We recently connected with Tiffany Sebastian and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tiffany thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I initially learned the basics of photography from watching my father. From there, a significant amount of my knowledge came from trial and error. I would meet up with models on my level and we’d spend a day working towards shooting our vision. I would try and mess up, they would try and mess up, and we would keep shooting until we were happy. When there was something that popped up during the shoot that I didn’t understand, I made it a point of studying at home and setting up another shoot to test out what I’ve learned.

I was a natural light photographer for a very long time because I didn’t feel I had the knowledge of working with my own light source. It was intimidating in a way. When the sun is too bright it’s the sun’s fault. But when your strobe is too bright it’s your own fault and you need to know what to do to fix it. It was a daunting task to take on, but I picked up books from the library and learned everything I could until I brought my first lighting kit. Getting over my struggle with my own confidence as an artist was one of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome to continue to learn and grow.

Tiffany, 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 started photography roughly nine years ago, but I’ve been both in front of and behind the camera since I was a child. I always had disposable cameras and when digital cameras started to become big I ask my parents to buy me one. I don’t think my mom knew what it would become at the time, but back then it was about saving memories. I loved being able to look back at people I knew and places I went. A moment in time saved forever. It was beautiful to me.

When I invested in my first DSLR camera was when the photo bug really bit me. I was starting to see how happy my photography could make others. I will never ever forget an interaction I had with one of my first clients. She saw her pictures and said “you made me look so beautiful!” which boggled my mind because what I shot is exactly what I see standing in front of me. I realized photography had the power to show people how absolutely beautiful they really are. I want them to walk away from a shoot with me feeling confident. I want them to see the beauty they already possess and carry that with them in their daily lives.

That’s what makes me happy about shooting for others. Many people don’t get the chance to have professional photography done, so when they do I want it to mean something to them. I want to freeze a moment in time for them to look back on and feel good about.

After nine years and countless shoots in various styles, I’ve settled on shooting headshots, portraiture, fashion/editorial, and product photography.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Again, I know we can all be hard on ourselves at times, but in the art world what you make is subject to scrutiny in a very interesting way. It’s an everlasting effort to have confidence in the product you put out. What one person finds extraordinary, another wouldn’t look twice at. What one person thinks is a deal for the quality of art you produce, another thinks is overpriced. You have to really stand firm in who you are and know yourself, your art, and what you’re worth. If you don’t already have that thought pattern it will come with time and practice. Even then there will be times when you wonder if your art is good enough. I don’t think the self-doubt or scrutiny is completely unique to creatives, but I believe we deal with it at a much higher rate than more conventional jobs.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was doing a relatively large event and would be shooting for several hours straight. In this event, however, I would be shooting several hundred people in a row with no stop. I’m used to shooting for hours but didn’t realize the toll the consistent shooting would take on my flash. Within two hours it burned out completely and wouldn’t turn back on. My heart dropped. I was ready to return the deposit and run away. At that time I only had one flash to my name. So what did I do? I called the two people who have always supported me. My parents. My dad happened to have an extra flash I could borrow and my mom knew where I kept my other forms of lighting (ie. my ringlight). They dashed to the event as quickly as they could and dropped off the items I needed while I shot what I could with natural light. All this is to say that sometimes having resilience takes a team, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one!

Contact Info:

• Website: tiffanysebastianphotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/tiffanysebastianphotography

Image Credits
Angely Rodriguez Jayden Rodriguez Colton Trimble Thirl Hupp Kendra Willis Lindsey Savchuk Elliot Jackson Shanteria Stokes Jasmine Bittar Kimberly Shead Shalee Medina