Shannon Drawe | Blog

Working on the edit for In Your Face / Body Beads ... a bold departure for the company and an exciting new chapter in their history with me. Will post more as they present themselves. Busy like this is good - more fashion please!

Made it back to Denton Friday night just in time to catch Joe Ely at Dan's as part of the continuing project Dan and I have undertaken.



Needless to say, it is near impossible to deal with or get through to musicians in this day-and-time to get their cooperation on anything. Perhaps these images can be a precursor to getting artists to go along with the next project.

Sure live action is cool, but it is beyond difficult and lacks the control of five minutes of personal face time I could use to do some special images.

What could be better than taking part of a Friday evening to shoot some soccer in Plano, Texas? Never mind it is still 100-degrees (in the shade). I was surprised to see there is nothing new on sports photography books. Maybe I will have to write one.

I am still pretty pumped about my "My Own Space" concept for tweenager portraits. Heck, it would at least get the kids to clean their room wouldn't it? But seriously, who hasn't lamented the lack of photographs from their old rooms in their old houses in their old neighborhoods? This is one concept that appears to be an original - looking for an audience that wants originals.

A couple of very refreshing new clients booked their weddings recently - taking away September 23 and 30 from potential clients. Oh well ... Nissa Rivard who hails from the great city of New York, and the other Jennifer Mills whose wedding I will be headed to Oklahoma City to cover.

These two brides mesh with me so well for different reasons. Nissa, a makeup artist and jazz singer, tells it like it is - New York style. It is so refreshing that it makes me wonder if I belong in New York.

That left brain right brain thing always goes my way with the right brainers!

Jennifer is an artist and thinks about photography on a whole different level.

It is difficult to keep track of how many of these types of personalities I have worked with in the past, but let's just say that the more art minded free spirited individuals fit me and my style hand-in-glove.

shannon

Does anyone think July in Texas is the time for a wedding? Heat, heat and more heat. I have done plenty of weddings in Texas in July, but it is usually at the beginning or end of the month. It's a month where vendors shut their doors and head for higher ground. Currently, I still have two weeks before the next wedding event. So, new stock photography is being uploaded to istockphoto and I am looking at other RF stock outlets.

Sometimes we come across brides that are, shall we say, type A. Those brides have a "vision" of how they want things to be. There's nothing wrong with that. Part of being a quality wedding photographer is blending a client's vision with our vision - literally! Generally, I am at the stage professionally where what you see is what I am. If a bride hires be because of price, but really wanted xyz's style, she can't impose xyz's style on my price. I am constantly pushing myself to be creative in a field where price trumps creativity in at least 95-percent of the weddings booked. I try something new (to me) at every single wedding. It's not a risk, it's an adventure.

So, what to do when a bride has a specific vision of the entire day and has not hired anyone to make sure that vision becomes a reality? As someone who may be present for the entire event, is a visual reference, and has extensive experience, it is no surprise that wedding photographers are often called upon to be wedding coordinators. I am confident that if a bride reads this, and is wondering whether to hire a coordinator, she will have an easier time after reading on.

A wedding photographer is a photographer not a coordinator. That said, I can make things happen for anyone (who is writing the checks) at any event. However, the questions I dread begin with, "Now what do we do?...". My answers to these questions always contain some form of disclaimer such as, "well, I am not telling you what to do, but ... ",or "this is what people usually do ...".

Ask yourself if you are a type A or a type Z. If you are closer to A or an A, then hire a professional wedding coordinator and leave the driving to her/him. If you lean toward a Z, and can roll with things pretty well, then let things roll with the aid of location coordinators, DJ's, photographers and bands. Wedding size matters too.

Coordinators I have worked with successfully in the past include HOLLY TRIPP, and MARY FRANCIS HURT. These are coordinators you want to work with.

As for me, I can coordinate and do coordinate for those who are not type A. Why would any photographer take on the extra weight of doing another job for a type A personality along with all the responsibilities photography brings? If the client is not a type A and can roll with things, there's not much I will not do for them.