As some of you know (well, now ALL of you know), we’re working on a complete rebranding campaign. We’ll be launching the new brand in January, and hopefully have lots of fun little surprises to go along with it. Our work and commitment to our clients will remain the same, but we’ll have a more cohesive online experience, and a visual package that more accurately reflects who we are, what we do, and why we’re different.
Because we are different, in lots of ways. We’re different because Mack and I are, well, a little strange. 
We’re different because we approach the business differently.
We’re different because we have been very careful in how we let our business grow.
And, most importantly to you… the pictures look different.
The thing is, that’s the part that’s been really hard for me to be ok with. I guess I just started thinking about where we fit in, compared to our competition, and how our work could be described, and I drew a blank.
See, I’m going to admit right now that I’m a blogstalker. I have a list of about 30 photographers’ blogs that I check RELIGIOUSLY. A handful are from Texas, some are from the East Coast, and the majority are from the West Coast. They inspire me and challenge me… and remind me daily that I have a lot to learn.
I look at these people I admire… the Jasmines, and Justin&Marys, the JMCs, the Boutwells, and I think, “What the heck am I doing? I am not them. My work looks nothing like theirs.”
It’s the absolute truth. My work looks nothing like that of the people I admire. We use color and light differently, and we see moments differently. And I often look at a blog posted by one of my heroes and feel like crying because my work doesn’t look like that.
And then today, I was finishing up a bride&groom session, and I stopped to REALLY look at our work for a minute, and compare it to that of those I admire.
And ya know… I’m still right.
No matter how much we grow and learn, our work looks different.
But instead of thinking, “We’re not as good as so-and-so”, or even “YES! We did it! That shot is better than so-and-so’s!”… I can think, wow… no one’s work looks like ours!
We are not any of those people, and our work will never look like their work, and there are lots of people who will probably never love our work as much as the work from those photographers.
We are not our heroes, and will never be.
But you know what?
They’re never gonna be us, either.
Today, I am challenging myself to be ok with that. To keep learning from the greats, and keep being inspired, and constantly push our product to be better than it was the day before.
But to be completely unique.
Because at the end of the day, I’d rather just be the best possible version of US.
We may not be the greatest wedding photographers in the world, but we ARE the best Mack&Chelsea you’re ever going to find.
Oh, and here’s the shot that was up on my screen when I started thinking about all this, since I figured you’d be curious.
by Chelsea
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