With less than 6 hours left in 2019 and the last decade, I looked back at my 7-year photography journey. A couple of things happened in succession: I cringed, I made an audible “wow” to myself, and I remembered that I used to think studio portraits were LAME.

If you care to follow me down memory lane, I started photography in High School when I begged my dad to upgrade the family camera so I can film dance videos for YouTube. He knew how passionate I was about dance and bought a Sony NEX-7 which I pretty much carried everywhere with me. I LOVED that thing.

I was that guy taking photos of all the athletes for yearbook. I was also the guy pulling aside friends at the Han River to test out flash photography at sunset because of some new technique I saw on YouTube.

After 2 years of this, something weird happened with my head – it started to get big.

You know when you’ve been at a hobby for some time, received a number of compliments, no longer feel like a beginner, and go from “oh nono, it’s just a little hobby” to telling people about your passion without any given prompt? Yeah, that’s what was happening to me after 2 years.

Little David who just started Freshman year at UC Davis apparently knew what he liked and didn’t like in photography styles and one of them was studio photography.

These were some of the reactions I made to seeing studio portraits:
– “that’s just waaay too set up for me”
– “like where’s the fun in studio portraits when all they do is set up the same lighting set up and a lame color backdrop?”
– “that’s just a picture of someone’s face – like it’s so simple.”
– “I’m all about capturing the candid and the atmosphere’s vibe, not some boring static vibe in a studio.”

BLARGH.

2014 David sounded like as if an elitist film critic who criticizes any movie that isn’t directed by Alfred Hitchcock started getting into photography.

I was all about creating these outdoor images that only catered to my vision. It also showed in the way I directed my photoshoots. I focused on my camera settings, the light, and loosely cared about what the subject felt like. You can already imagine how uncomfortable that made anyone in front of my camera. I would have people ask me nervously what they should do with their hands or whether they should smile or not.

As cocky as David was back then, he still wanted to learn and the fact that clients were asking him countless times what to do pushed him to evolve. And little did he know the thing he despised was going to enable that.

Everything changed when I found my mentor, Sue Bryce, online and taught me about the delicacy and mastery of photographing women’s portraits. My mentor would say that you can photograph ANYONE if you knew how to photograph women and boy you could see her 27 years of experience in her photographs and how she interacted with her subjects.

Her portraits were simple if I used David’s words from 2014 but that David grew up. Sue’s portraits were elegant and beautiful. You could feel the connection to all the women she photographed and that was what 2014 David chased after in his work which led me to where I am today.

So after 5 years of learning the craft of photographing people in a studio setting whether it’s my first humble college apartment with ramen boxes in the back or my new commercially leased studio in Sacramento, here is why I love studio portraits.

A blank backdrop says nothing. It’s a blank canvas that I have the privilege to paint it with my subject’s soul. The portrait will be beautiful not because of a sunset or a waterfall, but solely because of the person I’m photographing. I get to fill the blank backdrop with confidence and beauty that lets my clients truly connect with the person in the portrait.

Isn’t it funny how life works? Now my business is all about helping women understand their beauty through studio portraits.

So as we go into the new decade, I leave you with two thoughts:
1. Push yourself to grow and be open to things you despise because you never know what you will learn from.
2. If you have never experienced studio portraits for yourself, allow yourself to be photographed in 2020 (by me!).