We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bre Welch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bre, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I learned early on that I prefer to photograph people one-on-one. I would get anxiety and have a hard time listening to my creative voice with large groups of people. I’ve also always been drawn to the aesthetic of a simple portrait-that there could be so many different interpretations of a photo of a person’s face with each different photographer. I love expressive and subtle faces. I love when people get crinkles around their eyes when they smile. I love when a person has dimples. I’m fascinated when a subject has a freckle in their iris. My business “catch-phrase” is: I see you. I know you and I love you. It seemed odd years ago to say, “I love you” as a part of my business. But now I realize it’s a superpower. I really don’t think there are many you could hate if you sat with them long enough and heard their story. And that’s what my responsibility is–to tell their story. So, that’s how I look at each session-an opportunity to truly see people, love them and then show the world what I see.

Bre, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started taking headshots of actors in school. I studied Musical Theatre and there was never a shortage of hopeful actors who needed headshots to land their next role. I took an auditioning class in college and one day the teacher took out a stack of 200 or so black and white headshots. He spread them out around the floor of the room and asked us to take a look around and write down the top 10 people we would like to work with. Plain and simple. I’m not lying when I tell you–we all wrote about the same 10 people down. I was astonished. How could we possibly have been drawn to the same people? My teacher explained how their charisma was magnetic, and how their connection to the camera made it impossible not to see. And that’s when I got obsessed with headshots. I wanted to pull that charisma out of people and make it easy for them to connect to the camera so they could be unstoppable too.

I do only studio portrait work–headshots and full body branding sessions. No families-no weddings. Once I realized it wasn’t my super power, I had no interest in it anymore. But every time I came to a headshot session, I was at ease! I love talking to people and hearing what they’re using the shots for–auditions, job interviews, med school, a dating profile–whatever it is, headshots always start with hope. It’s people’s investment in themselves because they believe that they’re meant for more. And for a client to put money, time and energy behind that is just so beautiful to me and something that I deeply honor.
And yes, I mean I ONLY do studio work- I find having a home base helps open up my creativity and explore the person, rather than exploring my surroundings. I tap in to their energy and needs better if I am in my space.
The thing I get told most often is that people feel like they finally have a picture that looks and feels like them. It’s the best compliment I could get! To know that in the limited time I have with them, they feel seen. People tell me as they feel like they have a new best friend-I freaking love that. If people can come to me and feel like they love themselves a little bit more than they did before, that’s all I could ever want.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is don’t be afraid to say “no” to stuff. When I first started out in photography, I thought I had to do every kind of photography to be legit. My body kept telling me that I was uncomfortable with the other stuff, and I kept hitting a wall on growth. When I finally shed all the types of photography that I did not enjoy doing and listening to my inner voice–I niched down to studio headshots. I thought other photographer would think it was lame-or that it somehow made me less of a legit photographer–or worst of all, that I would never be able to make a full time living off of it. What a lie! Once I started to hone in on what I felt called to do, everything flowed for me. The work just came–I didn’t even really have to advertise. Happy clients and social media did all the work for me.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I am coming up on my 10th year in business. I think it’s rewarding knowing it wasn’t just a fluke that it all worked out. I’ve seen so many businesses just like mine fail–or be side hustles. But I’ve always given my business the respect it deserves–put in the time, took myself seriously on the back end of the business–and then let myself relax and be myself with the clients. It’s made for a solid balance that I think has set me apart and given my business the financial consistency to stay afloat.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pepperfoxphoto.com
• Instagram: @pepperfoxphoto
• Facebook: Pepperfox Photo
• Tik Tok: @pepperfoxphoto

Image Credits
Madison Pope