There are many photographers around these days for your photographic needs. While the explosion of digital images and electronic post-production has made the entry into professional photography more affordable to a larger audience, not all photographers are created equally. In the end, there is more to photography than knowing how to work your camera…
Ultimately this “Additional Information” section should give you some insight into who I am and how that affects my photography, so lets get started…
Like many photographers, my early days in photography started in high school. For me this was in the late 1970’s when film ruled and digital was a dream. I shot yearbook images, sports and subsequently local news in my home town of Greenwich Connecticut. My first image published was of ice skating star Dorothy Hamill when Greenwich named their skating rink in her honor. With lots of photographers present for the big event, I took a chance and jumped onto the hood the convertible she was riding in. I captured the image that set my photography career in motion. I took a chance…it paid off. Slightly startled she looked right into my camera, smiled that smile that won over America and looked right into my soul. At that moment, it appeared that there were only two people present; her and me. I’ve had a boyhood crush on her ever since… More importantly, I also learned that I loved the excitement you get when connecting with someone through a photograph. It would set in motion my photographic style.
Before attending college, I took a year off and studied photography in New York City where I landed a job in a professional fashion photography studio. It was during this time that I shot almost non-stop. I shot so much film that I bulk loaded my own canisters and became proficient in darkroom techniques to process, print and retouch images. Working in the NYC fashion industry exposed me to an endless stream of models ranging from those that were brand-new all they way up to modeling icons like Cheryl Tiegs. It was during this time that my style for commercial photography matured. This is important to know as I had little time to “play” or experiment in “art photography”. Much of our shoots were driven by art directors and clients who had specific ideas that needed to be incorporated into the images. I still shoot in this style today by planning each of my photo-shoots as if it were for a client. In many cases, the client is the model.
In the years that followed, my life moved in different directions, however photography was always a part of it.
Fast forward quite a few years… With a successful consulting business and three great children, my wife mentioned one day that she had always wanted to do some modeling. From that one conversation, the fuse was lit and we decided, just for fun, to capture some test images of my wife. Two things became quickly apparent to me: My wife is a natural model and I still love the excitement I get from photo-shoots. With each “test shoot”, her modeling skills grew and my love for photography grew. Soon we were publishing images on modeling sites and she was signing with local and national modeling agencies.
As my photography business grew and expanded, I formally branded my business “BrandonPhotos” and created it as a division of my Brandon Services LLC consulting business. I’d now turned professional and I haven’t looked back yet.
While BrandonPhotos will likely stay a part-time business, it is a business none the less and I apply the same business development practices that have helped make Brandon Services so successful.
BrandonPhotos is not some middle aged guy with a camera. It is a professional service offered to clients needing professional images. All of my effort is focused on identifying my client’s needs and surpassing them with quality commercial images in a timely manner. There’s no time for attitude and hip platitudes at BrandonPhotos. The atmosphere is professional and fun. I have the privilege of briefly entering into my client’s life and capturing a special moment or special image that they will look at for the rest of their lives.
My images need to have impact without overshadowing the subject. My photographic style needs to change to accommodate the needs of my client. I am the least important person in the room during a photo-shoot which is why my clients feel special and their images are so special. It’s easy to put “Jonathan” into my images; I work hard to put my subject’s personality in there too. It’s a collaboration – just like it was years ago back in NYC.
So how does all this translate to my photography experience…
- While my photo-shoots always have ad-hoc images where we experiment and “play”, we also shoot “bread & butter” images that we both agreed we’d like to capture. Instead, if you’re looking for a “run & gun” photographer, I can recommend a few who seem to have great success with minimal planning.
- Since I learned to compose an image back in a time before you could check your images during the shoot, I tend to focus more on the model’s posing and details before I take a shot instead of just shooting away and deleting the outtakes. This also means that I try to paint my models with light to emphasize their best qualities as opposed to “fixing them” in post-production later.
- My love for printing and retouching images in a darkroom has translated into my love for post-production work. I am a retouch artist and love every moment that I’m working an image in Photoshop. Sometimes I wonder if I’m really a retouch artist who happens to take great photos… Like in the past, I pride myself on retouching my images without making it obvious. I’m meticulous about skin and have been trained to apply/correct makeup. I’ve been known to change the outfit a model is wearing in an image as well as the background upon which she’s standing. My retouching has but one goal: “Ensure that the image is the absolute best I can make it”. I don’t retouch because I can, I retouch because it makes the image better.
- The model/client is the focus of my image. I try my best to keep the viewer’s focus on the subject and not to become distracted by other elements in the image. I don’t typically include items or affects to my images that I feel distract from the model/client. I’m more of a simplist in my image composition and prefer a blurry bohken background as opposed to a sweeping mountain range behind a model. My goal is always to keep the focus on the model, not the photograph.
- While I do my photography part-time and for fun, it is a real business venture and not a hobby. As such I treat all my clients with the attention and respect they would expect to receive from any professional business.
So that’s a bit about me and my style of photography. Combine this with the images you see on my website and observations that you’ll read in my blog and you should have a pretty good idea of why you want to collaborate with me on your next special image.
