Reaction Paper #3

Janelle Brooke

• wedding and portrait photographer 
• started in 2008 when she was 24
• graduated suffolk in 2006
• worked for Hampton Models and doing band photography
• first wedding photo shoot in 2008
• attended CW Post
• advertised in long island wedding magazine, the created FaceBook page in 2010
• business photographs about 40 weddings per year
• gained even more bookings from creating a promo video 
• all edits and work done at home
• has full team of 8
• had 2 team members who attended suffolk and became interns with the company
• editing is most important thing that sets them different from other wedding photographers
• use natural lighting
• use content aware tool for  majority of editing and getting rid of unwanted things in photos
• got featured on GMA on boudoir photography
• working with more than one person on location helps a lot
• prices and fees depend on time, location, make up and hair artists, etc...
• learn the business of photography

I really loved having Janelle and Terry come in today to talk about her business. I found it really inspiring that not only was she a suffolk student but she created her own path in the photography world and it worked out for her. I definitely learned a lot from her today when it comes to getting started after college, what to charge and what the editing process consists of. Over the past few weeks of this semester I really want to explore more in portraiture photography because I find them so interesting. It was really cool hearing her story and where and how she got started and I do feel like she inspired me a lot today and I am definitely going to do more research on her.

Photography Career Research Paper

Art 144 Photography Seminar 

Keener & Cyr

Photography Career Research Paper

The career I have chosen and also type of photography I would like to pursue is a Freelance Photographer. I could never really choose a certain style of object to photograph, I always loved doing everything but it’s pretty much impossible to have a career doing every type of photography there is. I particularly had a main interest in portrait and concert photography as well as street photography. I didn’t think there was a photographer out there who was on the same page as I was until I met and thankfully got to interview, Betsy Brody. She too is a freelance photographer and she specializes in portraits, concerts, weddings and other events. 

When it comes to employment opportunities, I have found that it is most important to befriend almost everybody you come in contact with. For the most part, being a freelance photographer, you are self- employed and a lot of your job opportunities are from booking appointments with clients on your own. You can’t really join a certain business that specializes in freelance photography because it isn't a thing. The more contacts you make, the more your name gets out there and what can start off as a local job can turn into an international job. 

There really isn't much education needed, but it is important you know everything about your equipment and what you’re doing. It definitely helps a lot to attend some sort of college level school for photography so they can teach you about the industry. It’s hard to learn everything about the career field by searching it on google. 

When i interviewed Betsy, one of my questions to her was how she got started and it gave me an idea as to what I have to do and I am currently on the right track to being a successful photographer. She attended a year in the Art Institute of Philadelphia. From there, she started her own business in 1987 by doing portraits in her area and from there her business has expanded. Becoming an assistant is very important because you learn a lot about the career field hands on, and you also get a feel of what life is like outside of the photography classrooms. 

Seasons have a pretty big impact on your work flow. For Betsy, her busiest time of the year is during the fall and winter seasons because she does a lot of family portraits and schools pictures. In the winter she gets busy with the holidays and a lot of families need Christmas cards done. Mentioned in the interview, she recently finished an assignment where she was hired to shoot a Chanukah event. With concerts, she gets hired to do a lot of head shots of new artists and well as capturing them on stage at events. 

The pricing structure depends completely on the photographer and how much they need to survive. A portrait session for an hour can cost from $150-200, but that doesn't include prints and edits. For Betsy, she charges $150 for a regular portrait session that is local, the price rises depending on how far away the client is located because she doesn't work in a studio, she works on location. She charges $15 per print, but it depends on the size. For example an 11x14 would cost $100. For events such as weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and such starts at $1000. It all depends on how many hours the client would like to hire her for and what is needed such as digital files or albums. 

Professional organization and networking is the most important part in a photography career because your clients are the ones paying you and keeping you alive. It’s important to really get yourself out there. People who know your name and are familiar with your work are more likely to recommend to friends and family. One of the best ways to start looking for jobs is by craigslist or just on social media. Social media itself can have a big impact on your career and can definitely help get yourself out there. 

Betsy’s advice to me was pretty much keep doing what I’m doing. The more photos I take the more I learn and eventually everything will come naturally. She was very helpful with my research and i’m so thankful she was able to take the time out of her day to let me interview her. 

For a while I was always indecisive of everything I did. I discovered I really enjoyed shooting concerts right when I started dating my boyfriend who is the drummer in a band and he would have me photograph and film their performances and I started to really get into that. Then during the summer I found myself doing a lot of decisive moments of my pets at home. When it comes to portraiture, I really wasn't a big fan of them until we had to do an assignment on it and I started to really enjoy doing that. Towards the end of the semester I couldn’t decide what I loved to shoot the most, I was stuck between portraits, animals, and concerts. Then I met Betsy who I have seen a few times at some of my boyfriends shows and I found her website and discovered she does the work that I’m into, and considers herself a freelance photographer an that’s when I knew what I wanted to do. I consider myself a ‘free spirit’ and I solely believe that that characteristic is reflected into my work and my workflow. 

Lauren Williams                                                                                                                         Prof. Cyr
Digital Photography
Artist Statement

       For a while I have been very indecisive on what photography style I would like to get into because I loved almost everything. I was able to narrow it down to portraits, pet portraits, and concerts. I was never a fan of studios and portraits because I liked being out and about and being almost free, but since we were assigned to do a portrait in class I started to like it. My pets mean the world to me and they're always the first thing I think about if I want to go out and photograph something. I'm attracted to action and life and they bring out the best in my work because I feel like it's very difficult to capture the personality of an animal. As for concert photography, same thing. I love the idea of capturing someone in their habitat, particularly on stage. I really started to get into concert photography right when I started dating my boyfriend who's a drummer in a band and he would have me photograph the concert. I have decided that I would like to focus on portraits of people and animals, working both in a studio and on location. For concerts, I would only shoot when I'm on tour with my boyfriend and his band. 

      I pretty sure I'm on the right path to where I want to be in the future. Doing this final assignment for digital photography has definitely helped with deciding on what I would like to photograph. I've been doing a lot of portraits with both my animals and friends and family. For particularly the final I am doing just pet/animal portraits so I really think that will help me learn more about portraiture photography.

Lauren Williams. "Sassy"

Lauren Williams. "Sassy with Shadows"

Lauren Williams. "Hard Lighting of a Feline"

My cat lives in my basement because she's afraid of Zoey, so the only time I get to really see her is if I go down stairs. I decided to take her out of her comfort zone and place her in the dining room and do some portraits of her. I'm pretty happy with how some of the results came out. At first it was a little tricky because I couldn't get the right exposure and the images kept coming out blurry and she would move her head. These were my top 3 choices out of all the photos I shot of her, and one of these will also be included in my portfolio and my final project for my digital photography class.

Brandon Woelfel

I came across this one particular photographer on Instagram a while ago and fell in LOVE with his work. His name is Brandon Woelfel. These are just some of the incredible photographs he's taken and I just love his work because he uses these cool effects and just the over all photo is sick. I do hope I could sit down with him and interview him about his work and what he does to his photos and what inspires him one day. I highly recommend checking his work out, his Instagram is @Brandonwoelfel and his website is http://brandonwoelfel.weebly.com/

Lauren Williams. "Corey Beach Gloom"

Lauren Williams. "Corey Beach Sunny"

This weeks assignment was to photograph different landscapes at different times and these are my top 2 choices. I'm not a fan of landscape at all so this was a little difficult for me, but shooting at Corey Beach never fails me. The first photo was taken right after it stopped raining, while the second photo was taken a week later when it was nice out. I personally love how the black and white filter makes both photos look dramatic.

Lauren Williams. "Future"

Lauren Williams. "Timeless"

Lauren Williams. "Like Father Like Son"

Lauren Williams. "TDubbs"

Lauren Williams. "Crossed Eyes"

For this weeks assignment, we were asked to shoot some portraits and these were my best ones. The first photo is of my younger brother, Brandon. The reason it's called "Future" is because he will be joining the navy after he graduates high school and he's still exploring the different fields of law enforcement so I felt that it was an appropriate name. I personally love the photos of my father and myself because it really accentuates our personality and how we're so alike. We have both been through some rough times and it shows how we were able to move on and still keep smiles on our faces.

Lauren Williams. "Recovery"

This was taken early in the morning on Halloween. I had noticed my youngest dog, Cooper, was sprinting around the yard, excited from something so I decided to grab my camera and see what all the hype was about. He pulled off a chunk of tree bark. He was so proud of himself for taking a chunk out of a tree that he needed to do some victory laps, after he wore himself out, I snapped this photo and decided to call it "recovery" because I knew his brief celebration has come to an end.

Faculty Art Show

For starters I am not a fan of art museums or any museums of any kind unless they are truly interesting or weird, for example Madame Tussauds happens to be one of my favorite museums. Why? Um hello...your favorite celebrities that you have been dying to meet since you were little are all in one big building...but in wax form. When I was a senior in high school, we took a field trip to MoMa(Museum of Modern Art) and that was the worst thing I ever had to experience. I am not a fan of modern art at all because most of the time I find myself saying the same things in my head, "what is it?" and "I don't get it". Long story short, I should have stayed home that day because I was so bored the entire trip, nothing really spoke to me or caught my eye and every since that experience of going to MoMa I never wanted to return to any kind of art gallery, but I will say that I am very happy I took the time out of my day to attend the faculty art show held on campus today.  I was very intrigued at how talented each artist and photographer was and it almost made me a little envious. I won't talk about which piece was my favorite and which was my least favorite but instead I'll briefly explain how and why certain pieces caught my attention. For starters "Blue Lagoon" by Victoria Pendzick was unique not only because the whole photo was blue( favorite color) but because at first I saw these abstract figures that I thought was water or maybe grass, as I stepped back my eyes focused in on what the whole photo was; the torso of a mans body laying down which was pretty cool. The next piece that caught my eye was "Rainbow Highway" and "Jellyfish" by Allen Keener. I loved the vibrant colors that were brought out along with how both images seemed abstract, when you look at the images first and then the title you're unaware of what the image is which was very unique. I feel like I can relate to Joan Larson Wozniak and her piece, "Into the Garden" because I personally love portraits of people in these almost fantasy like environments and also the photograph was in black and white which makes it even more dramatic. I was really pulled into John Cyr's photographs especially "Developer Tray from the Photo History Collection of Smithsonian's National Museum of American History" along with "Barbara Mensch's Developer Tray" because both were vibrantly colored and you can almost tell how each photographer worked either neat or messy just by looking at their developing trays and how the black background in all of them really made them stand out made the whole collection pretty dope. Finally the last piece that was really eye catching was "Red Converse High Tops" by Harold Naideau. I actually got to speak with him about how he created his photographs and the process he explained was pretty fascinating. Basically he placed his subjects on a scanner and scanned them in where they were printed on wood. The fact that he used some type of object that's not supposed to be used as a camera to create his photographs was insane. Overall this was a cool thing to experience and I definitely would like to attend another photography based art show.

Lauren Williams. "Skyline"

Lauren Williams. "Brooklyn Bridge"

Lauren Williams. "Passing By"

This past Sunday, I took a trip into Brooklyn, NY along with my mom and my boyfriend for some sight seeing and to walk the famous "Brooklyn Bridge" and it was a very unique experience. I wouldn't necessarily say walking across a crowded bridge was fun, but it was very cool. I did get upset because I don't do well in crowds and when you're waiting for that moment where someones head isn't in your shot, you start to get impatient and a little agitated. I do plan to return before it gets cold and on a day where most people will be working. My favorite photo out of these three would have to be the last one, "Passing By". I was never good at photographing moving objects or lights with a slow shutter speed, and I was intrigued by how fast these cars were 'passing by' so I decided to give it a shot. I placed my camera on a cement wall and used my fingers to angle it but keep it steady and started shooting and this was one of the outcomes. If I had brought my tripod this image probably would've came out better but this was more of a trial and error, so when I do return to Manhattan my tripod will definitely come along with me. Overall this was a very cool experience and I recommend taking the time out of your day to venture out into the forgotten parts of Manhattan and do some sight-seeing.

Lauren Williams. "Grind Rail"

Taken a few weeks ago at Tanner Park in Amityville, NY during a pet expo/craft festival. I always feel like when I'm out photographing, I gravitate towards excitement and action which is why I was drawn to these skateboarders because I found it fascinating how they were able to do all these crazy jumps and flips on a board with wheels. What I particularly love about this photo is how both guys seem to be doing the same trick with the way their posing. I decided to photograph them outside the fence because it's almost like being at a zoo and you're looking into the cage where the animals roam, and these young, rebellious skaters were in their cage.

Lauren Williams. "Miley"

7 years old, Chocolate Lab and one of my three dogs is Miley who we also call "Corpse" or "The 9k Dog". We got her a few years ago at some pet shop and she was about 3 months old and was the runt of the litter so nobody really wanted her. At the time she was welcomed into our home with one other senior dog who is no longer with us. About 2 years later we all moved to Bayport and she was a very hyper and active puppy who (like Cooper) loved to chew. It wasn't until she chewed the fabric off a tennis ball and swallowed it where it later ended up getting stuck along the lining of her small intestine. We rushed her to about 2 or 3 different animal hospitals until they were able to surgically remove the fabric. After her recovery, her vet bills were up to $9,000. Miley was sick on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and we were all home from school, if we weren't home that day, she would've died. To this day we are so thankful she was given a second chance at life and she's happy at home living with her brother and sister. I particularly like this picture because I feel like it perfectly describes her personality. She's kind of stupid, but wise at the same time and is a master of getting herself into trouble even as she gets older.

Lauren Williams. "Cooper"

This is one of my youngest dogs, his name is Cooper and he is a 6 month old Golden Retriever. We drove about 3 hours out of state to a breeder just to get him because my brother has always wanted his own dog. He loves the water and loves swimming, we can't wait to see how he reacts to snow this winter. Don't be fooled by his adorable puppy dog eyes because in reality he is a walking tornado. He managed to destroy the couch, a few flower pots, some socks and pillows and even left quite an abundance of holes in the backyard. It's also fun at night when he cries and whines while he's in his crate because he chews the molding if we let him have the run of the house at night:) Besides all the damage he's one big mush who believes he's the size of my Yorkie and will try to climb into your lap when he's done playing. We can't wait to see what else this dog is capable of and what will be destroyed in the future. 

Lauren Williams. "Zoey" 

This is one of my 3 dogs, Zoey Lynn. She's a 4 year old Teacup Yorkie. Don't be fooled by her size because she packs one hell of a personality into her little body. If you pick up her favorite rubber tire you won't be able to catch a break because she will play with you until you have had enough and there's no stopping her. The moment you decide to stop, she'll yell at you with her obnoxious, high pitched bark, and when that doesn't work?...She'll pick up the tire and drop it either on your lap or right next to your hand until you throw it again. The only way I can get a good shot of her is if I hold her tire above my camera, otherwise she moves way too fast. She knows she's a princess so when we take trips to the dog park, she wants nothing to do with any of the other dogs because she thinks she's better than all of them**insert information desk clerk emoticon**