The backside of my business card.

I often get asked about my logo and business name, and since my business name was a really random, and yet still personal decision, I often go all blushy when I’m asked about it. Not only that, I get a little flustered trying to explain it to people because it was a bit spontaneous and also, honestly, because I’ve considered changing it a hundred times.

I thought it might be easier to write about it here, and from now on when I’m asked, I can just redirect folks to my blog. It might save me the explanation and blank stares in the middle of bridal party photos a few times – so here goes nothing!

When I came to the decision that I was going to be a photographer, and was going to make a business out of it, I was in the process of going through a divorce. At the time I didn’t know exactly what kind of photography I wanted to do, and was as attracted to fashion as I was stock photography and everything in between. Because of a few personal hang ups with my name, the first being that my last name was my soon-to-be-ex-husband’s name, and the second being that the name I go by most frequently (my short name, ‘Sam’) is sexually ambiguous, and by that I mean that it could be a girl’s or boy’s name, I decided that I would choose and work under a company name and assume a ‘D.B.A.’

Side note: even though I’m divorced, my ex and I get along really well and we both are very active in the lives of our two little boys. In fact, because our boys are pretty involved in sports and whatnot, we often see each other every weekend, sit by each other when we do, and I still consider him a close friend. He’s not my husband anymore, but he is still family.

I spent near a week making list after list of business names that felt like they represented me. I didn’t want a business name that would lock me into a particular kind of photography, like ‘Bears & Bellies Photography’ or “TaterToddlers Photography” or “Pin Up Couture Photography”, etc. I focused on names that represented me, my heart, and my passion. Names that I can recall were:

-Tiny Bird Photography
-Free Spirit Photography
-Cloud 9 Photo Art
-Bluebird Photography
-Due North Photography

All fabulous names, I thought; all names that I felt said something about the kind of person I was, or things that I liked. And all were already spoken for.

List after list, all already in use.

After several days of that, I decided that forget it, I’d just use my name and be done with it. But something kept nagging, tugging at my ponytail, something itched and irritated me about it and I found myself struggling with taking action on the matter, avoiding going to sign up for ‘samantharennphotography.com’.

I didn’t really want to give up on the business name thing, so I started thinking a little abstractly. In pictures mostly, the kinds of pictures that I wanted to take. The kinds of pictures that really shook people down in their souls. A singer on a stage in front of thousands of people. An athlete half a second after they scored the winning goal. Children playing, yelling, running, laughing… tiny carefree sprites, bounding happily along. In every picture I envisioned, there was joy, rapture, triumph – and that’s what I wanted, that’s when I realized I wanted to take pictures of people most of all. And in every photo I envisioned, the subjects had their arms raised to the heavens.

For me, it was a fitting visual and I ran with it. I later I captured my son Max playing in the backyard with a stick, and here he was:

I couldn’t help but smile, and that image completely solidified the name for me.

So what’s the bird all about, then? First off, I love birds. They represent freedom to me. To go as you please, go where you please, and whenever you please. If there’s sky, you can go; no necessary preparations, no worries. And I wanted Arms Up to represent this soaring joyous feeling, this absolute freedom – pictures that represent you, in the moment, free of static posing, free of stale looks. Free to feel what the people in the pictures felt, just as acute as they felt it in that moment. Free as a bird, to soar on the joy of the occasion – whether that occasion is a pregnancy, a wedding day, the birth of a child, a birthday, your 5th anniversary, or just because you found your missing puzzle piece and are in love so incredibly you can’t stand it, but pray like mad every night that it will never, ever end. I wanted what would become my brand to represent soaring emotions, and the bird thing just felt right.

So that’s the explanation behind it. I hope still, years later, that what I was originally trying to convey comes across, and every time I get asked about it, I get nervous that the person asking won’t get it and will think it’s stupid. But I hope that the majority of people get it, and I hope this FAQ will help those who don’t get it right away (because it is a bit abstract, I know).

Happy Tuesday, Everybody!

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