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

Stacey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I would definitely say taking the risk to jump from education into a photography business was life changing. Nine years ago I was embarking on a second career as a special education teacher. My husband had retired from the military and it was finally time for me to have a “real” career. I had previously worked part time in adult education/GED services and mental health education. Quite quickly after taking my first teaching position, I realized that the expectation of working 50+ hours per week for $33,000-$35,000 per year was not sustainable. I had worked so hard to get to this moment and now, I was going to walk away from it. It was an incredibly emotional decision because I loved being a teacher and did not want to let my students down. I knew I could not continue– and then came the news that my position was going to part time the next school year. Perhaps that was the push I needed.

Feeling very lost and adrift in a sea of possibility after deciding to quit teaching, I decided to start a food blog. I did this mainly because I loved the local food community and also because I love to cook, bake, and create in the kitchen. Photography was a huge part of the blog, in fact, the photos were more important to me than the words. Soon, I was connecting with local restaurants, farmers, and other bloggers. It was just the creative outlet I needed to figure out my “what’s next.” I focused the blog on recipes using local seasonal produce, farm-to-table restaurants, and on local farmers. During this time I started teaching cooking classes and took a few photography jobs for local food-focused businesses.

As the amount of requests for photography jobs increased, I realized that I was at a point where I either needed to continue this side hustle and find a “real job,” or I needed to take the step to create a photography business and go for it. I felt strongly that I wanted to continue to work with the local food community; however, I worried that I would not be able to sustain a business only focused on this client base.

That risk has provided me with more rewards than I can count. I have met and worked with the most amazing humans. This community is one full of creative people who have a need to feed. I have been working with the majority of my current clients for years. When I see their businesses grow as a result of our collaborations, it makes me so happy. I am doing exactly what I want to be doing and it feels amazing that the risk paid off.

Stacey, 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?

My interest in food started early in my life. My family lived in the suburbs, but we had an enormous yard which my parents converted into a vegetable garden, rhubarb patch, and strawberry patch. Later a few fruit trees and grapes were added. The expectation was that weekends were spent in the garden–helping plant, weed, and harvest. Although I often resisted helping out (it was hot, dirty work!), I did enjoy the bounty we grew. There are several aging photo albums that contain many photos of me holding up large bunches of carrots, standing in front of a table full of freshly dug new potatoes, and bent over the strawberry patch gathering the ripest, sweetest berries. This all gave me an immense appreciation for the energy and time that goes into what we eat. So I would say my interest in food began with the wonder of putting a seed in the ground, tending to it, and later eating the delicious results.

Food was part of every family gathering, including weeknight meals. Food memories are one of the strongest memories we have, in my opinion. Photos were also part of every large family gathering. I think growing up in the intersection of food, family, and photography helped shape what I do today.

I like to say that I build my food community “one photo at a time.” To me, being a food photographer means I get the opportunity to photograph everything food related. I work with farmers to capture farm life and the bounty of the land. I work with chefs and restaurateurs to capture delicious, creative dishes and beautiful spaces. I work with product makers to capture quality images of their products for building their brand. I work with event planners to capture the essence of a food-focused event.

Recipe development is something that I added to my services several years ago during a long project with a local company who needed recipes developed with their pasture-raised beef, pork, and lamb. I love to cook and create in my kitchen, so this service comes naturally. As I have worked with other product makers, I see the value in providing not only the images that these producers need to grow their businesses, but also the recipes that can add value to their brand. I am constantly thinking of new and fun ways to use client products which adds to the level of commitment I bring to the client relationship.

My love of the food community has led me to create a hands-on food photography workshop for anyone who is seeking to hone their skills in photographing food and beverage. I have presented these workshops for food entrepreneurs, students, public school food service departments, colleges/universities, and the general public. The workshop is a mixture of photography basics, skills development, and hands-on activities. Participants are encouraged to bring whatever they use to photograph food from smart phones to DSLRs.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

As a freelance photographer, it is important to me that my social media presence be authentically me. I mainly use Instagram and occasionally Facebook. I have built my following organically and through community networking. Sharing my work and having a presence in Instagram is important because it is another avenue of marketing and showing the world what I am capable of creating.

Being consistent and having a general strategy is vital to building a following. I stopped worrying about what other photographers were doing and decided to do what felt most comfortable to me. I post recent work examples as an online portfolio in my Instagram. I use Instagram stories to show my experiences and interesting moments. Now that Instagram has an algorithm that focuses more on Reels, it has become more difficult to grow my audience through simply posting my work.

I have been using photos to create videos for Reels. This has given me a wider audience and is pushing my creative limits. If we want to be creatives on this platform, we have to play according to the ever-changing rules (read: algorithms). I am encouraging clients to do the same. They have he photos I have provided for them and can use them to create new content in Reels.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Referrals have been the best source of new clients. I am always thrilled when a client refers someone to me. It is the best indicator that I am accomplishing my goal of building community and providing a service to grow food/beverage businesses. When a client trusts me enough to refer someone, I know that client will come back to me for additional projects at some point. Both of these help me sustain my business.

Another source of new clients has been working with food associations. This work may be in the form of head shot sessions or product photo sessions for members of the association. Additionally, working with these organizations might include me giving a presentation about what to do with brand digital content. Subsequently, members often reach out for photography services for their brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.staceysprenzphoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ssprenzphoto/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-sprenz-9935a741

Image Credits
Portrait of me: Lauren Vied Allen All other images: Stacey Sprenz