Monday, June 16, 2008

VOTE: What's in a Name?

To supplement my income in the coming (lean, grad-school) years, I'm considering a few ways to use my photography hobby, from selling still-life prints on Etsy to submitting items for use as stock photography (and maybe one day, in the far-off-distant future, actually charging people to take their picture, maybe). So, with these goals in mind, I need a name for my "business."

I've been thinking of this for a few weeks now and have found the decision to be quite difficult. There's the traditional route of incorporating some variation of my name with the word 'photography', or there's the creative/meaningful route where a word or two, combined with 'photography' perfectly expresses my vision for my work. Unfortunately I've not been hit by a wordsmith tornado, and am unable to come up with something cool, that's also meaningful. So, until that day, I've decided to settle for the traditional route.

So that's where you come in! Please vote by commenting for which name variation you like best:

  1. Kelly Shaw Photography
  2. Kelly Ryan Photography
  3. Kelly Ry Photography
  4. One-of-the-above-but-substitute-the-word: 'Photo' or 'Image' or 'Clicks' or 'Pictorial' or other synonym for photography
  5. Fill-In-Your-Own-Creative-Name
(For those of you that didn't know, Ryan is my middle name and something I use as a nickname or last name on occasion. 'Kelly Ry' is a nickname I've been given by various people throughout my life.)

12 comments:

Molly W. said...

www.kellyryphoto.com I think has a nice ring to it. :)

katie b. said...

I agree with Molly.

Also, I want to buy a print of your Union Station photo.

Erin Wurtemberg said...

How about...
Kelly Ry mad photo taking skills for hire

Anonymous said...

I like Kelly Ryan Photography...I luv your middle name...it sounds so cute...We have matching ones, Summer Rae and Kelly Ryan...both have a nice ring to them! haha!

Abby... the Oregonian said...

i agree with the kelly ry. very cute...

Lauren said...

I like kellyryphoto.com for a website name, but I don't think it it sounds upscale enough for a business name... I like Kelly Ryan Photography for an actual business name... you could still use the abbreviated name for your web address.

b said...

I'm sorry that I haven't contributed anything creative.

b said...

I do agree with Lauren about the formality issue, but have to admit to being partial to finding a more creative name.

What about choosing a letter for your name, like 'C' ? (I picked this letter because of it's obvious connection with the art of photography.)There's unlimited creative potential with something like that. Your logo could be a very cool treatment of the letter and then you could have multiple tag versions for marketing purposes.
Fx. on brochures or business cards, you could choose various C-words...
Capture
Creative
Collect

alternatively--find a Danish word (or other foreign language) that would work in a cool way. 'Se' means 'to see.'

Or what about something that's just clever, but has nothing to do with photography? There's this cool place in Portland called 'Veritable Quandary' or recently voted the 2 best restaurants in Pdx: Beast or Le Pigeon (English pronunciation.) Whimsical and interesting. Stands out. And that's what you want in a field of 'generic.'

Kim said...

I like Kelly Ryan Photography. Our wedding photographer was Jennifer Kloss and I remember it 5 years later because of how it sounds. Always easy to find her website too...

Jeremy said...

The Right Shawt? You know how some of those misspelled business names take off? It could be a children's photography store.

Seriously, Kelly Ryan Photography sounds very prestigious and classy. I can get you a studio here in Corona Del Mar when you are ready! I could also have a display of your works for sale here in the library.

Christina said...

Goodness, this is a hard one. There are so many ways you can go. Very professional is Kelly Ryan Photography. I love the title of both of your blogs though, prove real, and Hugo I spy. What about incorporating one of those? I will keep thinking:)

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