Pinterest + Photography = Perfection or Pandemonium? {Guest Post by Amy Vassar Photography} | Crestview family photographer

I am thrilled to be hosting Amy Vassar today to discuss a topic near-and-dear to my little *tog heart!  Be sure to hop on over to check her out and leave her some love while you’re there.

 

 

 

www.amyvassarphotography.com
So, I love Pinterest.  Really and truly.  I love it because it’s as random as I am.  I love it because it inspires me.  I love it because of the wood-mounted family pictures on my living room.  I love it because of the maxi dresses I made myself last summer.  I love it because of the homemade slime that makes my kids think I’m a genius.  Yep.  I just love it.

But as a photographer, there’s a little part of me that hates Pinterest.  Why?  Well, because Pinterest has the potential to turn all photographers into something akin to a McDonald’s drive-up window.  Clients come to their sessions and say, “I’d like one of these, and one of those, and one of this, and make that second one a black-and-white…”  It takes the creative style and honed practices of your chosen photographer and reduces them to an imitation of 14 other artists.  And often what grabs our attention in an image is the emotion that’s been captured, and that’s not easy for you or your photographer to reproduce.

“But wait!” you say.  “What about my style as the client?  What about how I want my family/newborn/engagement/senior photos to look?  Don’t I get any say?”  Yes!  As a photographer, I want to know about my clients’ interests and tastes, because I want their photos to be just perfectly “them.”  In addition to carefully choosing someone whose style you appreciate, I think Pinterest can be a perfect tool to collaborate with your photographer in advance of your session, but in a very specific way.

If your photographer is open to using Pinterest for collaborating, here are my recommendations for making the best use of it:

  1. Do pin pictures that reflect your overall style in a general way.  Do you like light and airy?  Dark and moody?  Playful interactions?  Classic portraits?  (Remember, as stated earlier, much of this is part of your photographer’s style, so don’t hire a photographer whose portfolio is full of light and airy photos and expect them to turn out all dark and moody images just because that’s what you pinned.)
  2. Do not pin a myriad of poses, especially not the ones that have gone viral on Pinterest.  What starts as a brilliant and unique idea becomes ho-hum after 37,000 photographers mimic it.  You’d be better off going classic than having yet another picture of ________ (whatever the current rage is).
  3. Do pin pictures that show the kind of location and background you like, if you and your photographer are deciding together where to shoot your session.
  4. Do not pin a bunch of props that you expect your photographer to supply.  Most photographers are very strategic with their purchases, and they have to balance equipment upgrades, digital tools, props, and other business expenses.  Talk to them about what they have and maybe about things you could bring (principally things that have some sort of sentimental value), but don’t expect that they will buy a bunch of things to match what you pin.
  5. Do think of this as more of an inspiration board than a to-do list.  Use it for clothing ideas as well!  See this example I created for my own family’s fall/winter portraits later this year: http://pinterest.com/amyvassar/vassar-family-photos-inspiration-board-fallwinter-/

By following these guidelines, you can use Pinterest as the awesome tool it is, without wasting the experience and creativity of the photographer you have hired.  The result will be a fusion of your and your photographer’s style to create beautiful, unique memories.

www.amyvassarphotography.com

Amy Vassar is a photographer in the Boise, Idaho area. Her emphasis is on senior, family, and child photography. You can see her work at www.amyvassarphotography.com. She loves social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram (username amyvassar), and she is always looking for new and appropriate ways to use it with her photography and with the teaching she does for a local community college.

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