The Minimalist Approach
I used to believe that I could only book clients or sell portraits if I had a prop closet brimming with all of the things. I would create elaborate sets filled with a million florals, and knick-knacks or colourful backdrops. I had a client wardrobe that was overrun with more outfits than I knew what to do with - half of which never even saw the light of day. I spent hours and literally thousands of dollars perusing different photo prop shops buying up all of these THINGS that I thought I needed in order to become the most sought after baby photographer in my area. But something never felt right. It didn’t seem to matter how I arranged my sets, how much I spent on a new high quality prop, or how many compliments I received on my work, I still always felt like I wasn’t every able to provide those heirloom portraits that I yearned for for my clients.
Then one day while combing through my portfolio and comparing images it hit me. All of those props I realized only did one thing - Distract. The most important element of the image was there but it was getting lost amongst all of the other distractions. When I analyzed this further I realized that so many of these distractions were not timeless either, but merely fleeting trends. Eww. I’ve never been a trendy gal - I don’t know why I thought I wanted my work to be trendy! I want my work to be timeless! I want my portraits to look amazing in 30, even 50 years! I want that portrait of your cherub faced toddler to still elicit smiles when that cherub faced toddler becomes a parent themselves and shows it to their own cherub faced toddler! Which is why I made the decision to take a minima list approach in my work. So if you see a lot of simplistic white sets or the occasional moody black and white portrait in my portfolio please understand that it is done very intentionally. Because when you pare away all of the clutter.. all of the unnecessary bits and pieces, you should only be left with the the moments you know that you could never do life without.
May your images bring you light and joy for years to come!
-Carolyn