Almost a year ago to date, I told my husband I was only going to shoot documentary sessions in 2015. He gave me the look. Ladies, if you have a significant other, you know “the look” I’m talking about. The “have you lost your damn mind?!” look with a hint of “how much is this going to cost me?!” sprinkled on top. “The look,” unfortunately, comes my way often.

I’ve always believed in people finding a niche and doing what they love in life. If we are lucky enough to be able to do that with our lives, and our photography especially, I would say we are pretty lucky. This was going to be it for me, either people would embrace it and book my unposed form of art or they wouldn’t and I would have the most documented family in the world.

So, I sent the letter to my clients last December that said, “Hi! I’m switching to documentary photography in 2015 and I can’t wait to see you there!” I made it my mission to make this the type of photography people would want, trying every sort of catchy phrase or marketing strategy I could think of. Months of tireless work, giveaways, blog posts about how “this person is going to be gone one day and you want to remember their hands,” and trying to be some kind of cheesy salesperson. The hardest part of it all? I turned A LOT of people away. Not because I was so booked, but because what they wanted didn’t match what I wanted. You can guess how many of “the looks” I got when that happened.

Aside from all of this, I somehow managed to find the most AMAZING families and couples to work with throughout the year. I got thank you emails after sessions that made me cry and can honestly say I have never been more proud of myself then when I could see I was turning a random dream into a reality. As pleased as I was, I still wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more people to cross over into my chaotic world of documentary and away from the calm and traditional. I’ve never really thought of myself as greedy, but at this particular point in my life, I was.

Then, a few months ago, we were on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina and were driving by a park. There were about 40 people in white shirts and jeans moving around in some sort of organized chaos when I spotted the lady with a camera. They were having pictures taken! I looked at my husband and said, “They all match and are having pictures taken!” His response? “That’s OK, hun. Everyone doesn’t have to like you and your photography, you know?”

Everyone doesn’t have to like me?! Everyone doesn’t have to like my style of photography?! I’ll tell you people, that was a really hard pill for me to swallow. I thought people would always like me! I lose sleep if I think someone doesn’t like me, actually. I mean, I was voted wittiest in my graduating class in 2003, and that’s a likable quality! But I knew what he was saying was right, so I did what anyone would do and decided not to talk to him for 20-minutes while I pouted and contemplated life.

In that random a-ha! moment, I knew that there would always be some people that would never ever book a session in my style of photography. They would forever want clean and neat and I would forever be the opposite of that. No Facebook or blogpost would change that. From that point on, I never tried to push my style in any way that might be perceived as being annoying or sales-ishy again. I started telling my own story, explaining my personal motivations and the weird quirks of my life. I shared my very favorite photos from client sessions but left out the “don’t you wish you had this documented, too?! Like my page on Facebook today!” rhetoric. I also appreciated the work from other photographers a million times more. As much as I loathe posing in my own sessions, I know what skill it takes and admire the symmetry when a well coordinated family photo pops up in my feed. I personally try to make editing a quick process and embrace technical flaws but adore seeing a sharp and magically edited photo that probably took the photographer an hour in photoshop to create. And I adore a good in-home newborn session, but I will never stop wondering how studio newborn photographers wrap babies so perfectly! I stopped being so intimidated by our differences and enjoyed how fabulous we all can be together.

Just last week, I was lucky enough to have coffee with some local photographers. Our styles are so beautifully different but the respect and inspiration that brews when we are all together is contagious. To say I am lucky to have such a diverse tribe to fall back on would be an understatement. Our differing views make it so much more fun and I would never ever trade that for a group of photographers that see the world the same as I do.

Plus, if everyone took photos of kids with crusty noses and messy hair, the picture wouldn’t be as exciting. :)

Here’s to chasing our dreams and making 2016 the best year together!