Several times I have been asked both by fellow photographers and clients if I like Pinterest. While that might seem like an easy question to answer- a simple yes or no should suffice- that isn’t really the case.
Yes, I love Pinterest for many reasons. Let’s be honest- thanks to Pinterest I cannot tell you the last time I had to buy a cook book! Also, many of my decorating styles and pieces of furniture my husband and I have built wouldn’t have been nearly as simple without the website. However, as a photographer, I do also realize that there are a couple of downsides with this site. I thought I would do a quick post citing some of my pros and cons from a professional photographer’s stand point.
One of the biggest reason I will use Pinterest with a client is to get a feel for their style and what type of images they are drawn to the most. It can be very difficult sometimes for a bride to describe exactly the look and feel that she is hoping to achieve with her wedding images or engagement session. This is where Pinterest comes in handy. I have them Pin several images and send me the link so that I can get a feel for their style. Does that mean I’m going to copy those images exactly so that she ends up with the exact same images? Of course, not! While I tell them that I am happy to recreate a couple that are their “absolute favorite” we are really just using them for inspiration to help point us in the right direction. Once we have that, I am happy to take that and run with it to give them the style they loved but that is 100% uniquely them.
I have 3 main Cons for Pinterest and I doubt that any of them will come a shock to you. The main one being that it is so easy to get caught up in these perfectly styled images which are often shot using professional models and lose sight of yourselves as a couple. While these images are amazing, always remember that you and your fiancé are unique and should use that in your session. These images on Pinterest can easily start to stifle both sense of confidence in your ability to pull off these unrealistic ideas as well as the creativity that you have hired me for. The other big reason that I am not a fan is because, and this has happened before, we can lose the entire time that you have scheduled for your session while you are on your phone trying to find that one image. You have hired a professional photographer that has posed literally hundreds of couples. I promise I can pose you and your fiancé without logging into your Pinterest account. Plus, if you pull your phone out, your groom will pull his out and then I have lost all the connection that we have spent the entire session building up. Have you ever read the book “If you give a mouse a cookie”? It’s kind of like that same crazy chain reaction but nobody ends up with cookies OR photos! And let’s be honest- that sucks!
Moral of the blog- send me your favorite images. Let’s get an idea of your style and then put a personal spin on it and then shut that phone down and leave it in the car at your session. Trust me, I’m a professional! ;)
Photo just because... well because they're adorable!
