
PHOTOGRAPHY & SOFT FASCINATION, Or…
How to unleash your inner JamesEarlFrickinJones-itude
You can just never go wrong photographing what you love, the way you love, in light that you love, telling a story you love.
Why is that?
It’s because when you tell a story (visual or otherwise) about what you love without holding back, resistance melts away. You can’t help but communicate from a deeper truth and authenticity. No apologies, no excuses. And in that beautiful, loving, quantum way in which creation works – that voice, that particular brushstroke, in turn becomes the “secret sauce” which embeds itself into the pixels of your image as a photographer. But you can’t fake it. And you can’t hold back.
I know this from many perspectives… among them, being a voiceover professional. My finest mentor taught me this idea a bit differently; from the perspective of finding your “celebrity voice” – or signature voice, as she called it. Her point: when a director hires a celebrity voice, they’re hiring the particular vocal signature of that person. It’s more than a sound, it’s a presence.

Case in point: when you book James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader) you know what you’re getting. Jones’ voice is his and his alone. It’s unique, unmistakable; and has a particular presence + definable effect on everyone who hears it. When Jones uses his voice to endorse your product, or bring your character to life… it’s going to have the James Earl Jones “touch.” It’s a mighty bankable touch; and if you’re a smart director, you wouldn’t dream of changing it. (not all directors are smart, BTW… but that’s a story for another day).
James Earl Jones didn’t get where he is by accident. Sure, he was born with his voice. (As were you, BTW.) But he went way beyond that initial endowment. He didn’t simply work hard, following others’ examples, fulfilling somebody else’s advice about what he should do – or sound like. Nope, somewhere along the line he OWNED who he is, his sound and his “touch” in no uncertain terms. He claimed his perspective, honed his point of view, his IS-ness – and learned to inhabit that voice with zero apologies. And in doing so, became JamesEarlFrickinJones.
Now overlay that notion onto photography. Signature voice in photography is “unique, unmistakable, not duplicatable and has a definable effect on everyone” who sees & experiences it. It’s your “touch”, your perspective and presence, embedded into the pixels of your every image.
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