To continue onto my photo-series, I wanted to take a deep dive into Business Women’s Week, which falls from October 16-22. This week is all about our accomplishments in business! I would’ve never thought I would go into business; however, I realize now that many of my influencers are business-related! Every member of my family does something in the business realm: my mom paints; my sister makes music; my dad does financial work; and I am a photographer. Before I dive into my personal insights on business for this week, I want to share my biggest business influencers.
1. Jenna Kutcher
Jenna is a prime example of a business-savvy woman. I discovered her through maternity pictures of herself that went viral. The colors and execution were beautiful, and her website was absolutely fascinating.
You can find Jenna’s works here!
Kutcher has such an aesthetically pleasing website that I do not mind spending hours on it, even if I am just fiddling around. There are design doodles, charts, graphs and more visuals that keep the website interacting with you.
Over summer 2019, I discovered her Gold Digger Podcast. This is EVERYTHING. When I started listening and taking her tips she provided, my own photography business improved. Listening to others’ creativity can inspire your own creativity, or at least it does for me. It’s the saying that “when one door opens up for you, so will many others.”
2. Ali Leigh
Going from that saying, I will jump right to the next biggest influencer I have right now: Ali! This girl has a six-figure photo-biz right now with a whole team of second shooters and associates (I will explain this in a bit— hold tight)!
Leigh has created a major Facebook page that holds Minneapolis photographers and creatives for opportunities, tips and locations in the area.
The venues Leigh photographs at are the kinds of venues I dream of photographing at after college.
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While those are my major influencers, I want to write a little bit about business in photography and how much I’ve learned in just the last two years.
When I told someone once the other day that I was second shooting a wedding, they got so confused.
“What is (the term) second shooting?”
Every wedding has one main photographer, but some clients will want additional pictures. If this is the case, a second photographer is then hired under the main photographer. The two work together in the day: one photographer gets pictures of something the main photographer cannot get at the same moment.
I like to think of the term associate photographer as a substitute. You have the main photographer who is hired, but if they are already booked on your wedding day, their associate photographer will take the pictures instead. The main photographer will not be at your day, but they will still edit for the original client.
This past season (the end of summer and throughout the fall), I was hired as a second shooter on weddings through Amber Holte Photography.
Now that I have experienced 10+ weddings, I realize there are many things I need to change personally on my own business.
I have experienced similar timelines to most weddings: from the detail shots, to wedding party pictures, to ceremony, family and then finally reception. When I started doing weddings, my first time put-down was 4 hours base, but now I know that is not enough time for quality images, which I’ve been learning how to create through direction this season. Marketing on social media and keeping a healthy balance between the two is something incredibly important; also, this is especially important information for someone who reads this and may want to pursue photography full-time. I’ve already had people reach out to me and ask to do a second shoot for me when I honestly feel like I still have so much more to learn.
I’ve been hearing more from other people I know, saying, “you’ll make it” and that is the best thing for my ears to hear.
Having someone tell you that you will accomplish your dream is the best thing that anyone can tell you. Ultimately, I want to travel for a client’s destination wedding. But my second shooting and building up a foundation is a good place to start.