Week 3 EOC: My Committment

After discovering my love for photography I gave myself a commitment. I would do whatever in my power to make my love for photography a career. I had to make the transition from focusing my attention on social work to what I needed to do to not only be a photographer but a successful photographer. I first made the decision to completely change my education plan. I left grad school and began my journey to discovering what it would take to be a professional photographer. I committed to myself that as a photographer I will provide high quality professional portraits to professionals and families while making a lasting professional relationship. I want to be the portrait photographer that gets to see their clients children grow up and remembers taking pictures for their daughter’s graduation photograph. Making my career incorporate my social work skills will give me a uniqueness that will help my clients identify me from the hundreds of photographers in the surrounding Orlando area. “Uniqueness could be that the style and approach you have are so unique that you can command a premium for your distinctive style. In these cases, the client is likely willing to hire you and fly you to wherever the shoot is---and yes, pay the premium rate.” (Harrington, 60) Photographers like David LaChapelle also have this uniqueness about their work. Having this uniqueness to my own work will give my career a head start from other people who happen to own and camera and like to take pictures of people’s faces. I also commit to make every photograph creative. Some ideas may be used more than once but that doesn’t disregard the creativity that was used to create them first. “The creative factor is often one of the largest contributions to the photographer’s fees, and this is why it often referred to as the creative fee.” (Harrington, 61)