Photographic Alter-Ego

Do you ever get bored with who you are photographically?

Sometimes I do.

I have a comfort zone where I shoot most of my stuff. (Probably many of you who have one of these as well.) I know what I'm doing in that comfort zone. I know my way around it and I rarely become lost, dazed, or confused while there. It's safe and secure and I feel right at home in my photographic comfort zone.

Clients, when they hire me, most often expect images produced in my comfort zone. My comfort zone has consistency and dependability and they like that.

I have one client who became concerned when I shot a few images outside my comfort zone. My big mistake was including those images on their CDs along with the images they expected from me, i.e., the images shot in my comfort zone... the images they hired me to shoot.

"What's this stuff?" They asked.

"We had some extra time. I thought I'd try something a little bit different." I said.

"What are we supposed to do with these? We can't use these. They're too artsy or weird or something."

"I don't know," I said. "Do whatever you want with them."

"Well, we can't use these."

"Then don't use them." I advised. "Did I shoot everything you need?"

"Yeah." They said.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"We're not worried," they said. "We just don't know what we can do with them."

The lesson I learned was this: It's not always a good idea to give a client what they didn't ask for even if you've given them plenty of what they asked for, especially when you give them extra images, bonus shots, that aren't what they asked for or expected. (At least, some of my clients are that way.) It seems they don't want bonus images even when it costs them nothing more for the extra shots. (Unless it's more of the same-- the same being what they asked for to begin with.)

There are other risks associated with shooting outside one's comfort zone, other than confusing one's clients, that is. For me, the most obvious risk in shooting OMCZ (Outside My Comfort Zone) is that, since the images are unlike what I'm accustomed to producing, i.e., what I know--backwards and forwards--how to produce, they might suck. They might also be better than what I usually shoot but there's a greater chance they might suck. (Common Sense Note: Shooting images that suck while shooting on someone else's dime is probably not a great idea.)

But even when shooting OMCZ on my own time, the risk of producing images that suck might not be something I want to associate myself with. Yeah, I probably want feedback on them. But I'm not sure I want feedback with my name attached to them just in case the images suck even worse than I think they might suck.

So I'm thinking an alter-ego might be a good idea. You know, creating the guise of another shooter when trying out things that might have a good chance of not being received so well. This way, it's my alter-ego that risks a painful bruising; not my main, everyday ego.

So here he is, the new kid on the block: Photographer, Creme Rinze.



I'm thinking I'll let Creme run all the risks. And if Mr. Rinze comes up with some stuff that's half-way decent,I'll work the credit back my way. I might even let Creme write a few posts for the blog. He'll probably offer a totally different perspective than JimmyD does, I mean I do, and if it turns out he's out in left field, Creme, that is, that's Creme's problem not mine.

The images accompanying this post are of Kammi. They were captured by photographer Creme Rinze using a Canon 10D w/28-135 IS USM. They're not my style at all. And the post-processing is all Creme. But hey! Each to their own, right? In the future, I might let Creme borrow my 5D and see what he can do with that.