My Biggest Obstacle Was Me

Nicole:

"I love God. I love to serve. My husband is my best friend and the most amazing man I have ever met. I love being a mom to 5 {yes five} super sweet and super sassy kids. I am a fashion junkie that loves wine, cupcakes and game night. I also have a serious addiction to handbags and shoes and think I passed those traits onto my girls. I am a fashion inspired, urban couture wedding, commercial and lifestyle photographer based in sunny San Diego. I have the best job in the world and I love being in love with life."

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When I first started my business, I knew that with every fiber of my being that I could make it work. My biggest obstacle was… Where do I start? I knew what I liked, but at the time I thought I didn’t possess the technical skills to pull it off. I had ideas about what I wanted to do, and the services I wanted to provide, but ended up spending hours and hours researching and wading through endless options that would work for me.

There were workshops, inspiration blogs, people that the photography industry said were the IT photographers showing me what was popular. There were even photographers in my area that were always busy with work. I questioned their how’s and what’s, wondering what they were doing and secretly banging my head against my desk wishing I could just figure their secrets out.

Fast forward to a year and a half into my business, I finally had a little bit of experience, some technical know how and a whole lot of ambition. In January 2009 I attended my first “Spread the Love Workshop” in Washington DC put on by Justin and Mary Marantz . In the span of two days, they revolutionized the way that I thought about my business and myself. I had it all backwards. I thought that I needed to chase what other people were doing and shooting. To recreate their styles to gain clients and grow. In truth, J&M showed me that I just needed to start shooting and showing what “I” wanted to do! I needed to define who I was as an artist, what my loves were, and what I was passionate about shooting. I needed to be unafraid of myself and if people would like my work. It wasn’t an epiphany so much as the freedom that I found to just be me.

My transition was slow, not an overnight turning point. I had spent so many hours defining who I thought I should be, I had to take a step back and analyze what made me tick. Where did I really want to take my business? What steps would lead me there? What did I want to shoot? How did I want my brand to be viewed? How on earth would I start saying no to the people and projects that I didn’t want to do?

After I quit psycho analyzing myself and beating myself up about all of the things that I was doing wrong, I needed a starting point to move forward. I wanted to play on the things I thought I was doing right. First off, I am super shy. If we meet up in a group…I’m the tall girl standing by the dessert table, most likely with a cupcake in hand. I have always been that way. I knew that I was great at making connections and developing those relationships one on one, but group settings did, {and to be perfectly honest} still do trigger a major panic attack. I needed to step out of my comfort zone and start developing group relationships and personal genuine ones. I needed to be a more confident version of myself to market me.

Sounds scary, right? But it wasn’t. I gave it to God. I trusted that He would provide the encouragement that I needed to meet new people, to give me the words in new situations and that the things that I was good at would work in my favor even on a larger scale.

If I can share just two things with you, it would be to just be yourself and to genuinely invest in others. Invest in their lives and in their businesses. Find ways that you can help them without expecting anything in return. They will see you for the kind, caring person that you are. Not the one that is trying to be something that you are not.

Just be you! 

Check out Nicole's work! Visit her website  www.nicolebenitez.com 

My big grain of salt

By Edith Taylor

Edith:

“I am a very short, overly energetic yet kinda awkward small town girl from Oregon. I carry an overwhelming joy in my heart brought forth by God’s grace, blessings & the love of my husband. I fell hard & fast for my husband after we reconnected & 3 months later agreeing to marrying the boy who used to live next door. We live in a small farmhouse neighboring our landlords beef cattle, with our dog Moose who is our child. Although I was not raised on a farm, I am a total small town, country, hay lovin, lemonade in a used mason jar kinda girl.”

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Although I carry the title of photographer, I use that word very delicately as I am aware that I am constantly growing in this art which requires much dedication, time & appreciation. Although I did everything completely backwards, it has taught me so much about the proper means to titling yourself a photographer & growing my admiration for true artists. Being a photographer is so much fun. It is an explosion of creative beauty. I love seeing my dreams & visions come to life before me. My heart unfolding in each photo, as I totally fall for my clients. Art runs through my veins, my heart, my soul & photography is the outlet I was created for.

This being said…there is a reason that one should be legitimately experienced before running a business. Being a photographer comes with extremely hard work, disappointment, so much time away from family I can’t even stress it, missing most of your summer if you photograph weddings, taxes (be legit, not under the table, the IRS will find you. I’ve heard stories), late nights, early mornings and a ton of investment.

There are certain things that will make the launching of your business less of a self-discovery struggle & more of an announcement of your arrival. If you pick up a camera, take a few photos & start a business you will have a long road ahead of you full of back peddling & restructuring. This is the very brief version of what I learned about starting a business way before I should have.

1) Find your style

Everyone has an opinion on what is art & what looks good. Spend time realizing (not deciding) what your style is. I emphasize the YOUR in that. I like bold colors, country landscapes, old barns, sunsets. My clients love to wear boots, jeans and sundresses. Almost every session involves the family dog. I am obsessed with sun flare. I don’t do studio photography & I am always laughing. My style has a look, a feel, is me at the core.

2) Find your ideal client

This will not only help you build the portfolio you want, but will help you find the clientele you want. I can shoot big fancy hotel weddings. However, my ideal bride is wearing a knockout wedding dress in either flats, Justins (cowgirl boots) or converse. Their venue is a vintage backyard, a beautiful country ranch or something a little more hippie under an oak tree. The dress is usually semi-formal & kids are almost always invited. Yes you should be able to shoot everything, but find out who you LOVE to shoot.

3) The legal ducks

I will preach this to the cows come home. Be legit. I understand doing stuff under the table when starting is often the norm. However, you want to run an honest business. Pay your taxes. There are benefits to it. You do get to write a ton of stuff off. Have your contracts in order. Not only is this important for your clients, but it protects you. I have heard so many sad stories of people who worked for friends & family only to be caught in awful situations because there were no contracts. Make SURE you have model releases! Even if it just a handwritten note when starting out. You must get their permission to post their photos online. Verbal is not enough. Learn early on, how & why you should protect yourself.

4) Invest wisely, not widely

We all love to see that beautiful red strip on our lenses or read the word Nikkor on all of our gear. Instead of investing in the most expensive gear right off the bat, work up to it. Although don’t buy the most rock bottom priced gear either. If you don’t know what you like, rent first. Instead of saving, buying, saving, buying, saving, buying just save, research (a lot) and buy what you will use now as well as down the road. So if you want the middle grade lens don’t listen to your inner child throwing a tantrum & buy the cheap gotta have it now lens. Save up, spend a few hundred extra & get the lens that you will be happy with for good amount of time.

Once you have discovered who you are, who your ideal clients are, you understand your equipment, have experience & get at least most of your legal ducks in a row you get to launch off on your own. This is where the big grain of salt comes in. When I started my business, I was in such a rush to making it, I completely lost myself. I let others call the shots, tell me the best way to operate was, what to charge, what to sell, what not to sell and everything in between. It’s taken me quit some time to discover who I was again & who I want my business to be. When you are deciding the major factors like branding, colors, websites, pricing (the hardest part) make sure that while you listen to the wise words of experience, take everything with a grain of salt.

A) Charge what your worth

It has taken me a long time to decide what to charge, what to sell & how to defend it. I hate pricing. My inner hippie still wants to love on everyone & just give it all away for free. But that doesn’t keep the lights on so we as artist must charge. I am not only happy with what I charge, I can explain why I charge what I do with confidence. I live in a small town so while I do charge enough, I certainly don’t charge what many do in say Manhattan, New York or San Francisco, California. I listened to those who kept saying to increase my prices, but did it to a level that I was proud of while still not undermining myself or paying myself less than what I was worth.

B) Smile & nod

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone. When I first started I thought my friends who took 800 photos on their flip phones were totally qualified to tell me what a “good” photograph was. As you grow you will have lots of people tell you your photos are incredible, you should have done something different, you should include the disc, you should sell the disc for $1500, you should do selective coloring (ok this is not true, don’t do that), you should buy this equipment before buying that equipment, you should do this & that & this & that. AHHH! My point is, you are YOU! Listen to what everyone has to say. Listen politely & openly. Some are right, some are wrong. You are your own person so take in everything you hear, write it down if it’s easier, and then go over it little by little. Weigh the wisdom. Slowly narrow it down to what you decide to let impact your business. Like I said we are all different. Our art is different. You are different. Make sure that with everything that can & will come your way does not make you lose yourself. Big grain of salt.

C) Know your heart

Last year I started to change as a person & as a photographer. I went to an amazing workshop called For The Love. I was met with a LOT of reflection time. FYI super crucial to staying true to yourself. There I realized not only who I was as a photographer, but who I was as a person. Today I walk confidently in the identity that God showed me that week. I know who I am. I know what I like. When people ask me to do things that do not coincide with that, I smile, listen, politely explain that it’s not something that I do & refer them to someone who does.

My name is Edith Taylor. I am an artist. I am a photographer. I am the only me.

Discover who you are. Then open your dreams up to the amazing possibilities that await you. The true you.

Check out Edith’s work at

  www.simplykissed.com

Gospel-Centered Business

By Bethany Carlson

Bethany is an international portrait photographer. She started her photography business in Asia while living in South Korea. Bethany has photographed clients from over twelve countries. Bethany focuses her art towards lifestyle photography of couples. She currently resides in Northern California with her husband, Tim.

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A couple months ago, I reached a point of pure disappointment in my job. Essentially, my identity was based on how my clients responded to my work and how many inquiries I received per week. I even allowed bitterness to eat away at me every time I thought a photographer “stole” my ideas. The result: I started to not like myself, or my work. It was then that I felt the need to revamp my business. But it was not a change that I could just edit online. It was deeper than that. It was something that my heart needed to repent of. My business was an idol in my life. And I intentionally was leaving Christ out of it. My heart needed to undergo a solid dose of Gospel-centered rebuke and redemption. I needed to understand the concept of how when Jesus regenerates our hearts, He naturally should be in the outflow of everything we do.

One day, I stumbled upon a chapter in Joe Thorn’s book “Note to Self”. In his discussion on work he states, “You need to see all of life as spiritual, and your calling or employment as work for God regardless of pay, position or its connection to the church. In other words, stop treating what you spend the bulk of your day engaged in as something divorced from God and his work in and through you”.

I am still a serious work in progress, but by the Grace of God, I realize that all I do in my business should be Christ-centered, idol (self)-shattering, sin-exposing and Gospel-Glorifying. Tullian Tchividjian shares in his book “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” we constantly struggle to put the Gospel in our daily lives because the Gospel is not about us. How counter-cultural it is.

“The gospel doesn’t take you deeper into yourself; the gospel takes you away from yourself. That’s why Paul reminds the Colossians (and us), ‘You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (3:3). The gospel frees us to realize that, while we matter, we are not the point.”

So today, I am sharing a list of photography-centered ways I have started to have a Gospel-centered business. These are not rules, but a set of guidelines that have helped me in making my business not to bring glory to Bethany, but to Christ. Although these are written specific to my clients and my business experience, I hope they could possibly help anyone who struggles with the same idols that I do.

1) Identity-in-Christ: First and most important ways to keep your photography business gospel-centered is to keep your heart Gospel-centered. Reminding yourself daily that your hope, assurance and acceptance is found only as a daughter (or son) of Christ – and not as a woman (or man) with a camera job. Photographers struggle with this identity crisis every time they receive feedback from clients or colleagues. It is a crisis every time you are rejected by a booking. Or perhaps every time someone “unlikes” your Facebook page. These are the moments  of crisis when you substantially place your acceptance, identity and worth in something that is not the Cross. This will sustain you. “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” -1 John 2:17.

2) Maintain a Healthy Friendship with Clients: Some may see this as “networking” but that’s self-focused and self-serving. Creating an honest communication with clients from the beginning can create a bond that a lot of brides hold onto with their photographer. Maintaining a healthy dialogue of encouragement between yourself and your clients can help create an opportunity to share your faith. You never know how God could use a “photographer” to bring a person to Christ. Sow the seeds of Grace. Sow the seeds of Truth.

3) Don’t Be Bitter, but Forgive: If you have been in the photography business for more than five minutes, you have been burnt. Most likely, a colleague has burned you. One day you have a cool friend in the business, the next day, they stole half your clients. Don’t be bitter. As Christ’s ambassadors, we are called to respond in a manner that is worthy of worship. Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Don’t be bitter. But forgive because for crying-out-loud, Jesus forgives us. The more we understand our need for Forgiveness, the easier it is to forgive in this business.

4) Branding Your Identity: I made the grave mistake when I was first starting out my business of focusing my business on me. Without realizing it, I had actually turned away a lot of people from my business because I did not have more wisdom in how I shared, what I shared and why I shared the things I did.  My branding was about promoting me and this ultimately led to my own personal identity crisis. Another situation occurred with a photographer that I knew of. She wrote on her Facebook business status about how upset she was to be losing business to another local photographer who didn’t have any talent. Over a year later, I still remember that photographer’s remark on her business page and how it left me feeling so uneasy about her character, despite her website proclaiming her faith in Jesus. As we market our brand/image, it is important to ask yourself “Why am I writing this status/blog? Why do I feel like I should share this particular photo? Is this going to Glorify Christ or is it going to glorify myself?” The decision you make in your heart will ultimately be the outflow of how your brand is portrayed.

5) Pray for your Clients’ Marriages: If you have been a wedding photographer for any given amount of time, you know that you are in a front-row seat to one of the most intimate moments a couple will ever have – the proclamation of their vows to God. Although we are not standing by their sides as bridesmaids per-say, we are witnesses to their vows. I have been in client meetings where I felt the need to pray for the couple and pray that perhaps I could share with them. One client meeting, I felt the burden to be honest with a bride-to-be who was venting about her “situation”. I felt that the Lord was placing it on my heart to share truth with her. My encouragement ultimately was not accepted and she decided to no longer have me as her photographer. It is a moment where I knew that my commitment to Christ was more important than any wedding gig. Praying for couples before and after marriage is vital in this business. We see a lot of great and also bad decisions being made. Ultimately, we are only a vendor. But God can use any situation or prayer to accomplish His will. Feel peace in His Sovereignty.


Further reading

{Note to self by Joe Thorn}

{Jesus + nothing = everything by Tullian Tchividjian}

Get to know Bethany’s work at 

www.bethanycarlson.com