You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone
who will never be able to repay you.
-John Wooden
As my photography business only opened 3 years ago, an accident as it was ( I originally opened this business for painting), I have been blessed by meeting the most amazing people. People who are willing to teach me what they know - no strings attached.
I opened in the fall of 2006 and had already shot a wedding and a senior by the time the year was over. I gave them both a disc of their images and sent them on their way. Hmmm....something wasn't right. I didn't get that "aaahhh, that was rewarding" feeling. When you get married, there is the anticipation of seeing all your images in a crisp leather album. When you're a senior, all you can think about is that little plastic case with hundreds of your images and your name in gold on the side to pass out to your friends. Yeah, I was doing something wrong. So I googled. I must not have been a good googler because I did not find what I was looking for. Professional printing, nope. Photographers printing lab, nope. Photographer album printing, nope. It didn't work, I could not find anything close to what I was looking for. So, I nervously decided to call the local photographer who took my wedding pictures. Yeah, as if he's going to just come right out and tell me who he uses to print his work. This is a stupid idea. So he picks up the phone and says hello. I say, "I'm a photographer in Yale and I just started my business and am wondering if you could tell me of a good place to get professional printing done." Bam. He tells me and says, "Tell 'em Red sent ya' and good luck to you." Wow. I was not thinking that that was how the phone call was going to go. He, unknowingly, without hesitation, gave me a vital piece of information that would set in motion where I am today as a photographer.
Some time later, my mother and I were attending a Clay Blackmore class and she saw someone she recognized, which is something that happens on a regular basis. If she's helping me on a shoot, by the end of it she'll have found out she's related to her sister's cousin or have graduated with her father or mother. So she set out to go introduce herself and find out why she knew this man. I, who have become kind of immune to these meetings of hers, excused myself to go look around. When we met up again she told me he was my brother's boy scout leader from grade school and as I laughed she went on to say that he has his own studio and if I needed any help or had any questions to let him know. All of a sudden her latest "guess who I ran into" story got a lot more interesting and I was spewing out questions faster then she could answer them.
At this point CRD had only been open a little over a year and one of the main reasons I had any decent exposure shots was because I was chimping (I still do it now, just not nearly as much which makes me feel like I'm moving forward! =). I basically fixed everything I did wrong in Photoshop so for someone to let me pick their brain and figure out what an f/stop was or what kind of lights they used and where the heck to put them was a big deal.
When Clay's class was done we examined the sea of people exiting the room and my mom easily spotted him. He was very willing to answer all my questions and we set up a time to meet. He showed me all around his studio, we talked lighting and he was so generous with any information he had that he thought would help me. He offered to lend me his backdrops if I needed them or his assistance at my shoots. I felt invigorated. He sent me home with lighting dvd's, magazines and a clearer understanding of what I needed to work on.
Fast forward a few months.
I had noticed this particular women in a few classes that was given by the printing lab I use (which I was referred to by Red, the local photographer from earlier in the story) and really was floored by her images. They had depth and clarity and her lighting was right on, they just shouted "Yeah, I know what I'm doing". After one of the classes, I got up the nerve to ask her if I could help her with a wedding. I had no idea this is how it was all supposed to start. Here I was stumbling through my second or third wedding and she assisted a photographer for years before shooting one on her own. "Sure" she says to me, "any time, just shoot me an email and I'll let you know the days I need someone." Again, here was another photographer willing to take her precious time to help me, the competition, figure things out. And I say precious time because it really is. A wedding may last one day, but for a photographer there are months of work ahead of them and the last thing she'd have time for is twenty questions with a newbie.
At least that's what I thought.
That day began with a simple question but resulted in hundreds of emails between us on everything between lighting set-ups, confidence issues, life changing events and we've become the greatest of friends. Just by her positive attitude, encouraging words and her amazing old school knowledge of a camera, proper posing and how to light she gave me something I could never get out of a book. We've done several weddings together and every time I learn something new and become more confident in myself and I can never repay her for that.
Recently I was contacted by an enthused hobbyist wanting to take the big leap and turn her love into a business. She wanted to meet to discuss how I started and my should'ves, would'ves, and could'ves as she put it. How unbelievable I thought, that she would be asking me. I had no idea what I was going to tell her and prayed I didn't stumble through the whole thing and sound like an idiot.
We met at a mutual friends business, Allegra Print & Imaging. She brought her two adorable daughters and pizza and we just talked. I gave her a few good web addresses to start her in the right direction and answered her questions. I remember being in that same spot, feeling unsure and nervous. It wasn't until just recently that I read the way I was feeling was the norm - even the big shots were unsure at times. I bought "The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes" by Joe McNally and it's a great read; you learn a lot too!
I hope I have helped her in a small way to feel more confident and that we all have to start somewhere. Someday she will be booking weddings left and right and covering sports games and someone will come up to her and ask her for a minute of her time...
So, what have you done lately for someone who will never be able to repay you?
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