We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Swenson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

As someone who struggles with big decisions, coming up with a name for my business took quite some time. While in photography school, a variety of assignments required the use of a business name. Several classmates had already been in business with a name and others seemed quite confident in what they wanted their name to be. It was frustrating feeling like I just couldn’t figure out how to know what it should be. Other assignments helped us see how others viewed us, words they’d use to describe us, and we even had class discussions helping each other work towards a name. Very helpful information was shared. It just never felt like anything felt like it was the magical, for sure answer. List after list of things I liked was created and I just started putting words together to see if any combos clicked. Every so often I’d find something and think, “That’s it!” Except it wasn’t because that name was already taken. Lather, rinse, repeat. Several times. Eventually, I landed on Blue Fawn Photography. It wasn’t already taken so I decided to go for it. My favorite color has always been light blue and I wanted to include that in my branding materials, so that seemed like a fit. I’ve also always really enjoyed animals, and so including an animal in the name felt right as well. Baby deer are often hidden from sight, quiet, and are gentle creatures. That all felt very “me” too. So that became my business name. People do ask, “Fawn?” after I tell them my name, and I respond with, “Yep. Baby deer.” So, in some ways it may not be perfect. But I’m not perfect either, so it works!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Growing up, I was always interested in photography and photos. I loved looking at photo albums and photos in magazines. Cameras were always fun and I can recall receiving them as gifts over the years. For me, they were a gift that kept giving as they produced images that could be enjoyed for years to come, valuable practice taking photos, and the ability to put what I saw into physical form and be creative.

I had initially wanted to go to college for photography right out of high school. However, there was a 2-3 year waiting list to get into the program I was interested in at the time. Instead of waiting, I ended up going to college for teaching. Finding my place in teaching proved to be harder than expected and after several years of gaining a wide variety of teaching experience, I was still thinking about photography and taking photos. I had even started taking photos for a couple of friends and really enjoyed it.

I happened to read my horoscope by chance one day, as I did from time to time, just to see what it said. There were points in this horoscope that really jumped out at me. I can’t explain it, but something about that horoscope got the wheels turning in my head and helped me reach the decision to go back to that photography program.

Now I can say I’ve found a good part-time home in education teaching preschool, and have my own photography business that allows me to work with a lot of really great people as well.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Referrals from existing clients have been the most popular way new clients have come to me.

It’s important to me to be upfront and communicate with clients about the process, pricing, how to prepare for their sessions, and to find out what their goals are for their session and do my best to provide those results for them. I also aim to be very open to questions, comments, and requests so they feel comfortable with me and aren’t afraid to ask questions if something comes up. They are investing in memories for themselves and I want to get it right, so I definitely do my best to make sure clients are happy with their images and experience.

It’s my hope that this comes through to clients that choose me. They are important, their memories are important, and it’s important that they be treated with respect.

I just think that if my clients don’t feel great enough about their experiences with me that they want to refer me to others, then I need to make some adjustments on my end! I certainly don’t expect them to mention me to others, but it is absolutely appreciated more than they’ll ever know when they do.

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

It’s incredibly rewarding getting to meet so many different people and getting to capture what makes them special. I’m very sentimental and getting to witness things like toddlers reaching up for a hand to hold while walking, couples being playful with each other and laughing together, and family members cheering each other on during sessions is really super sweet. Watching for and noticing these little moments that make each family unique, and then putting them in photographs, is definitely what makes photography so fun for me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @blue_fawn_photography

Image Credits

TAZ Photography took the photo of me.
All other photos are mine – Blue Fawn Photography, LLC.