SPECIALIZE OR GENERALIZE

When I first hung out my shingle as a photographer I was constantly hearing, “You have to Specialize!” Then hearing the exact opposite, “You have to Generalize. You should know how to do many different types of photography.” Specialize or Generalize? So I tried many different types of photography. Why not? I had done a lot of amateur photography. So I wanted to try leveling up. Why not try to do it on a professional level?

I tried lots of things: low light photography, equine/horse photography, canine/dog photography, human portraiture in studio and outdoors, wildlife photography, action/high speed events such as rodeo and sport dog competitions, landscapes, architecture photography, and children and family portraits. First of all it’s hard to do it all well. But it IS quite rewarding to jump head long into something new and do well. After trying all these things I think my speciality has chose me. My Western and Country and Country & Western images ROCK!!! What I do best is horse people, rodeo, cowboys and cowgirls, and my best low light work is from concerts. My best studio images, I think, are my dog portraits. Maybe some day I can get a barn studio and shoot horses in the studio. Wouldn’t that be cool!

EXCITED FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR

This year I’m going to be shooting with the National Western Stock Show for the first time. I’m excited to see the images I’ll capture there. The NWSS is one of the biggest rodeos in the world. It’ll be such an honor to be an official NWSS photographer.

This past year I shot several rodeos and figured out the ones I like the most are the ones that have premier events happening at sunset. That golden light is gorgeous! It’s constantly changing and I have to constantly keep adjusting my settings to capture the best exposures but it is amazing when it all comes together.