Can you say DREAM COME TRUE???? I awoke this morning to find an email from a friend letting me know that they recognized one of my images in a blog post. I checked it out and the blogger referenced the New York Times. I was thinking to myself, surely they must be referring to another image in their post and not mine. Curious I went to the New York Times link for their featured instagram feed for New York Fashion Week, and what do you know, there it is, MY SHOT! During Fashion Week my friend Adrianna was following their feed and suggested I add the hashtag #nytfashion to my best posts. I thought ok, what did I have to lose? So I put up the hashtag on one of my favorite images from the week, backstage at Betsey Johnson with the models showing off their amazing hair, makeup, and nails. I was there shooting for the nail sponsor, Morgan Taylor, so thank you so much for choosing me to take shots of your fantastic work, and I’m so glad the New York Times liked it enough to feature it.
What I have learned from this experience that I suggest other photographers take note of is that there are often specific hashtags associated with different big events we are shooting. So before you go out to these types of events, try to find out what these hashtags are and use them. By taking the time to bring out that phone and make a well composed instagram or uploading a shot to your phone that you took with your professional camera so that you can turn it into an instagram (as was the case with my featured image), your image may end up in places you never even dreamed possible. This gives you more of that all important exposure that is key to continuing to get photography jobs in the future.