Friday, July 23, 2010

A New Look

I thought it was time to give the blog a bit of a face lift. It's not *all* that different but I think, somehow, this "look" looks a little more, I don't know, contemporary. Leastwise, from a blog-template-design point-of-view. I'm not even sure I like it but I'll let if roll this way for a while and see if it grows on me.

It's sort of like shaking up your photographic style. Every now and then it's probably a good idea to shoot things a little differently and give your images a slightly uncharacteristic "look" or "feel" to them.

Course, if you're shooting for clients and those clients expect a certain style from you, it might not be such a great idea to suddenly and dramatically change that style... not without letting them know that's what you're doing.

Clients mostly hire shooters based on what the photographer has already done and what that previous work looks like. They want to know what their shooter will deliver. Not just in terms of content but in terms of style as well. Consistency, from the photographer, is a good thing in the minds of most clients. What they usually don't want is for me, or any other shooter, experimenting on their dime.

Still...

Sometimes, I shake it up with some of the pics I submit to my clients. I don't do it with all of them, just a few. Then, I sit back and wait for reactions. I don't often receive specific and audible reactions. The reactions come in the form of which images the clients select for use. If they start picking some of the photos where I made changes to my usual and customary style, i.e., I deviated from what I usually submit, then I know to start incorporating those changes into my production techniques. If they don't, I don't. Pretty simple, actually.

Jumped into the Wabak Machine for an artsy sort-of shot from 3 or 4 years ago, captured in my studio when I still had a studio. Model is Bianca.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like the new style, better for readability.
When you already changing why not get the blog on par with your recent photoshoots i think i like that even more.

jimmyd said...

@Anon, Some clients have issues with me posting pics here from their shoots. I say "their" shoots cuz they wrote me a check. The more recent the shoot, the more "issues" they have with it. Also, lately, I've been shooting mostly in a style, per the clients, that isn't something I'm too thrilled with. It's less GLAM and more AM, as in AMateur looking. Web trends and all... What I need to do is shoot more for myself. Just sayin.

jimmyd said...

PS-- I've started work on another book. All the pics will be custom shot for the book. And I'll be posting some of them as I shoot them.

John said...

I like the new look too.

BTW, how do you find enough paying gigs to keep the lights on? I know I'm not living in the mecca of people needing attractive women with a shortage of clothing; but what work I have found won't even pay the gas money to get there.

jimmyd said...

@John,

Been doing this a long time, pre-dating digital. I guess it's about having established clients which nets good references, good word-of-mouth, and so on. Lately, tho, work has been VERY slow. Still, for the last (almost) two decades I've kept the lights on purely with cameras in my hands, be they still or video. Also with video editing, tho not so much of that for the past 5 or 6 years.

Anonymous said...

Kind of a strange hand positioning for her left hand. If you aren't focusing on the hand itself it looks like a penis. My wife looked over while I was reading the post and said "Is that a woman with a penis?"

John said...

Dangerously artistic image, Mr. D.
I like.

Nice, clean look. Maybe the title needs a bit more weight - slightly larger font? Could be my browser, though - I don't know how it selects font sizes. Don't want to mislead you.