Being a new year and all I thought maybe I should upload something. At the moment my personal laptop is down and out with a case of brokenitis. I DID get PSP ProX4 Ultimate for Christmas and I was given permission to use the Boy's big gaming rig for photo editing...so perhaps I will go dig through archives and see what this new PSP and a bigger, badder PC can do for old photos. I haven't any models, nor do I have much inspiration to shoot, except that of a pair of hella cool red pumps and a pair of thigh high pirate boots and 20 pounds off of my frame in the last year has got me wondering what I could do with those and maybe a foray into self-portraiture...

That last thought did get me to think about some things, though. More or less what kind of photographer I am and what kind of photographer I want to be, and even how much deeper down the rabbit hole do I want to go..

I AM NOT a glamour photographer. I will never do glamour shots and I will never retouch a photo to get rid of wrinkles, acne, hair, stretch-marks, weight, etc. I believe highly in WYSIWYG. I don't wear make-up, I don't dye my hair, and the only reason I'm on antibiotics for acne is because I get very painful, cystic acne. I also worked very hard and sacrificed a whole lot to lose 20 pounds this last year. I do not believe in the easy way out.

I AM NOT a street photographer. I befriended a few here on DA...they carry their cameras everywhere and it takes them hours to go a mile because they shoot everything they see. They catch some amazing things...but I really am not content if I live life through a camera lens. Somethings just have to be lived in the moment without the lens deadening the experience. If I see something really that epic I have a decent camera on my cell phone, as does every Tom, Dick and Harry so it really won't be a unique capture anyway.

I AM NOT an event photographer. I hate attending weddings and I hate shooting them even more. Brides, grooms, and the parents of said individuals are insane on their wedding days. They are also so insanely hard to please because absolutely everything has to be perfect. I am not perfect, I will not shoot a perfect photo, and don't expect me to work miracles. If the bride couldn't get that last 0 pounds off before the Big Day and the groom is hung over as fuck don't expect me to be able to Shop it all out.

I AM NOT a studio photographer. I hate using anything but natural lighting and I HATE HATE HATE shooting indoors. Too many space limitations. Maybe I hate using anything but natural light because I really do not know how to use studio lighting. Short of the impromptu lesson with `arachnid15 I've had no lessons on how to get light just right. The sun seems to do that for me and my eye does the rest.

I AM NOT a senior portrait photographer. I have shot some, but believe me those were for some seriously not so "normal" people. They were my kind of kids. Artsy, a little nerdy, and all full of potential without even the slightest trace of "oh boy I'm gonna be an adult soon" attitude. They just wanted to have fun and wanted pictures of them having fun. I had fun, they had fun, their parents loved the portraits more than the "traditional" sit down shit. I wish I could go back and shoot my senior portraits. They were dark. My make up would make a whore jealous. The compositions were lack-luster to say the least.

I AM happy to take commissions for prints or shoots, but with a lot of discussion and a lot of conditions. This is a hobby for me, not a lifeline. I have considered using photography as a primary or even secondary source of income. I have decided its not worth the trouble of having to try and juggle my abilities and a client's demands. If I can't do a shoot I will say so and try to direct the client to someone who can.

I AM a candid portrait photographer. My work may be focused around a certain set-up (i.e. the Wars series) but very few, if any, shots in those series are set-up and then shot until I get a perfect capture. If I get the shot, then I get it. If I don't then the moment has passed and that is that.

I AM known for pet photography, but again, those are very candid shots. I will run into a paddock with a bucking, bolting horse to get the raw spirit. I will toss a ball a bazillion times to get a dog to look like a dog for a shot and I will wait for a cat to get comfortable to shoot. If the animal won't behave I will remove myself after taking what shots I can. I can't make a dog smile or a cat cooperate, nor can I get a horse to square up perfectly every time.

I have done weddings before. I've done senior portraiture. I've had animals pose for pictures. I've tried living life through a lens. I've tried everything above that I've listed I'm not. I was not happy doing any of those things. Maybe I'm an accidental photographer who happens to have a decent eye for composition. I don't have a rhyme or reason to my method, its really just whatever strikes my fancy. I've been given a few jobs here and there and haven't been paid for most of the stuff in my gallery.