"There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." - Ernst Haas
This blog post has been quite a long time coming, and what a year it's been! We've had weddings. We've had families. We've even had our first Bar Mitzvah! Matt Blasing Photography has had quite an amazing 2014, and there is much to be celebrated.
Today, I was going through my Facebook newsfeed for the business page and felt the need to go all the way back to the beginning of my timeline. March 11th, 2013 was my first post, to be exact. It's fun to see how we (Amy and me) started. I, like many others, made the classic rookie faux pas edits: over-vignetted, overly-saturated, and overly-processed. Gaining some perspective of the knowledge learned over the last few years of taking this seriously and growing a business has been great for those times when I start to get down on myself and be overly-critical of my work. "I should have aligned the subject like this. I should have used flash like that. I don't like this exposure. The client is going to hate these. They're not my favorite."
When I start to begrudge my work, my lack of self-confidence really shows in each photograph (which are usually the ones that are only seen by me and my recycle bin). Making sure those become less and less is the real challenge.
This year, in addition to augmenting my technical knowledge of composition, exposure, and studio lighting, I've also built my skills of knowing how to work with my clients. I've come to learn this year that addressing photography clients is much more different than addressing customers in other settings, which is something I constantly have to remind myself of. I had the deep realization that not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera, and that my clients put trust in me to help them be relaxed, confident, and ready to look their best. Using this year to develop that comfort level, especially during in-the-moment rush sessions like weddings, has been invaluable experience.
2014 provided us our first Buddhist wedding, our first out-of-state wedding, and our first Bar Mitzvah. I've met many new families, and have had many repeat customers (sometimes with new additions to their families!). The website was revamped, we re-branded with a new look, and have met many fellow New Mexico photographers along the way. 2015 is shaping up to be an amazing year.
To all of our clients who put our trust in our business, and to other local photographers we've had the fortune to build relationships with, we thank you a million times over. We've enjoyed serving you this year, and can't wait to see what next year brings!
With love,
Matt & Amy Blasing
Matt Blasing Photography
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