We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Felisha Jackson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Felisha below.

Felisha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve always loved taking pictures whether in front of the camera or behind, but eventually behind the camera won me over. I’m pretty much self taught with the exception of browsing endless videos on youtube. Once I knew that photography was definitely something I wanted to become more familiar with, I worked to get my hands on a good camera, then I began learning it, and how the settings worked to get the results I wanted. I feel that learning how to interact with clients, making sure that they’re comfortable and confident is definitely essential. I’m still learning of course with there being so many different personalities to come across, but I love all of the positivity I receive after and during my shoots. Beyond that one that I feel is most important, I feel that all of the skills learned go hand and hand so every skill learned is essential in order to be prepared for the expected and unexpected. I’m always trying to learn new things whether I think I’ll use them or not because you just never know when an opportunity may present itself. An obstacle that I feel stood in the way of me learning more earlier on was the fact that I was working full time in retail in management, along with being a mom, meaning I really didn’t have time to throw myself into the learning process like I wanted. I just knew that I’d get around to it whenever I got little moments to.

Felisha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a wife and mother of 2 who grew up in McIntosh County in lovely Southeast Ga. near the small city of Darien. I’ve always enjoyed taking photos and having photos taken since before I can remember, but surprisingly I don’t remember ever considering being a photographer. I thought of it as something fun to do and enjoyed freezing moments in time as I always loved looking through all of the photo albums my mom and other family members had. I’ve spent most of my life working in retail and feel that it definitely helped me grow soooo much as a person. I really enjoyed my retail job up until becoming a mom and realizing how much precious time it was taking away from me. By the time my husband and I were expecting our second child, I knew for sure that it was no longer something I wanted to do, feeling like I was missing out on so much valuable time with my family only to be exhausted when I did get time to spend with them. Hubby and I decided that it was ok if I took a break to decided what I wanted to do next, so once I went out on maternity leave and had our daughter, I knew without a doubt that I would no longer be returning to my job, During this time I was able to start learning more about using the camera I had purchased that was basically collecting dust due to me working all the time. It was my first dslr so lots of functions were foreign to me as I was use to point and shoot cameras that didn’t have much to figure out Once I started learning, the learning never stopped and still hasn’t. Anything became a subject whether it was family, friends, a leaf, birds, or myself. Right as I was ready to work with someone outside of my household and family, that’s when covid and the shutdown happened, so then it was back to the usual subjects to practice on. After what seemed like forever, things started to open up which meant I could finally venture out and I did with the help of friends/associates and strangers who had just happened to see photos I posted on my social media pages. I enjoyed watching my continuous growth and was in love with how photography made me feel and even more in love with how it made others feel. By the end of 2021, I decided to take a chance and begin my LLC Fefe Jackson Photography. I’ve learned so much and there’s still so much to learn, but I wouldn’t change it even in the moments when things aren’t going as I’d like them to. I’ve been able to meet and work with so many amazing people, who don’t know how much they’ve helped me on this journey, like they’re the real MVPs I offer portrait and event photography with natural light and strobes. I like to branch out here and there also, since I’d like to have experience in other types of photography also. I’m probably one of the easiest people to work with, I’m friendly and strive to make sure my clients are happy and comfortable. I’m most proud of constantly stepping out of my comfort zone and continuing to grow in my craft, I love when my clients tell me how in love they are with their photos and how they can’t wait to book another session, like it really motivates me to continue working at what I love even at times where I start to question myself and whether I should stick with it being there are soooooooo many amazing photographers out there.

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.

I feel that non-creatives often don’t understand all of the work and fund that goes into photography before, during, and after a session. We don’t just take the photos and that’s the end. First we have to purchase all of the equipment which is a huge expense in itself and all of this usually before we’re actually making any real money. Thennnn there’s all of the time spent learning how to use the equipment to get the desired results, followed by the hours of editing, which we also had to learn and continue to learn to improve among other things. Trust me we’re not trying to take all of your money, but we’d also like to reap the rewards of our hard work, so please don’t scold or insult us because you feel we’re charging too much. We completely understand that it may not be in your budget or what you feel we should be charging, but in the end we have to do what’s in the best interest of us otherwise we’ll no longer enjoy doing what we love which ends up taking us away from those who enjoyed or looked forward to enjoying our services or seeing our work.

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

The most rewarding thing to me are the feelings and emotions that my photos can evoke. I love when someone can look at their photos and see the beauty that so many others have seen, but they just hadn’t been able to see themselves. I love when special moments between a couple, family, friends and so on are able to be frozen in time to be enjoyed later on. So many people leave this earth daily and their loved ones realize that they don’t have any photos of them or no recent photos of them to remember them by, this is one of the reasons why I really enjoy photographing family events and just any event with people who love and care for each other. I enjoy knowing that I captured that moment for them especially the ones that they don’t realize I’m capturing.

Contact Info:

• Website: fefejacksonphotography.pixieset.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fefejacksonphotographyllc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FefeJacksonPhotography