Swimwear photography - in estonia
Why I Shoot Swimwear
If you're a starting photographer in Estonia and thinking about becoming a swimwear photographer, I probably wouldn't call it the wisest business decision. 😄
The weather is unpredictable, the summer is short, there aren't exactly endless beautiful beaches around, and the market for this kind of photography is pretty small in every possible way.
And yet, this is where I ended up.
At first I tried different directions, but eventually I found myself on the beaches again, and from there I started narrowing things down more and more.
At some point it just felt like the right thing for me
It's more than just swimwear
What I actually like about swimwear photography is everything that comes with it.
The colours. The light. The locations. The water, beaches, architecture, vegetation. That whole summer atmosphere.
I grew up fairly close to the sea, so I've spent a lot of time around beaches whenever I had the chance. There is something about being there that gives me a very specific feeling of being relaxed.
That's the kind of environment I want my photographs to have.
The swimwear is just one part of it.
I like the way all these different things can come together in one image. The outfit, the location, the colours, the model, the poses, the facial expression, the light and whatever story or feeling the image is trying to create.
A great photograph is rarely just one of those things.
It's the combination.
And that's probably also why I ended up becoming quite picky about the whole process.
I don't really do mediocre very well
I'm probably my own worst critic when it comes to photography.
There are a lot of shoots and a lot of photographs that never make it onto my website or social media. Sometimes there are photos that work perfectly well for the purpose they were taken for, but they just don't fit the overall direction I want for my own portfolio. Sometimes the whole idea just doesn't come together the way I imagined it.
That's just part of it.
I'm quite particular about what eventually makes it onto my Instagram and website. Those images are essentially the public face of my work, so I want the overall look to be as strong and consistent as I can make it.
That also means I can spend quite a lot of time thinking about things that might seem pretty insignificant from the outside. Which outfit works with the location. Which colours work together. Where the light will be. What kind of mood the location gives. Whether the model fits the idea. How the images will look as a set rather than just as individual photographs.
There is a lot of work that happens before the camera even comes out.
And then there is everything afterwards.
There is a lot more time in photography than people see
One thing that is easy to miss from the outside is how much time photography actually takes.
At this point in my life, I'm able to invest a lot of time into it, and I basically do something related to photography every single day.
Sometimes it's actually taking photographs. Sometimes it's editing, learning, planning shoots, looking for locations, working on my website, thinking about ideas or figuring out how to get the work to more people.
My latest example isn't even directly photography-related. I'm learning Spanish.
Not because I suddenly decided that Spanish is going to be my new hobby, but because I want to be able to communicate better with models in Spanish as well. Photography is the reason behind it.
I think that probably says quite a lot about how seriously I take this.
I don't want to do the minimum amount of work needed to get an acceptable result. I want to see how far I can actually take it.
Estonia makes it harder
There is no getting around the fact that Estonia is not exactly the easiest place for this kind of photography.
Our summer can be three months long on paper and about three weeks long in reality. One day can be perfect and the next one can look like November. The number of locations that give me the kind of feeling I'm after is limited, and so is the pool of models and clients interested in this kind of work.
It means that quite a lot of things have to line up at the same time.
And when they don't, you can't simply wait for the next sunny week somewhere else.
But I think this has also pushed me out of my comfort zone.
If everything was easy to access, maybe I wouldn't have learned to think so much about every detail. Maybe I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to figure out how to make something work with what I have.
The limitations are frustrating sometimes, but they also force me to be more resourceful.
My long-term plans are not limited to Estonia anyway.
The places I naturally gravitate towards are the places with longer summers, warmer weather, beautiful beaches, pools, villas, gardens and all those things that already fit the kind of images I want to create.
Unfortunately, Estonia isn't exactly overflowing with them.
And I still really love it
For all the practical problems, I don't actually feel like I've chosen the wrong niche.
Quite the opposite.
I love beaches. I love the colours they bring into photographs. I love the whole summer and lifestyle atmosphere around them. And I absolutely love photography.
There is also something I like about having a very clear direction. I don't want to be the photographer who shoots a bit of everything just because there is a camera in my hand. I want to keep developing a particular style and see how far I can take it.
I'm nowhere near the point where I feel like I've figured it all out.
There is always something to improve.
A better location. A better idea. A better model. Better light. Better expressions. Better colours. Better retouching. A better way of putting all of those things together.
Choosing swimwear photography in Estonia probably wasn't the wisest business decision I could have made.
But I really like this kind of photography.
So I'll keep pushing it and see where it takes me.
