Tuesday, September 4, 2012

WHAT MAKES US PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS?


On any given day, you can walk into the Botanical Gardens (Tyrell Park) of Beaumont, Texas and spot dozen of photography enthusiasts everywhere. With the onset of digital photography, you can find anyone to pose as a photographer and they can use just about any camera. Their selection may include a DSLR, a point and shoot, or even a camera phone. Trust, if something is going down, you better believe that a camera is there in one form or another to document the moment. With that being said, these questions presented themselves to me:

If anyone can be a pro photographer these days, what makes me, Above All Expressions, so different?
Here is my answer: Photography for us is about capturing all of the human aspects and values of life. We are visual storytellers who love to have fun. We capture all of the playful, funny, emotional, romantic, magical, unexpectant,and precious moments of how we live. We capture life. God has blessed us with a unique gift and the creative talent to make time stand still for a brief moment to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how of life. God has given us, as photographers, the ability to see things as He sees them and He has given us the opportunity to capture and share those moments that take place in all of our lives.

We capture your reactions: what makes you happy, what makes you laugh, what makes you anxious, what makes you excited, and what makes you love. We, then, extend this concept to create a photograph which is purely from your point of view. It is all about you, your emotions, and your ideas. We capture the true essence of you, your personality, your milestones, and all the special moments of your lives. We visually tell your story from the moments you create. We visually initiate a conversation with every viewer of our work. But the conversation is not about us, it about you, our client. It’s a story about your life at a specific moment of time. Each photograph visually expresses something BIG that has, that is happening, or is going to happen. We capture you in the midst of your destiny. Each photograph is a connection to the reality of a brief moment of something meaningful. Each photograph creates a time period in history that causes one to reminiscence.

What makes us stand out from other photographers?
The answer is simple. IT’S OUR GIFT and what an awesome gift it is, might I add!!! Photography is my passion. I believe God gives me the perception, interpretation, and execution to make a photograph by telling me where to stand, what to see, and when to click the shutter. Our creativity, our uniqueness, our quality, the  value of products and our professionalism sets us apart as well.

What makes you a professional photographer? Is it just the beautiful pictures you take?
Actually, what makes me a professional photographer is our true ability to do what camera’s can’t do…take your realistic ideas and produce creative images that incorporate the essence of your moment that gives the photograph a unique value. Although anyone can be a photographer, not everyone has knowledge about photography. This is what separates us from amateurs. The newest photography enthusiast may have some understanding about shutter speeds, apertures, composition, and timing, but they do not know how to use those aspects and to what extent to use them. This is where experience becomes a determining factor in your choice when choosing a photographer. Being a professional photographer does not mean that we just have the most advanced technology or the best equipment, but it does mean that we have the knowledge and understanding to utilize the expansiveness of such gear in different photographic arenas that gives us our competitive edge and our earned identity as professional photographers.   

A Faith Note from Above All Expressions


Above All Faith-Note J
Have you ever just followed the inkling of God? Have you ever just placed all of your trust in Him and did something totally against the reasoning of what man said you should do or would do if they were in your shoes? Well, that’s exactly what I did two years ago, when I quit my teaching job to open my photography business full-time and pursue all that God had purposed in my life. Long story short, all of my life I had always strived to please others by doing what they thought I should do, doing what they thought was best for me, or by doing what they thought was right. However, I have learned from experience that just because something is good doesn’t mean it is God’s plan for your life.

My passion was never teaching at-risk students even though I was good at it. There were too many limitations there. Trust me, I tried to stay anyway. But God said “No.” God closed that door and directed me straight into my destiny. When I chose just to believe God, and to be obedient to Him, God ignited my true passion and enlarged my territory. Then, plenty of obstacles came. Anytime God places a dream in your heart and you start pursuing it, you can rest assure that critics will criticizes, haters will hate, and naysayers will show up. However, I didn’t get distracted. I chose to focus on God and follow all that He had placed in my heart.

I stepped out on faith and God has favored me and is helping me every step of the way. The Word tells us not to despise humble (small) beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin (Zech. 4:10). This is not a side hustle nor has it ever been a hustle at all for me. If that was the case, I would have never walked away from a teaching job paying me over $40,000 per year to pursue photography as a career. The truth is I BELIEVE GOD. God said leave and I left. God said He gives me power in my own hand to get wealth, so I started my own full-time photography business. God said He would never leave me or forsake me, so I believe that God is faithful to strengthen me to do the work, faithful to send new and recurring clients, faithful to send workers if I need them, faithful to help me overcome any setbacks from the enemy, faithful to encourage me by His Spirit and His Word, faithful to provide all of my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, and faithful to lead me to victory as long as I do my part. I BELIEVE GOD!!!   God is able to do exceedingly abundantly ABOVE ALL we could every ask or think according to the power that worketh in us (Eph. 3:20)!!!