While working on the cruise ships many years back I was fortunate to work with thousands of guests and to meet many photographers and friends. As in any work environment, especially in multi-million dollar corporations, I learned a lot about what to do and a lot about what I might do differently with my own business as well. It was a fun, fast-paced environment to work in, but there wasn’t much opportunity to connect personally with my clients, documenting individual personalities with my camera. As cruise ship photographers, we were encouraged to take as many photos as possible of the ship’s customers. We only had a week at the most to impress the guests with our expertise. We were constantly taking many posed photos with fun backgrounds but were not given the opportunity to work with each family individually. This was my first break as a photographer fresh out of school. I wouldn’t be where I am today, if not for that experience. Plus, I wouldn’t have met my beautiful wife!

Above photo is © Carnival Cruise Lines. Taken by Dragi Andovski, December 1999 on Carnival Ecstasy, Miami Florida.

 

Once I started following my own dreams and ideas, working on my own photo studio, the concept of quality versus quantity was an eye opening experience. I embraced my quality of paying more attention to the person in front of the camera and I noticed that I was able to capture the full essence of the moment in front of me. I started to see the kids in front of me for who they are, questions and curiosity in tact. And, the finished products were causing positive emotional reactions in the children’s parents!

Now that we have a child of our own, I can appreciate the longing to keep our kids as young as they are and to discourage them from getting a minute or even a second older. I appreciate every small, miraculous thing our son does and I know every parent has this same feeling for their own children. Now I am connecting with the children I work with on a level where I can understand their personalities and their parents’ pride. This has helped me tremendously!

Focusing in on children’s eyes makes for a stunning photo without an ongoing battle to get them to say “Cheese!” Pictures like this can be taken with any background and the children don’t have to be smiling or even looking straight into the camera. Kids are born with a level of trust and curiosity that we lose as we get older. This is a moment in time we will never get back. I take pride in preserving these moments!

“The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.” – Mark Twain

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