Earlier this week I put out a call for questions on Facebook and Twitter. I’m sure you been waiting on pins and needles for the answers. Well, the wait is over.
Who or what inspires your work? How did you get interested in photography?
I’m not a student of photography. I didn’t take classes. I have to admit that I don’t know much of the history of the media. I was, and still am, just a guy with a camera that has been fostering a passion for taking photographs. As part of that, I’ve tried surrounding myself with peers that are fantastic photographers and take beautiful images. Those are people that blog, Flickr and Facebook. They are people that have the same passion and want the next photo to be better than the last. They inspired me to get better, because I wanted to be able to share my work with them and not just be looked on as some hack with a camera that gets lucky every once in a 1,000 shutter clicks.
I became interested in photography when I was eight or nine years old. My brother, Jim, began taking pictures for the high school newspaper. He had this cool camera. He was developing his own work. It just seemed so…COOOOOL! I don’t remember exactly what he shot with, but it was a Canon. By the time I was in sixth grade I the school had a photoclub and I think I used his camera for a while before getting a Canon AE-1P for my birthday. I shot with that camera until 1997 or so. In high school, I also shot for the paper, mostly covering sports. In college, it sort of got left behind. In 1997, my wife traded it in for a Canon Rebel G series and a couple of lenses. That camera didn’t get much use and once we had kids a series of digital point and shoots passed through my hands, but as I took more pictures I found that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted and eventually I had a Rebel XT. I shot more, I posted more, I watched and listened more and I got better. The rest is history in the making.
What kind of photography do you prefer? Kids, portrait, weddings, landscape, stock, what?
When I first started getting serious about this for art, something that I wanted to share just beyond my Flickr account, I thought I would be all about landscapes, nature and wildlife. Heck, I’ve got almost a half dozen gallery shows based on that work under my belt.
What I didn’t expect was that people would start asking me to take picture of them, their families, their weddings. I didn’t quite understand that, because all they had seen at my blog was a few pictures of my kids and some tree roots shot at f/2. That’s got nothing to do with taking portraits or shooting weddings. But the requests came I started to go for it.
I like shooting kids and families. I like doing it on site – where they live, work and play. There is a challenge to it. What will each location give you to work with. How will the clients interact in it.
This past year, I started shooting weddings (Thanks Andi!). I never intended to be a wedding photographer. I wasn’t sure I would like the all day grind of shooting an event that had to do-overs. I’m finding, though, that I really enjoy it. Again, there is the challenge of what each location is going to offer, how will the Bride and Groom react to the events of the day, working on instinct and try to anticipate what is going to happen next – and all without a net. You miss the shot and your done.
Stock doesn’t interest me at all. I’ve had people tell me that this photo or that photo would be great stock photos, but that business has become really competitive and unless you are big dog, I just don’t see how you can make a living there.
Going forward, I really plan on focusing on weddings and portraits. Carving out a niche there and hoping to build a loyal following.
How did you know this was your thing? How did you choose the (awesome) name for your business?
It is AWESOME! I know!
Left of Center just sort of happened. I didn’t want to be “Paul Lender Photography” or “PL Photos”. The “left” came from the fact that I am left handed. I was playing around with that idea and it just made sense to stick it the basic rule of thirds concept of composition. Put the subject right or left of center. Bing!
I’m still not sure I know that this is my thing. I like to take pictures. I couldn’t imagine a week going by when I don’t pick up my camera and shoot something. The thing is, once you shoot what are you going to do with that image. You shot it for a reason, might as well share it. It’s so easy to publish yourself in the age of social media. I got a Flickr account, made a blog and start posting. People started commenting. I happened to be in the right place at the right time for a gallery show some friends in Cleveland were putting together. They let me hang two images. I happened to have a friend that needed some maternity photos done. She had a big family. They needed pictures. They had friends who needed pictures. One job followed another and I just sort of found myself shooting.
I never sat down and said “I’m good enough”. I let my work decided that. If it’s “good enough” then the client will be back and they’ll tell their friends. That’s what I want. I don’t think I’ll ever tell myself “I’m good enough” because then you set yourself up to stop growing, learning and trying new things.
So there you go. The first edition of “Ask LoC”. What do you think? Are you going to play again next month?
My favorite pictures you did of my family was the one’s with us in our Keough shirts and Tommy was a baby. I love to remember that time when my boys were little. I love that it was Mother’s Day and the tree and grass were super green. Thanks Paul!