One of my commercial photography clients in Shrewsbury asked me the other day which type of photography I enjoy most? At first, I thought it was an incredibly difficult question to answer! But I thought I'd give it a go!
Being an animal lover, I can't help but enjoy animal photography. I love the relationship I can build with my clients' furry friends. I love capturing their character, and I also have a knack of getting them to do exactly what I want to create the image I want. There's a saying "Never work with animals or children" but I don't agree with that. I think it's actually only half right! ;-)
So animal photography is way up there as my favourite, but I also really enjoy commercial photography. Finding a way of making a creative and interesting photograph from an apparently "normal" subject is always challenging and fun. It often means placing the object, or person in places they might not usually be found. Also, occasionally I get to "over-produce" an image which is not something I would normally do. Although I'm a big fan or natural light and natural post-production sometimes going over the top just works.
So is commercial photography my favourite? Well, it's up there, but then of course there's wedding photography. I only shoot around 4 to 6 weddings a year. I've seen too many photographers who specialise in wedding photography become a little too comfortable. All their albums have exactly the same wedding photographs - just with a different couple. I don't want to get like that so that's why I limit myself. Consequently EVERY wedding I record I really enjoy and have fun at. It's often commented on by my couples that I'm more like a guest than a photographer. Perhaps that why I'm still friends with, and still in contact with so many of my couples, even years after their wedding.
So yes! I really enjoy wedding photography - BUT Mmmmmm! Food Photography! OMG! I just love going to some of the best restaurants in Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, in Wales and much further afield! Watching chefs create the most amazing and delicious dishes and then photographing them is an absolute delight. Although there are "cheats" you can use, to get the best out of food photography you have to photograph the plate within minutes of the food being freshly cooked and presented. That means that the food is unadulterated and more importantly I get to taste some of it before the plate is taken away and the next dish is ready!
However if I concentrated on food photography alone, I think I would end up weighing 20 stone! So then there's my other love. Portrait photography. Both conventional and my more alternatively style. This gives me a way to really express myself creatively. With a background in fine art this is like painting but with a camera. This is why I don't do the normal family portraits against a white background anymore. It was fine for a while, but it just became, in my opinion, a bit passé. So I like to "play" a bit more. Capture the personality of my client and express the image they want to convey or the things that are important to them. That and just have a bit of photographic fun!
So? Which type of photography is my favourite? Animal Photography? Commercial Photography? Wedding Photography? Food Photography or Portrait Photography?
The answer is simple. All of them.