To see more of her work check out her instagram
Here are the questions I asked and the answers!!!
What made you first interested in photography?:
My aunt bought me a little film camera for my 13th birthday. I remember buying a couple rolls of black and white film and taking that camera on vacation. I took pictures of ducks sitting on the docks and the skylines just experimenting. In high school I took a black and white film photography class and I just fell in love with it. I didn’t fully understand aperture and shutter speed, but just composing and making something an image was just so intriguing to me. It’s funny that I started with black and white film because I LOVE vibrant color and don’t do much black and white work. But back to the beginning…when I was in 10th grade my dad knew I had the photography bug and bought me my first camera for Christmas - Canon rebel xti. I shot all my work on that throughout my 3rd year in college.
Did you go to school to be a photographer? If yes, then where and what degree?
I went to CCAC (Community College of Allegheny County) for my first 2 years to get my gen ed classes out of the way, then transferred to Edinboro University graduating with a degree in Applied Media Arts with a concentration in Photography. It was mostly fine art based, which I just didn’t truly get. Other students had all the deep underlying meaning to their work that the professors ate up. I really didn’t see photography like that. I just wanted to take pretty portraits of people and make them feel beautiful, confident, and cool when they saw the final image of themselves. Also, since it was mostly fine art based, they didn’t really teach us a lot about the real world and the business side of things. So anything business related is what I’ve taught myself. It’s a slow process for me! I’m not the best at the business side and it’s so stressful at time but I am slowly getting there.
What was your first job as a photographer?
I started out taking senior portraits for my friends. I never used to see myself being a portrait photographer, but when a friend asked me to take their senior portraits, that is when I truly fell in love with photography. The editing process is MY FAVORITE. I can make something that’s beautiful become even more beautiful and that is just so exciting to me. I try to make each portrait its own work of art. After I did that for free for my friends, I started charging for other students who wanted me to take their photos.
How did you get your name out to the public?
This is a tough question because I honestly really don’t know! I just did as many portraits as I could. I experimented a lot with one of my friends who wanted to me a wardrobe stylist (and now is a super successful one working in LA! Yay!). We would always just do experimental fashion shoots in her apartment or take on an idea one of us had and she would style herself and be my model. I did a lot of that work and posted it on facebook, as well as with my senior pictures and anything I was creating at the time. Basically, I just tried to show my work to as many people as possible via Facebook. Word of mouth helped me as well. The biggest thing that helped me was making a website. That allowed me to finally look professional and it was a way actual clients could see my work and get in contact with me.
What techniques would you suggest when taking portraits?
Everybody is different when it comes to portraiture and their own style. My style of portraiture is natural light with a reflector. I prefer the model’s back towards the sun and to reflect light up to their face. I also try to get someone to come along with the model to make them laugh and get a natural smile. My seniors usually bring their mothers along and most times I can get the moms to make them smile or laugh which makes for a great natural happy photo instead of a forced awkward smile - especially if they’re not comfortable in front of the camera. I always tell my clients things are going to feel a bit awkward for about 10-15 minutes but I promise them they’ll get the hang of it and nail the session. I give them compliments a lot so they feel confident in themselves. It helps them to loosen up and realize that they are doing great. Oh! The number one thing I always tell my clients is, “ Don’t be afraid to be yourself, or to be weird. Don’t feel embarrassed about anything because I work with people every day and I’m used to everything. Nothing you can do will make me this you’re weird or make me not like you. Plus I am not really paying attention to anything like that anyways. I am mostly paying attention to technical things in my camera, lighting, posing, and whatnot, so you’ll be fine and you will nail this session!” That is usually how that speech goes every time. I say it at every session, but I truly mean every word I say to them and it works!
Do you make enough money as a photographer to make a living?
This question is really tough to answer. My answer is yes, but it is really different for me I think because I don’t have the normal expenses that most other photographers have. For one, I don’t usually tell anyone this, but my dad is the greatest human on the entire planet and paid for my college education. I am truly so lucky to have had that done for me. With that said, I don’t have school loans, so that money that I would be paying, I can save, or invest in equipment for my business. I also am driving my mom’s old 1998 Honda, so I don’t have car payments either. I do have the normal bills and rent to pay, along with photography expenses, but if I had a car payment and school loans, I would probably be struggling somewhat to live comfortably. This year will only be my 4th professional year, so hopefully it will get better and better as time goes on.
What is your favorite subject to photograph?
Seniors! I can experiment with them and not have to worry about too much of a time limit or missing a moment (like wrddings! Weddings are stressful!)
What advice would you give an aspiring photographer to secede in the industry?
If you’re stalling on making a website, DON’T. Suck it up, pay the cost, and make a clean website with lots of work and a contact form for clients. That is my strongest advice to any struggling photographer. If I didn’t have my website I would have next to no clients.
I want to gave a big thanks to Kristin Sanderson for being so helpful
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