We recently connected with Dani Griffiths and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dani, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

As a free-lance photographer, I get to include so much diverse creativity into my work and change areas I see fit or learn new creative techniques. It’s exciting to hold so much artistic ability because that is what I see my photography as; a form of art! There are so many other free-lance photographers as well, but my creative eye is different from theirs and has my own personal touches to my work. I try new creative trends and like to expand my expertise, but I don’t try to follow or copy other’s work and I think that’s what makes my work different is it is very personal to me. That also includes how I run my business, because it is just me running it, so it is very personal to me and my preferences!

Dani, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a portrait photographer, meaning people are my main subjects, and I focus on capturing couples, individuals, and weddings. I got into portrait photography because I enjoy having fun with clients while taking pictures! Before I was doing photography professionally, I would plan little photoshoots with friends and family just to have fun with them and take pictures! I love making people feel comfortable and getting to know them and their different personalities. In the photo session, I like to try and maintain individuality where I can get natural and comfortable shots of people being more themselves. Some photoshoots turn out more cinematic, some turn out more creative, but I try to include a diversity of photo types to clients so they can love their photos throughout different seasons of their lives. Of course I absolutely love the art of photography and the style choices I have on my end, but I genuinely want my clients to have a good experience throughout the whole process with me and do my best to work with what exactly you want. I’m proud that my business is so people led- because that is what I truly care about: the people!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Something I didn’t know would be such a struggle before I became a professional photographer is the back end work it takes to run a business; especially individually. Social media is my main source of getting new clients and keeping up with all the ins and outs of using it as a tool can be more draining than one might think. I’m also a mother and time can be difficult to find sometimes for the extra long hours of editing. I think most people don’t know what the whole process looks like so it can be easy to judge photography up front without knowing how many subscriptions are needed to run a professional business, or how many hours are spent editing, responding to emails and messages, proper equipment for the actual picture-taking, camera care, storing photo files, and so much more that goes on behind the scenes. But, as much as it is nice for people to understand my full responsibility, I don’t expect clients to know all the behind the scenes and am happily able to answer any questions they might have about me or my business!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative artist is seeing my clients joy or love for their photos! When they get their photos back I want them to feel like they are “so them” or like I truly captured their feelings or personal emotions. I don’t want the photos to just be a pretty picture, but a picture with true meaning to them. I also feel so rewarded in my job when I see the confidence rising of my clients during the shoot. Whether camera shy or struggling to see themselves as beautiful, I love making people feel confident in themselves and get more comfortable because they should!! Besides, those usually turn out to be the best photos :) I love getting to show people how everyone else sees them while using photography as a creative outlet. I’m so grateful to have this as my job!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danijanephoto.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: @danijanephoto
• Other: Pinterest: @danijanephotog
  TikTok: @danijanephoto