Lee Baxley Photography

Sorry I haven’t updated the site much lately.  I think I’ll be completely overhauling the site very soon to focus more on my mainstream work.  I’ll have my portfolio hosted off-site and always available.  As always, check out my Facebook Fan Page to keep up with my latest work!

Also check out my new Discounts/Specials page!

I apologize for the lack of updates lately.  Things have been very busy.  It seems like life is either work (the day job), shooting or editing.  With the occasional free day, and maybe a little sleep.

I have been shooting a ton lately, and my work has DRAMATICALLY improved so I’m excited to share some of my recent work.  Hopefully soon!

Disclaimer: This is a combination of History and Advice post.  I am by no means an expert, but I wanted to share how I got started, and how I got to where I am today.

A lot of people have asked me how I got started in photography.  It’s always one of the standard questions I get asked when I’m shooting with a new model.  And I always feel goofy answering it, but I do.

My first “photo” was taken at Twin Peaks.  I had gone to TP a few times, and of course was attracted by the lovely ladies at first, but their food was just so damn good.  So how can you go wrong?  Good food, beautiful women, and they were (mostly) all really nice too!  After a few times, I got up the nerve to ask one of them to take a picture with me.  And they always did.  I was only turned down once.  And I got a lot of group shots too.  It was my way of building up the nerve to talk to a pretty girl.  That was the honest to God truth as to why I got my photo taken with so many women.  If I could get the nerve to ask a pretty girl to have their photo taken with me, I figured I could talk to them in general.  And I slowly started getting better about that.

One day, as my brother and I were leaving, 5 of the girls were standing by the street waving at cars.  One of them saw me going to my car and said “Hey, you have your camera?  Take a picture of us!” and I did.  One single shot, and I thought it looked really good for just a crappy shot with a point and shoot.

Not long after that, one of the TP waitresses I had friended on Facebook posted some photos she had taken with a guy named Joseph Garza.  I hadn’t heard of him before, but I looked up his work and loved it.  I looked up other work by glamour photographers and found guys like ephoto, Kevin Jacobson, and Don Clark.  I loved that photography, and thought how cool it must be to shoot with such pretty girls.

More time passed, and I was getting bored in life.  Really bored.  I’m single, so I didn’t have anyone to go home to, and other than school, my free time was devoted to playing video games.  I was a shut in with no friends to speak of, and just didn’t have any desire to expand my world.

One day, a girl I had just met who knew very little about me suggested I get a hobby: painting or photography.  I can’t draw or paint to save my life, so photography it was.  I got me a camera, and then I wasn’t sure where to go from there.

But here’s what I did (here’s where the pseudo-advice part kicks in):

I joined a Meetup.com group (2 actually)

Meetup.com is a great site to find people with like interests.  I had no idea how to go about getting a model to shoot.  To join sites like Model Mayhem, you have to have shots of models.  My only idea was to shoot a friend of mine who is very beautiful, but shy.  We would have done it but never got around to it.  So I found the two Glamour Meetup groups.  One was based out of Oklahoma City, managed by ephoto.  And the other was out of Northwest Arkansas, founded by Kevin Jacobson.  I joined both and signed up for both shoots they had, which were a week apart.  So in my first week of shooting, I went to Eureka Springs, AR (a 3 hour drive) and Oklahoma City (a 2 hour drive).

Both were an adventure.  I got great photos and a lot of great advice.  My first shoot was amazing in hindsight.  I got one of my most famous shots (Red Hot Tess), and I got to meet and learn from ephoto, Kevin Jacobson, and Max Slaughter (who I had never heard of at the time).  All three have helped me a great deal.  Which leads me to another tip.

I became friends with the best.

I put myself out there and tried to communicate as much as possible with these guys that I look up to, the people that have inspired me all along.  I stay in close contact with ephoto and Max, and Max referred me to Kevin Camp, who has also become a friend.  I’ve also gotten to know Joseph Garza, the man whose photos got me into this to begin with.

These guys have given me great advice, and have been nothing but nice to me, even when I ask what I feel are dumb newbie questions.  But hey, I’m passing it along but answering the questions of others.  And no question is dumb!

I did my first few group shoots, but still hadn’t done a solo shoot.  I set one up, with Tina Hershey, and was nervous as all hell!  I almost made myself sick that day, I was so nervous, but I didn’t need to be.

Models are people too, so treat them as you’d like to be treated!

This segues into one of the most important things I’ve learned.  It should go without saying, but I don’t think some people get it.  The model is not a piece of meat.  It is a person just like you.  I’ve learned over time that most models get bored if you don’t talk to them.  They’re just not into it.  They aren’t comfortable.  So I do two main things when I shoot a model: 1) Meet them beforehand if possible, and 2) Chat with them during the shoot.  I will literally snap a shot, put the camera in my lap, and start chatting.  I like to get to know them better.  I think that if I develop a good rapport with the model during the shoot, then we will get better photos.  And my approach apparently works.

The rest is really simple.  Just treat them with respect.  Be nice to them, and they will almost always be nice back.  Always set boundaries early on, and never overstep those.

After my first shoot with Tina, I starting on my mad dash of shooting.  I’m not as prolific as some, but I shoot a good deal, and have learned a lot in the past couple of months.  I’m still making new friends, and still doing what I want to do.  And I’m loving every minute!

One last piece of advice:

NEVER GIVE UP

There are people who won’t approve of what you do.  It’s a given.  But do not give up to make someone else happy.  Do what makes you happy, and as long as you’re not hurting anyone else, or making people do something they don’t want to, then there’s nothing wrong with it.  Do what you love.  That’s what’s most important.  And you will feel no greater sense of satisfaction!