Let’s start with a funny confession: When I was first transitioning from journalism/photojournalism to full-time photography, I sincerely thought I should be all things to all people. If an aspiring model was looking for modern, edgy, fashion-lit portraits, I planned to be excited to shoot them for her. If a family wanted an all-white-and-khaki posed portrait session on the beach, I was going to smile wide and shoot away. If a new mom wanted soft baby portraits with cute props like baby hammocks and funny hats, by golly, that’s what I would deliver. Because I was here to serve my clients, so I needed to do what they wanted, right?

Well . . . wrong, to a certain extent. Of course I’m here to serve my clients. But I learned something important pretty quickly as we pushed forward with our photography business: Not everyone should be my client, and I could not be the right photographer for everyone.

The more time Danny and I spent shooting, the more we learned what we were truly passionate about photographing — and the more we realized that what we were truly passionate about photographing always involved the same key ingredient: Clients who get us and who we are and what we do; clients who we get, understand who they are, and what they want. We’ve been blessed to work with some wonderful, wonderful couples whose vision for their wedding photography aligned beautifully with the type of work we want to produce. And so I quickly kicked that notion of being an all-things-to-all-people photographer to the curb. It simply wasn’t going to work. I can’t be all things to all people, especially not as an artist. I have my own aesthetic preferences and my own artistic vision. Working within the realm of what I love is when I produce my best work. So taking on jobs that don’t match up with my style would be a lose-lose situation: I wouldn’t enjoy the work, and my clients would receive less than my best, and quite likely, not exactly the photography they had wanted in the first place.

Just a little aside . . . this is exactly what I want to shoot. Every single week. (Maybe I’m exaggerating with the every single week part — but thank you, Taylor and Jerry, for helping me check “romantic shoot with fairy tale horses” off my bucket list!)

I’m going to take the opportunity to brag on one of my brides right now. Every time I’ve ever talked to her on the phone, we laugh and lose track of time. Our calls last way too long and we talk about far more than weddings and photography. When we hang up, I’ve got the biggest smile on my face. Because we click, we get each other, and we just have fun. She understands the kind of photography I want to produce — timeless, elegant, genuine — and she knows that is what she wants for her own wedding. She’s the kind of bride, like all my brides, honestly, who has got me convinced I have the world’s best job. And you’d better believe every last bit of that positive energy and enthusiasm and excitement is going to get funneled into her wedding photography when her big day rolls around and Danny and I get to work.

That’s important. I probably could psych myself up for a wedding that isn’t a good fit with my aesthetic if I had to — but if my heart isn’t in it, if my heart isn’t in what the bride and groom want, how can I possibly give them exactly what they want? And if the bride and groom don’t want exactly the type of work I produce, how will they possibly be thrilled with their wedding photographs? I want my brides and grooms to be thrilled. I want to deliver exactly what they want.

It’s my job to help determine whether a couple is a good fit for me, and whether I’m a good fit for them. To do that, I need to show prospective clients the kind of work I want to do, not the kind of work I don’t want to do — because people contact photographers when they like what they see. So if I don’t want to shoot prop-heavy newborn sessions, I shouldn’t accept jobs to do prop-heavy newborn sessions, and I certainly shouldn’t share them on my blog — or I’ll have potential clients calling me to request more photos like the ones they saw on my blog. Perhaps even more important, as a photographer specializing in weddings, I need to narrow my focus further and shoot and show the types of weddings I want to photograph in the future. If I don’t want to shoot ninja weddings that take place in libraries where the lights are turned off, I shouldn’t shoot . . . well, you know that one is just made up, but I think you’re probably getting my point! My point is: I need to shoot and show what I want my business to be all about if I want my business to continue to be all about that and attract clients who want the type of work I want to produce.

In the end, I want to be happy with my photography, and I want my clients to be delighted with their choice of photographer. That’s why I don’t think clients should settle on a photographer simply based on price or location or past acquaintance. That’s also why I don’t think photographers should necessarily book every client who offers them money.

If my goal is to run a business I truly love and serve my clients to the best of my abilities, this is the only way I can see it happening. So, photographers, I would encourage you to think about this, if this isn’t already the way you approach your business. And to all you brides and grooms out there — find the photographer you can’t imagine having your wedding without!

~ Laura