Adrienne Brand Photography

Profile of a Cousin , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. For five years I ran a large photography Meetup group in New York. One of the lessons that I took from the group still resonates with me today: Don't bother to try to keep up with the Joneses. If you haven't heard the phrase, "Keeping up with the Joneses," it basically means that you're trying to advance yourself at the same rate as others in your life. Which, for most of us, is a pointless endeavor because everyone's life is different, with different challenges and needs. I recall countless members purchasing new equipment when they hadn't learned how to use the previous piece. Not being a professional photographer, I often said nothing, but tried to absorb the information they'd happily give, and I'd be grateful for that. Most recently I realized that I too was trying to keep up with the Joneses, but not with equipment... with the end result. I'd peruse galleries on various sites, ...

Funny things can happen when you attempt to go pro. I've started shooting more on the weekends, whether paid or not paid, I'm trying to be as professional as possible. Upon arriving at a client's home, I toured the residence to survey the lighting, then revisited my car to get equipment. I brought everything into their house and began shooting. Fairly soon into the shoot I decided it would be best to set up my lights... Now if only I BROUGHT them. I had my umbrellas, my stands, reflector, boom arm, dimmer, light meter... You'd think I'd actually remember to bring the lights. And the beauty of it is that the clients were stellar. "We're so sorry our house is so dark!" I wanted to hug them. Where else could you find clients who apologize for the low lighting in their house when in actuality it was my fault that I forgot one of the most necessary items to photograph portraits? And so taking it as a lesson, I continued the shoot by incorporating everyt...