Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Spencer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

I think my passion for photography is what drew people to trust my artistic eye. I began in middle school when my Mom gave me her digital camera for a photography competition. My school offered one class to prep for the competition and I just, sort of, never put the camera back down. I joined Yearbook in high school and planned styled photoshoots as a hobby. The awesome thing about having a big family is roping them into whatever hobby I’m interested in at the time, so naturally they modeled for me. I had friends model, too, and that’s how I built my portfolio. Photography wasn’t work, it was fun and I loved the positive feedback. My first paying client wanted her son’s senior portraits re-edited to include lyrics to songs. At the time, this was very popular and I was so excited to work on them to eventually post on my socials and blog. My friends, family and friends’ families all saw my passion for photography and encouraged me to pursue it by participating in it with me, and it made all the difference.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hey, everyone! I’m Julia, owner of Jewels Photography StL. I’m a St. Louis based traveling photographer, wife, Mom and coffee addict with a big personality and ample equipment. I pride myself on my abilities to command a room, be gentle and patient during a child’s tough moments, problem solve and multitask which are all reasons why you want me behind the camera for your event or portraits. I provide high quality, digitally edited images for a myriad of occasions.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

If you’ve known me or have followed me for awhile, you’ll know that I recently got married and have been posting a lot with my now husband/business partner, Matthew. It all started in the Spring of 2021. I was honestly in the trenches of life. Covid took my job, my best friends all moved away and I was just dumped. I was down bad and spending every waking moment in the gym or using art to be my creative outlet. In early March, I decided it was time to try and get back out there, make some friends and start re-entering society as it opened back up. I touched base with a girl that I had a few college classes with via Instagram and we made plans to workout together to catch up on a brisk, springtime Saturday morning. We went to cyclebar and ended up at brunch afterward for 4 hours which turned into dinner, then going dancing plans which turned into brunch Sunday. We spent the entire weekend having an absolute blast. A week later, we were on the road to Colorado to visit her brother. Matthew and I hit it off immediately and quickly fell in love, spending much of our early relationship long distance. A year later, we found out that I was pregnant and he moved back to St. Louis which is when he began helping me on photoshoots. I taught him how to use the camera and he picked it up quicker than I could have ever dreamed that he would. He has such an eye for composition and framing! I was immediately impressed with his skill and have made him my official second photographer! Meeting him has made my life sweeter in every way, and I absolutely love that he enjoys being creative as much as I do. We are so looking forward to working together with St. Louisans in 2023!

Any advice for managing a team?

My best advice is have high expectations and expect great work, but also keep that same energy in the grace and understanding department. If the leader of a project has a good attitude and knows how to gently correct frustrations, miscommunications or lack of great attitudes, it makes a huge difference in how the team responds. Sometimes things go amiss because life happens or people get emotional and it’s imperative as a leader to maintain a peaceful, fun and productive atmosphere. This advice can be applied to client photoshoots as well. Sometimes the kids act up or the bridal party is awkward in front of the camera. The high expectation that I have is that no matter the situation, I will produce great work and take images that these families will cherish forever. The kids might need a break to explore the rocks on sight and the bridal party might need a song to sing to the bride and groom, both are great opportunities to take candid photos. Be flexible and understanding, be prepared with prompts to work the environment in your favor and maintain a positive presence.

Contact Info:

• Website: jewelsphotographystl.com
• Instagram: @jewelsphotographystl, instagram.com/jewelsphotographystl
• Facebook: @jewelsphotographystl, Facebook.com/jewelsphotographystl
• Other: TikTok @jewelsphotographystl

Image Credits
Jewels Photography StL