One year on ...

It seems hard for me to believe, but it's now just over a year since I set up my 'other baby', Philip Bamber Photography. So much has happened, so much has changed, that i'm struggling to keep up - looking at my website now you'd probably find it strange to know that i originally had no intention of doing anything besides kids' photography. No weddings. Never. So, what changed? Well, what didn't?!

Though I'm still on the world's steepest learning curve and I'm only taking baby steps, I can't help but be pleased with how things are going, especially considering I have to work another job as well. I've spent countless hours wrestling with questions like "who am I, not only as a photographer, but also as a person?"' and not necessarily getting many clear cut answers. In fact, just as I think I'm closing in on the answer there is a shift in what I want, my artistic tastes, etc, etc, so I feel a bit like a greyhound chasing a mechanical rabbit at times. The CEO of Starbucks has also had at least 3 cruises, paid for entirely by my Latte purchases, as i try to put all my fragments of ideas and concepts into a tangible business plan - this still evades me, as my original 2 million page plan (for the kids' photography) is now utterly obsolete.

So where did the wedding photography thing come from? You know what, I honestly don't know. As I say, I'd never had a wedding enquiry before and wasn't even advertising this service, when a friend commented on some pictures she'd seen on the ubiquitous Facebook and mentioned (I think she was joking at the time) about maybe doing her wedding. So i thought, you know what, this could be fun, and as it was almost 2 years in the future it didn't stress me out too much. Since then I've shot 2 weddings (both such great experiences in such different ways), with several more booked for the coming months. Honestly, though I've enjoyed many of my jobs in the past, nothing fulfils me and makes me want to push myself as much as my little photography business. I have no desire to create a world-wide franchise, and most of the most inspiring photographers I have seen and heard have been the most humble.

So who am i now? I want to be:
Creative; honest; ethical; artistically uncompromising; down-to-earth; friendly; approachable; efficient; respectful; passionate; utterly referrable

I guess this is my 'to be' list, which is something I have got from one of my favourite photography professionals, Mike Larson. I know that I am never going to be all of these things at any one time and I will probably fail many times, but it is something I strive for at all times - my perfect future self, if you will.

My hopes for the next 12 months are to give my all to my clients, not just in terms of taking beautiful and artistic photographs, but in creating a generally wonderful experience all round. I want to make a move towards including slightly quirky, individual weddings, as well as classical ones. I want I want I want.

So yeah, happy birthday to me and thank you to all my clients, both past and present, I'd be nowhere without you guys.

All the best,
Phil


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