of salt and realize that not everyone will dig my style as much as I do.

This is not to say that we should discount ALL advice that we don’t agree with. When we ask for an opinion, we should be prepared to accept it – perhaps not agree with it, but understand it. And we must always be open to technical critique (as opposed to artistic critique). But don’t necssarily let other people dictate your style, your vision.

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Bryan Lindsey
BCL Photography
Houston Wedding and Portrait Photographer