Photo sessions such as this one stretch me a bit to integrate all that I know about:

posing people and connecting them with each other and the camera, balancing light and shadows, incorporating color and texture, compensating for both film and digital photography, as well as print and web media.

I’ve been at this photography thing for a minute, and the technical is beginning to become second nature, and because my brain doesn’t have to work so hard, it’s fun to create in this way. It’s almost intuitive– there’s a flow to it. 

I’ve been a fan of Hilary Tipps’ and Steve Obermiller’s music for several years, and I was honored when they asked me to create photos for their upcoming music release. We created these images in my studio with Cinestill 800t as well as a Sony A7RIV and several Profoto strobes and constant lights with color gels. And, then I shot through toule and prisms, and created some double exposures. I couldn’t give all my secrets away if I tried because there’s really no recreating this.

So much of my work revolves around consistency– matching headshots from one photo session to another and ensuring everything is lit exactly the same way and cropped cohesively. Never will you find portraits like this again. Art can be imitated but not replicated. 

Last month, I had a couple of clients who needed professional photography in South Carolina. At first, I looked to find them a local professional interior design and architectural photographer. And, certainly that might have been more cost effective; however, they both told me essentially the same thing: there’s something to be said for consistency. Nobody sees the world like I do– or like you do. While I train other photographers and have a team who help me, my eyes are unique. They wanted “Amber photos.” I place that in quotes because as I tell my team, I’m not even sure what that means except that I composed the image, I made the most of the available and studio lighting, I clicked the shutter. And, when you build a body of work that reflects who you are, it’s a felt sense. You see one of my photos, and it feels different than someone else’s. The photographer is actually in every image. 

I’ve photographed a number of Debra Barrett’s projects through the years. I’ve always said that when I move, I want her to sell my home, and let me buy hers– with all of the furniture in it. Who am I kidding? I have a five-year-old and two unruly dogs, that I lovingly but fittingly call Bonnie and Clyde, so we can’t really have nice things. Well, we can, but our nice things have lots of dirt, or as I prefer to call it: character. Debra Barrett is a talented Fort Worth area realtor who knows 76107, and she is a master at staging homes to sell as well as interior design. 

This condo is actually an Airbnb listing in Hilton Head Island, and I had the privilege to stay and photograph it for a few days. You know how sometimes you’re away from home and you can’t wait to get back to your bed and your coffee and your shower, etc.? Well, this place checked all of the boxes for living both comfortably and luxuriously. In a world where everyone has a phone in their hand at all times, I feel grateful that people contract with me again and again because they see the value in the way I see. 

Sometimes I feel as if my blogs here appear that I have an identity crisis. For years, people said, “Specialize, Amber” and “You need a niche.” And then, in 2020, when events paused for a while, all of the event photographers were scrambling for work. I hate the expression “jack of all trades, master of none,” but I am a photographer who knows a little bit of everything. I am aware of what I don’t know and hire a team of people to help me in the areas where I need more knowledge and expertise. I study. I consult with others in my field. I will never stop learning. As long as I’ve been doing this, I don’t know that I’ll ever master light or people, so there will always be room for improvement. What I have found over the past few years is that my clients value the relationship with one photographer to contact rather than hiring a portrait or headshot photographer and also an interior photographer and an architectural photographer and an event photographer. My team and I are equipped for all of these types of photography. This work with a Fort Worth area architectural firm demonstrates the type of projects we frequently complete. 

Headshots can be bright and airy, dark and dramatic, indoor or outdoor. We default often to a plain studio background for headshots because it’s easily replicated; however, this small team’s headquarters in the Clearfork area of Fort Worth provided a beautiful environment for portraits.