We recently connected with Chris Montgomery and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, appreciate you joining us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?
I grew up around photography. My Dad was a corporate photographer for TRW and photographed everything from CEO’s to top secret satellite projects. I never wanted to follow in his footsteps!
However, I was creating abstract paintings, trying to find a place for myself after years as a stay-at-home Dad, and one day I’d had enough of hiding in my studio and making art.
I decided that day I was done painting (it ended up being closer to a year or more,) went for a long run, and came home and took a nap in the middle of the day.
When I woke up there had been a clear epiphany, and I was crystal clear that I would now become a professional portrait photographer.
It was just that easy too! The stars aligned, people threw themselves at my feet, begging me to take their money…yeah right.
Believe it or not I had no idea how competitive it was. Here I was in my late 40’s entering a world that it turned out was unfamiliar to me.
2 things became obvious. The first was that I needed a lot of practice, and the second was that I needed education.
The first I got by photographing my kids, my wife, their friends, family friends, etc., any chance they would give me.
As soon as an idea hit, I would execute. Pour paint all over and set off colored powder? Done!
Strange home made backgrounds in the garage studio, why not?
This was the easy part, because there were no expectations from myself or anyone. I’d bought some inexpensive gear, a decent camera and dove right in.
The education I got from courses by FStoppers, Sue Bryce, and of course every conceivable video on YouTube. I would learn and apply, learn and apply.
All of this was within a few months, and then around May 2019 I decided to launch Light Shoot Repeat Photography. There was no studio, other than what I had set up in my house, but that didn’t matter because my focus was headshots and outdoor photo sessions.
I simply set up a corporate structure, paid for a business license, and starting designing logos. (Thank you Canva!)
The most difficult part was that, at some point, I was a good enough photographer, and improving was a straightforward path.
Learning how to market and run a business so that it was profitable was a much longer journey (that still continues today.)
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Chris Montgomery and my company is Light Shoot Repeat Photography.
It’s always been about portraits of one kind or another for me. When I first started it wasn’t clear to me who I would be photographing, whether I would be doing it at weddings, special events, or on the beach.
One thing I didn’t want to photograph were babies and toddlers. I guess my years as a stay-at-home Dad traumatized me a little bit. Seriously though, edgy fashion style portraits had always inspired me, whereas the soft, gentle, ‘everybody smile’ family photos were never my thing.
Because my daughter was a competitive dancer for years, I caught the dance photography bug, and something I love to do is to photograph a mix of improvisational movement with more of a fashion edge. So I’m less likely to photograph dancers in their typical dance wear (although sometimes they need that or prefer it.)
Instead, I’ll favor looser pants, wilder hair, intense shadows. I’m trying to communicate the intensity of the effort and emotion that goes into being a talented dancer. it’s immense and the best ones make it look easy.
If I had to highlight something that I feel is different about my work, it’s that I’m always asking my self ‘how can we do this differently? How can we add an edge?’
A lot of times you can do that by the time of day you show up somewhere. Going to the beach in the middle of winter at dawn, for example.
It may not sound bad if you surf at dawn everyday and have a wetsuit on, but when you’re not wearing that much, or your clothing is thin, the sand feels icy and some of the images need to be in the water, it adds a level of intense energy. I believe the intensity of that challenge infuses itself into the photographs.
Not to mention it’s an exhilarating experience.
The colored powder photo sessions were one of my all-time favorites. Right up there with the dawn photo sessions, but even better because it was the first time I had taken an idea from concept to being marketed and then to profitable photo sessions.
When I first started these, it was not a common thing to see. If you look at social media now you’ll see people executing these sessions in front of their house with no backdrop at night, or on a.front lawn with a simple black backdrop.
That would never have satisfied me.
The original concept came from seeing Tyler Shields dump paint on a model at his house and make these amazing photographs that I believe he ended up displaying and selling in galleries.
I thought, ‘what if we made the paint multi-colored, and may be added Holi powder to give it some atmosphere? Another layer.’
We ended up setting up a pop-up shelter in the backyard, tarping the sides and doing just that. First the paint, then the powder, oy vey it was mess. Plus it was a serious mess.
Did I mention it was a mess? Fortunately we had a pool next to us and the models got cleaned up quick, but the backyard took a beating.
Long story long, I decided colored powder was enough and we convinced a glass company to lease us their warehouse for the day. We did about 4 or 5 sessions, all of dancers (plus one kid jumping across the platform on his scooter,) and went through about 40 pounds of colored powder.
These were a hit, and I loved the combination of this these thick, intense tails of colored powder with the skillfully executed poses of the dancers.
The colored powder happened a couple more times, but it’s rough on equipment and is a whole day affair.
Today, my focus is more about headshot portraits, branding photography, and creative portraits. This encompasses anyone who wants to present intentional, powerful images to their industry. Yes dancers, but choreographers, dance studio owners, artists, even sales people who understand how much impact a strong image and portfolio can have on potential and existing clients.
This is where I can connect one-on-one with people, uncover what their insecurities are, and work with them to show how much beauty and worth they possess. I was about to say this is especially true with teens, but it seems like most people I meet carry insecurities about the way they look or how much they weigh, or how one eye squints more than the other.
A lot of people get nervous in front of the camera, and I’m all about helping them become comfortable, reassuring them that we’re going to work together to get outstanding images, and in general communicating that they, as they are, have special qualities that are not just worthy of being seen, but necessary.
When I think back on how I’ve interacted with anyone standing in front of my camera, regardless of whether we were tossing colored power all around them or putting them in front of bright lights and getting close ups of their face, that really is the goal.
Raise their confidence. Show them they are special too. Get them to loosen up and enjoy the experience. Help them understand that their individual personality is one of the best marketing tools they have.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I almost didn’t make it to year number 5. I used to joke that I was ready to quit every day because it was feeling like I was constantly chasing people down, putting out good work and not making any headway, doing a lot of work but not charging enough. The business didn’t feel like a business to me and I was so burned out it was like sitting in a sailboat in the doldrums. Just dead.
I knew what I was supposed to do, but I had picked up a full time job and between photographing, editing, trying to market, posting to social media, etc., I didn’t know if I could keep going or if I wanted to.
At the beginning of this year, I decided that was it. I’m done. Mind you I’d had some amazing sales the previous year, done work that I was proud of and had really enjoyed making.
However, something happened. I can’t recall if it was something someone said or if I just had another epiphany, but whatever it was the catalyst behind all this quitting became obvious.
It was me. I had been trash talking myself for years and I didn’t even know it. For some reason it came to me in a dream that I needed to stop talking badly to myself.
How appropriate in this age of self love and care right? It’s true though. I had been bashing myself, For years. Plus, without an artistic outlet, life felt miserable, which only contributed to this indifference towards my photography.
In the end I decided quitting was quitting, which had never gotten me anywhere but a ticket back to the start and began to get clear on what I would and wouldn’t do in my business. More importantly, I did what every photography educator tells you, and I began to get clear on who I wanted to serve and how I wanted to communicate to them.
Annnnd, here we are!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I would say both silent auctions and social media have been good for finding new clients. Silent auctions are great because there is only reward for the auction host, and if you’re clear on your offerings and terms, these can be quite profitable.
Social media has been good in that respect too, however it’s more fickle. I’ve had instances when I’ll post something about a recent session and immediately get a serious inquiry that leads to a booking. then I’ll go weeks when there’s just crickets in my DM’s.
Going forward I’m going to work on collaborating with more dance studios and dance teams.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lightshootrepeat.com
- Instagram: @lightshootrepeat2
- Other: lightshootrepeat@gmail.com
Image Credits
Light Shoot Repeat Photography