A screwdriver. This isn’t the first tool you think of when you envision a photographer doing their work. If you ever daydream of being a professional photographer, you probably envision a brightly lit studio; glamorous models; hip music playing; a stylist; a personal assistant taking notes; a fan blowing the model’s hair; - and a camera in your hand. But a screwdriver? And standing in a sawdust-covered garage? Probably not.
Most photographers may not spend a lot of time with a screwdriver in their hand. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the lion’s share of photography has little to do with actually pushing that little button on your camera.
My wife Jen and I aim to please. We try to make a client’s vision come true no matter what they are after. In fact, we enjoy the challenge! In this case, we had a truly unique request from a newborn client. They had seen an image of a newborn in a miniature greenhouse surrounded by plants. Even though we are professional photographers in the Mid Michigan area and do own a wide variety of props for newborn portraits, we didn't happen have a miniature greenhouse in our collection.
Yet.
So that's how I found myself running to Hobby Lobby and using most, if not all, of my power tools to make a delicate, little, cute Greenhouse for this newborn shoot. I'm not going to lie: in case you haven't guessed it - I really was enjoying the project!
Engineering this miniature structure was a greater challenge than I first expected. It looked pretty simple. However, it wasn't just important to make the structure, it was important to make sure the structure was sound. When shooting a newborn safety is always first. I was able to make a miniature Greenhouse in a short amount of time. However, making a miniature greenhouse that could safely stand on its own while having a newborn baby posed underneath - that took a bit longer :-)
But after a few iterations and adjustments … and more iterations... and more adjustments... I had a structure that passed the building inspection of my head newborn photographer – my wife :-) Now seeing some of the pictures that are coming out of that shoot, I know it was definitely worth it!
And you're worth it too! Whether we're taking family portraits or senior pictures or newborns or dogs (hint hint) we want to create something that's just as unique as you are. Something that really shows your personality and your energy. It doesn't bother me one bit if I need to pull out the power tools :-)