MY PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNEY

I began this journey in Baltimore, MD in 2014. I bought my first camera (Nikon D7000 DSLR) and my first lens (Tamron 50mm f/2.8) from my brother in law who is a Journalist and Wedding Photographer. He was upgrading his equipment and knew I had talked about how I loved Photography and have always wanted to do it (I was always the girl with the point and shoot digital camera in high school), so he offered to sell his older equipment to me.

A lot of our family and friends lived in Baltimore (or at least Maryland) so we lived in an area where we knew plenty of people. Because of that, I would get clients pretty easily because I had decent word of mouth which is extremely important for Photographers. Did I have a lot of consistent clients? Nah. My skills weren't very good, which is the case for most people when they first start out in the art of Photography. I really wish I could show you some images from my first paid shoot (A couples shoot)! It wasn't pretty...I learned SO much from my first shoot that I applied everything I learned to my next shoot. Was the next one AMAZING? No, but it was certainly better! I'm pretty sure I just got rid of the pictures from my first shoot (that clearly says a lot) but kept everything after that. Below are several images from my second paid shoot.

I'd say for my second paid shoot, they're not too bad! Although, these are the best ones I took out of hundreds of images that day. There are plenty of other not so good ones. Maybe I should have showed you those? Ehh. I'll just stick with these! If it were now though, there would be a lot more than a few "Favorite" or "Best" ones. I should also probably mention that I re-edited these at one point so they look slightly better than the original edit.

I think one of my best shoots after starting out, while still living in Baltimore, was a winter senior portrait session (my first by the way). Below are some of those images...

Now, fast forward to my work today...

I think my skills have definitely increased over time but this journey has NOT been easy. In fact, i've probably broken down and cried so many times i've lost count. Last night being one of them. It's been tough. Really tough...

In 2016, just when my business was starting to take off in Baltimore, our family chose to move to Johnson City, TN. We just aren't big city people. It's way too much chaos for us and the traffic...ugh! Don't get me started...It took me 1-2 hours to drive 30 minutes to work every day. 1 hour being a good day and 30 minutes caused for celebration! We also never went downtown because of the traffic so we didn't usually get to enjoy the good things about Baltimore very often. And let's just face it...Baltimore is rated somewhere in the top 5 most dangerous cities to live in. It's just not where we wanted to raise our kids. I still have a heart for that city but we both felt it just wasn't where we were meant to be. THIS is where God led us and THIS is where we are supposed to be. Anyways, moving to Johnson City where we didn't know anyone meant I had to completely start over as far as growing a clientele base for my photography business (which takes years for a lot of Photographers, even when they know a lot of people in their area!). But I was ready to take on the challenge!

I've been living in Johnson City for almost 2.5 years now and in all honesty, I can barely get 3 paid shoots a YEAR. This has been SO discouraging to me. I have invested so much time, money, work and heart into trying to grow my business. This is why I have broken down so many times. It has made me question things such as, is my work awful? Does my personality suck? Am I doing enough? What am I doing wrong? Am I too expensive? Do I make people feel awkward in front of the camera? Do I freakin stink?!?! What in the world is going on?!

Soon enough, I am reminded by my wonderful husband, family and close friends, that those things are not the case at all...

PROBLEM #1: The Photography market is SATURATED. It's EXTREMELY competitive. Everyone and their Mother is a Photographer these days.

PROBLEM #2: I moved to an area where we had no family and didn't know a soul. Who you know and word of mouth is SO important to the growth of a Photography business so that has definitely been a huge disadvantage for me.

Here is another issue i've come across...people don't seem to understand that Photographers are sole business owners and what that entails. They invest in expensive equipment, editing software, websites, bookkeeping sites, contracts, logos/branding and more. They pay taxes. They are their own Marketing Managers. They are their own Bookkeeper and Accountant. They are their own Sales Manager and Designer. They put in countless hours answering emails/inquiries (a lot of them that lead nowhere), editing images to perfection, working on their websites and social media, blogging, ordering prints and products for their clients, etc. They do EVERYTHING. So i'm asking everyone to please remember this before you think a Professional Photographer is too "expensive" or before you ask a Photographer friend or family member for a free shoot. It's SO much more than taking a simple picture with a camera and then giving it to someone...Every Professional Photography Business Owner needs everyone to understand these things...We need your SUPPORT and UNDERSTANDING.

I am trusting God that the success of my business is in his hands. His timing is PERFECT. I truly believe I will look back at how difficult this has been and smile because I realize how God had been shaping and preparing me and my business to be the best they can be.

I'm going to continue to push forward and not give up. This is what I love to do and I refuse to be the individual that is haunted by the thoughts of "WHAT IF?". I will remind myself over and over again that many successful people in life failed first. I'm no exception.