Futzing Around

When I’m not shooting for a client, I often “futz around” in my studio – for those of you who have never heard the term “futz”, it means (among other things) to play around – reportedly the word is a shortening/corruption of the Yiddish word “arumfartzen” – I’ll leave it you to figure out what the literal translation means… My futzing often comes as a result of some work I’ve seen by other photographers, graphic artists, painters, etc.. that I like and inspire me to create something a bit different either for myself or for my clients.

Recently I saw a photograph of someone with their reflection on a table – it reminded me of some work I did years ago (when photography was just a hobby) of an interesting piece of silver jewelry on a black piece of acrylic, showing a reflection of the jewelry as well as the piece. I still have that piece of acrylic so I went to work.

I have a lot of empathy for my clients who get in front of my camera – I’m far more comfortable behind it, and shooting yourself is challenging to get the look you want (another plug for hiring a pro!) - plus, Brad Pitt wasn’t available.

While I’m still not in love with the way I look here, my goal was to test out the concept to see how it looked, along with the basic technical setup. The idea was to promote someone’s work in a different way that might catch someone’s eye. In this case, I’m the photographer for a client of mine who wrote a book fascinating book on facial expressions, Annie Sarnblad. Annie teaches people (and companies) how to read micro expressions. The book is a great read (and we had a blast shooting for it!) not only about Annie’s work, but her journey to get to where she is.

I think this image tells a story and grabs your attention to want to learn more -  it’s an example of a new Branding session I’m now offering my clients who want something a bit different in addition to great looking headshots. The process includes diving into my client’s brand, messaging, their target audience, and how they want to be perceived – I then create a mood board with examples of potential different looks/concepts.  It turns out I’ve been doing some of this type of photography already, but this will take that work to a whole new level. And it will necessitate more futzing – I’m already thinking of another version of this with my camera either in hand or on the table.

Photographers are professional futzers – we take all of our technical knowledge and artistic creativity to create distinct, memorable images that grab your attention. The images are often works in progress – and this one is no exception. The resultant images with this look may be very different in a few months – and that’s part of the thing I love the best – the learning, experimenting (and of course the resultant need to acquire more “toys”!).

So what do you think? I’d love to hear your feedback on the concept of this image? And do “futz” in your work? If so, how?When I’m not shooting for a client, I often “futz around” in my studio – for those of you who have never heard the term “futz”, it means (among other things) to play around – reportedly the word is a shortening/corruption of the Yiddish word “arumfartzen” – I’ll leave it you to figure out what the literal translation means… My futzing often comes as a result of some work I’ve seen by other photographers, graphic artists, painters, etc.. that I like and inspire me to create something a bit different either for myself or for my clients.

Recently I saw a photograph of someone with their reflection on a table – it reminded me of some work I did years ago (when photography was just a hobby) of an interesting piece of silver jewelry on a black piece of acrylic, showing a reflection of the jewelry as well as the piece. I still have that piece of acrylic so I went to work.

I have a lot of empathy for my clients who get in front of my camera – I’m far more comfortable behind it, and shooting yourself is challenging to get the look you want (another plug for hiring a pro!) - plus, Brad Pitt wasn’t available.

While I’m still not in love with the way I look here, my goal was to test out the concept to see how it looked, along with the basic technical setup. The idea was to promote someone’s work in a different way that might catch someone’s eye. In this case, I’m the photographer for a client of mine who wrote a book fascinating book on facial expressions, Annie Sarnblad. Annie teaches people (and companies) how to read micro expressions. The book is a great read (and we had a blast shooting for it!) not only about Annie’s work, but her journey to get to where she is.

I think this image tells a story and grabs your attention to want to learn more -  it’s an example of a new Branding session I’m now offering my clients who want something a bit different in addition to great looking headshots. The process includes diving into my client’s brand, messaging, their target audience, and how they want to be perceived – I then create a mood board with examples of potential different looks/concepts.  It turns out I’ve been doing some of this type of photography already, but this will take that work to a whole new level. And it will necessitate more futzing – I’m already thinking of another version of this with my camera either in hand or on the table.

Photographers are professional futzers – we take all of our technical knowledge and artistic creativity to create distinct, memorable images that grab your attention. The images are often works in progress – and this one is no exception. The resultant images with this look may be very different in a few months – and that’s part of the thing I love the best – the learning, experimenting (and of course the resultant need to acquire more “toys”!).

So what do you think? I’d love to hear your feedback on the concept of this image?