Why You Need Photographer Friends

After a week or so of visiting old photographer friends and making new ones, I realized the importance of having creative buddies. Do you know there are photographers who do not have photographer friends? Shocking I know. You might even be one of them.

Whatever your reasons are for not having some, I can give you reasons why you should: 

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1. Who else is going to understand your photographer struggles?  The average person doesn’t know what an ISO is, doesn’t care that you can’t get the colors just right in photoshop or could never understand how bad your legs hurt from all those photographer squats. My favorite time is getting coffee and just talking, laughing, and ranting about the crazy things we do or experience as photographers. It makes you feel that you aren’t alone in the world.

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2. They are a great support system. Questions, opinions, encouragement, you name it. A photographer friend is just like a normal friend but with the bonus of photography knowledge. It is easy to find a solution or bounce ideas when it isn’t just you.

3. You can take your cameras and disappear in the mountains for a weekend and that’s totally normal. Take what you love doing and combine it with people you love, it makes everything….well….better!

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4. They make totally amazing models because they know. This weekend I was standing on a bank of a creek telling Lizzie to crawl under a labyrinth of roots that canopied over the water. It was dark, creepy and probably a home to some water animal but she jumped right in. They know that you want the shot, they’ve been there. So they are more than willing (at least the ones I know) to do more crazier things.

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5. They never judge you when you stop to take a photo or get annoyed when you obsess over social media. Normal friends leave you behind, photographer friends keep right beside you!

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6. You learn a ton from them because they have a different perspective. The first thing I noticed about my friends was the way they approached certain situations. I always watched what they did differently because it was something I might have never done or thought of. Even if it is something small like a photoshop shortcut or a camera trick. You can learn weird things from each other that really help you out!

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7. They may live in different parts of the country or even the world. Which means the best bunking buddy and tour guide whenever you go visit!

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8. When you’re scared they are right there with a can of pepper spray or a log to smash the problem. Because lets be honest running around DC at night or being in a puffy dress on a mountainside could be a little scary by yourself at times. Especially when you watch as many crime shows as I do.

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9. You guys can swap awesome props and dresses when you get together to shoot.

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10. They respect you and what you love. They understand the hard work that you invest and love you. That’s why photographer friends just rock.

So how can you make photographer friends?

Sometimes it’s hard to find other artistic people around you. I bought into the lie that you can’t have photographer friends because there aren’t any down the road. I didn’t realize how wrong I was until I discovered the beauty of the internet and the grand photo community there. I now have friends in England, Bulgaria, Washington, Thailand, Spain and other places all because of social media. The photo community might not be big where you are but once you get online you’ll find all sorts of people in different places.

Go to photography workshops or events and meet people!

Find people in your area or somewhere near you and go to coffee!

In the end of all things I think a lot of photographers don’t like having photog friends because of one reason. Competition.  It’s the big ugly thorn in the photo community.

Now before you get all defensive, I know there will be those people who are just trying to use you. Their intentions are just to suck up your information, run away and try to take everything you do and do it themselves. So I understand why there might be photographers who are hesitant about letting other artists into their circle. But let’s be honest, it is so easy to sniff out those people- you can tell it by where their heart is at. So don’t let that be an excuse or scare you into a lonesome photography world. There are some incredible people on this earth.

Get out there and make some photo friends.

Find people who love photography just as much as you.

Rely on one another, build each other up, help, critique and encourage.