In her interview here at I Speak Film, Serena Dawn Boggs said:

“Know yourself and do not shift from the style you love to please others…this is your work, your view, your passion!”

Chris Frazier of Shooting the Kids really responded to this quote and commented:

“This is an excellent bit of business advice for an artist. The wonderful thing about digital tools is that they allow just about anyone to jump into the business. What that means for anyone else in the business is that anyone can walk away with your clients. The two most important things to bringing new clients and keep your regulars are a) quality product and b) your style / vision.”

I totally know what Chris means. Recently, I asked my brilliant businesswoman friend for advice about my photography business. She suggested that I set up at schools with backgrounds and santa hats and the like as a way to get holiday business. She prefers to have her holiday photos made this way because it’s convenient and done at the school while she’s at work. I totally understand this. However, it is soooo not the kind of photography that I want to do. I appreciate her advice, but I’m going to stick to my photographic style and not sway my vision on the prospect of making money that way. Anyone can set up a background and wave a rattle and have kids wearing santa hats, but I’m more interested in taking really beautiful images of kids and capturing the essence of who they are, in the way that Serena does.