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

Alyson, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I first started photography my freshman year of college. I did not know anything about cameras, posing, or photography in general. It all started off as a hobby and slowly turned into friends asking if I would take their senior or maternity pictures. With each session, I would look up Pinterest posing ideas and often try to come up with fun poses during the sessions. My passion continued to grow for snapping pics so I began to invest more time in learning about equipment, how to edit, and how to shoot in manual. I have learned that mentorships are a great way to learn from other photographers and YouTube is your bestfriend. There are so many helpful apps that can give you pointers on how to shoot in particular lighting and unique pose ideas.

Knowing what I know now, I think if I were giving advice to someone starting out, I would say offer to be a second shooter for sessions and weddings or even just go shadow someone during their sessions. Seeing people create and direct a shoot is so helpful and a great way to learn special tricks for when you are the main photographer. I think investing in a mentorship or spending time on YouTube is wonderful! Lastly, being consistent with marketing yourself will help you grow so much faster. Take photos of your friends, attend styled shoots, really anything that allows you to proactive and grow your confidence while giving you opportunities to create content will be so beneficial in the long run.

Alyson, 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 was first given a camera for my 18th birthday and used it everywhere I went. I took many of my friends senior photos, maternity sessions, and families holiday photos but was never super serious about creating a business. I usually just charged $20, if anything.

After I graduated from the University of Arkansas (woo pig!) with degrees in accounting and information systems, I moved back to DFW and got married to my husband, Michael. From there, lots of friends and family started to reach out asking if I still did photography. I continued my hobby, often shooting small weddings, seniors and family sessions, and started to charge a little more. My inquires and passion for photography continued to grow so in March of 2022, I officially launched Alyson Bazan Photography. Since then, my business has continued to grow and I have fallen in love with photography more than I ever though imaginable. I have found that I love taking photos of weddings, seniors, and editorial styled shoots the most. I constantly find myself building backdrops for my shoots or buying crazy dresses to make my vision come to life, so I decided to launch a second business in August 2022 called Fab Rentals. I now rent elegant wedding dresses, luxury gowns, backdrops, accessories, and more.

I never imagined that I would be a full-time corporate working woman with two side businesses but here I am, and I could not be happier! I get to work with some of the coolest people on the planet and create amazing memories everyday.

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

Personally, I have found the most rewarding aspect of being a creative to be that I get capture raw, unique, and once in a lifetime moments on my camera. I have captured weddings, baby announcements, couples, seniors, etc. and every single time I swear I shed tears. To be able to witness the pure joy and love that my clients experience is something I cannot put into words completely – it’s just beyond incredible. I absolutely love that I then take those precious moments and turn them into memories that they can forever reference on their phones and prints they put into their homes.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As humans, we are raised in an extremely competitive society – sports, fashion, jobs, salaries, etc. – everyone wants to be #1. I think something I have really had to unlearn as a creative (for my own sanity) is that we don’t always need to compete with one another and there isn’t always going to be a #1.

There’s a popular saying in the photographer community that says “Community over Competition” and I LOVE this saying. I apply it to every aspect of my life. I think it is so important to surround yourself with people that want to see you succeed and help you grow. I’ll say when I first started out in the business, I often could feel judgement and observed a lot of gatekeeping from other photographers but once I found my people, wow my job got so much easier and exciting. I have people to share stories, locations, and tips with. I don’t find myself constantly scrolling through other peoples feeds wondering how to replicate their aesthetic or questioning why I don’t have as many followers. I have shifted my brain to think about how I am growing and where I am headed rather than focusing on where others are at which I think is a very common thing that photographers do when they first start out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alysonbazanphotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: @alysonbazanphotos, @fabrentals_byabphotos
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/alysonbazanphotos, www.facebook.com/fabrentals_byabphotos
• Other: Google: Alyson Bazan Photography Pinterest: @alysonbazanphotos

Image Credits
Alyson Bazan Photography