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

Hi Devin, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents instilled great values in me from the get go.

One of the first lessons I remember learning from My mom is to not steal. We were at the grocery store around Christmas time. They had candy canes on the counter right near the cash register and my 7-year old brain thought that they were free, because at the bank they give out free lollipops, it only made sense to me! As we walked back to the car, my mom asked me where I got the candy cade from. I told her where I got it from and she instantly march me back into the store and made me bring it back to the cashier and apologize for stealing. I never stole again and had a good lesson in integrity that day as well. What has stuck with me most is what my mom told me: integrity is how you act when no one is looking, which has been a huge deal to me since childhood.

My dad taught me a lot about service. He was always the first person to raise his hand and offer support when a friend needed to move, needed help on a hunt, or there was a charity golf event amongst other things. He was always giving back to our community, his family, and his friends. To this day, serving others is something I thoroughly enjoy doing as well.

I strive to be honest, loyal, charitable, generous, and demonstrate integrity every day, and those values were given to me by both of my parents.

Devin, 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?

Photography is truly a passion for me. It’s a way to express my creativity while being able to help my clients capture memories that are going to last a life time.

I do portrait and small event photography. Which means that I work with families, graduates, newborns, couples, and even shoot some small wedding and elopements, but I really enjoy working with business owners and boudoir clients most.

Working with business owners: I partner with East Valley Real Producers and have met so many incredible real estate industry professionals who I’ve built working relationships and partnerships with. I’ve been able to create content for them and offer gift cards for their clients when they close on a new home. I’ve collaborated with hair stylists, estheticians, dog groomers, and other business owners to create photos they can use for advertisements and social media content, and love finding creative ways to showcase their businesses!

Boudoir: helping women feel empowered and happy in their own skin is something I could and would do every day. I am pretty much a professional hype woman! I emphasize showing off the REAL you. Curves, dimples, freckles, cellulite, wrinkles, uneven skin tones, scars, etc. are something that ALL of us can relate to in some fashion and instead of performing photoshop surgery on your body, while capturing your photos, I empower you and help you love the body you’re in!

My business began in my sophomore/junior year of high school where I learned how to use a film camera. Soon after I purchased my first DSLR and started doing photos for my friends and family members. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I really started taking this business seriously. I invested in better equipment, better software, and better systems that could help me stay organized and create questionnaires, contracts, and invoices for clients!

Being a professional photographer is an investment in yourself and your talent and it’s so rewarding when you click that perfect shot.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Many photographers do model calls, trade for print/photos (TFP), and “free” shoots to create new content, gain clients, and to have creative freedom that we don’t always get with paying clients. I hadn’t done them often before last year, because I didn’t think I had the time or energy to put into it, and it hadn’t really paid off for me prior.

Last year around Halloween time, I put out a model call, an all black outfit shoot where I brought masquerade masks. I thought that I could create some content for Halloween that wasn’t gory. Hailey and Mike were the couple I selected, they showed up to the shoot and we created some incredible rooftop images of them and they wound up purchasing more digital images. I already was so happy about that, and thought that was successful in itself. I’ve since worked with them several other times and am now shooting their wedding in 2023!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think that because there are an influx of what we call “mom-togs” or hobbyist photographers, the general public doesn’t place value on true photographers sometimes!

I love the creative side of photography, but this is a business for me as well. This business helps me be able to afford my family’s lifestyle. I have created contracts and in depth questionnaire’s for all of my clients to utilize for shoots, I have processes in place that I use to stay organized, and I come prepared with poses and prompts for all of my shoots to make our time efficient.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.DevinNicolePhotography.com
• Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/devinnicolephotography
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/devinnicolephotography