Since I am now offering pet photography as a service, I am finding myself reluctant to post pictures on the blog that I've taken that I feel are less than perfect. Unfortunately I feel like most of them are less than perfect and I am now hyper critical of any photos I take and quite frankly photos that others take too. I've been told that this is a common occurrence with photographers but it really bothers me. (And if I'm being honest, the fact that I'm calling myself a photographer is a little uncomfortable too.) My biggest issue with my photos is that I only want to post pictures that show the catch light in the pets' eyes. Perhaps this isn't something I should point out because I'd previously never paid attention to it but in the post above of Wanda and Max, in the first picture of Wanda (the one marked as my favorite), you can see the catch light in her eyes. It's the sparkle in her eyes. In the other two photos of her, her eyes look dark. While I like those photos of her and I think she is super cute in them, I don't love that I didn't capture the catch light in her eyes.
To remedy this problem and be able to post pictures on the blog that I am happy with, I need to purchase a different flash for my camera. The standard flash in my camera doesn't work from very far away and if I did have it on, most likely the pets' eyes would then glow and not look very natural.
So while I am continuing to hone my photography skills, I will continue offering my photography services at a discount and maybe I'll always stay below the current market rate. One of my biggest regrets is not having professional photos of Sloan and Sam but in my 20's when I had Sloan, I couldn't afford $300-400 to have pictures of her taken. Affording those prices for photography for some might not be an issue but perhaps some people just don't want to spend that kind of money on photos of their pets. I'd like to provide a more affordable option so anyone who wants photos can have them. While I might be super critical of the photos I take and the pictures I post on the blog, I do LOVE the process of taking them. I really LOVE doing it!