To Blog or Not To Blog

Recently there has been an explosion of discussions on facebook regarding photographers and blogging. Should I blog my clients? Should I blog everyone, or only the best of the best? etc, etc... While there is no right or wrong answer here and I did not write this to start a debate, nor is this directed at anyone in particular, I wanted to share my thoughts and philosophies on this subject. Me personally, I blog EVERY wedding and photo session I shoot. Reasons are pure and simple, I like to show consistency in my work and that my clients are REAL people who had REAL fun on their wedding day. I know there are some photographers who will only blog (or place in their website portfolios) what they deem to be beautiful people or weddings. Realistic? No. Answer this, if your photographer did run a blog (or facebook page) and didn’t blog you, how would you feel?? I for one would be pretty hurt. So yes, I blog everything, even if the day didn’t go off perfectly and regardless of appearance, nationality, race, weight, age, etc.....because weddings aren’t about being supermodels, but capturing the emotions that made your wedding day great. Wedding pictures should convey the interaction of a couple, their happiness, romance, having fun, and being in love and that, in my eyes, is the definition of true beauty.
Back to the blogging issue, there are plenty of photographers who do not blog. That is fine, blogging is a LOT of work, it is a full day’s work for me to blog and make a slideshow, which is why I personally can’t blog until after all of the wedding pictures are edited vs. immediately after the wedding, and also why sometimes I don’t add a lot of captions or text. But the other reason I blog besides to show consistency, is blogging forces me to CHALLENGE MYSELF and keep things fresh and original. I absolutely do not want every wedding I shoot to look the same, and while yes there are certain poses I do repeat and standard shots I like to get, I like to mix things up as much as possible. Maybe it is a bit selfish on my behalf also, but putting my clients on my blog gets me beyond excited about their pictures and creating custom artwork for them to show off. I consider good photography to be more than just pictures but an art. And a blog is a photographer’s art gallery. =)
Other reasons I’ve heard from other photographers for not blogging is privacy and copying. If a client does not want to be blogged then all they have to do is say the word. I have only once had one couple opt out of the model release in my contract. Did that disappoint me, yes, but they had their reasons and I respected them. If someone does not want me to tag them on facebook or include any identifying information in their photos, that can also easily be done. I’m sure Chelsea Clinton’s photographer wasn’t allowed to tag her on facebook, who knows though... Regarding copying from other photographers , a colleague of mine put it in great terms “you're not in the CIA, you're not guarding the formula for Coke, sharing is knowledge”. Places and poses are copied in our market, I admit I look to other photographers for inspiration, and I’ve also seen things I’ve done been posted on other photographer’s blogs weeks later. Don’t brides look to wedding magazines (and photography blogs) for ideas for their own weddings? The photography world is one that is full of trends, my advice to any photographer is to just stay true to yourself and let your pictures covey that. And if you choose to blog, blog everyone (with the exception of something that truly did not fit your style and in that case you probably weren’t the right photographer in the 1st place). And if you choose not to blog, no big deal. =)