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

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Growing up I always had an interest in photography. I always had a camera of some sort, but it wasn’t until I got older that I realized there was a difference between a professional camera (DSLR) and a digital camera (Nikon CoolPix for example). When I turned 20 I finally made the jump and purchased my very first DSLR, a Nikon D5200 and took an introduction to photography course at the college that I was attending. I ordered a whole starter pack & I thought I was good to go. Little did I know there was so much more to photography than just having a camera. As the years went by I started to learn so much more about lenses, equipment, different types of cameras, ect.

First starting out I started shooting nature scenes. I quickly got bored with that and ended up dropping off for a little bit. Eventually I picked my camera back up & knew that I really wanted to do something with photography & go somewhere big with it. One of my favorite artists, Anthony Green was playing at a local venue, so I decided to email his manager & ask if I could shoot the show – I got a yes. From there my journey started & it’s been a wild one & defiantly a struggle.

The first major show that I shot was Alison Wonderland at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado in 2021. I was over the moon as she is one of my favorite EDM artists. For my first major show I felt that I did a pretty good job. From there I continued to reach out to various artist contacts of all music genres. Being a brand new photographer & not having much experience doesn’t get you very many opportunities, but I kept going & I didn’t let anything stop me or pull me back – though there’s been many times that I’ve been discouraged or not treated well.

Being a photographer, especially in the music industry is a definite challenge. What many people don’t know is that we barely make money, if at all – especially starting out. You literally have to build yourself & work so much harder than someone whose already well established or has a connect of some sort in the industry already. I personally have started from the ground up. I’ve only been doing this for a solid 2 years & in those 2 years I’ve really made quite a name & reputation for myself. It doesn’t stop there, it never will. If you want something bad enough you have to continue to work at it & give it everything you’ve got.

Personally, photography is my absolute passion – & for me this is still the beginning. I’m nowhere near where I want to be & though I’m pretty inpatient & wish to see things moving quicker than they are, I still have to push myself & keep going. I feel like I’ve gotten pretty far in the span of 2 years & I’m excited to see what things look like & where I am in another 2 years.

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 back background and context?

As I mentioned in my last response, I officially picked up photography when I was 20 years old after learning about professional grade cameras compared to digital cameras. I was living in Chicago at the time & soon after moved to Philadelphia, living there for 9 months & shooting my first show (Anthony Green) at TLA Philly. After moving out of Philadelphia I moved to Denver, where this all really took off for me. After shooting Alison Wonderland I knew I really wanted to do something more with this & make this into a business, so I created A. Miller Photo. I kept that name for about 8 months & realized at some point I would probably want to pick up video. I rebranded into what I am now, Amanda Miller Media with the slogan “Your Photographer for Any Occasion”. Most photographers pick 1 maybe 2 focus areas – me on the other hand, I do it all. I don’t want to limit myself when I’m capable & love doing it all. I’ve shot almost everything you can think of: boudoir, engagement, newborn, wedding, pets, editorial, nature… & if I haven’t done it yet, I want to.

One of the biggest things that I think is specific to my services is that I really get to know my client – what are they looking for, what style do they like, how is their personality & I incorporate all of that into their session providing them with exactly what they’re envisioning as a final result.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Not long after I shot Alison Wonderland, a media outlet reached out to me via email – I was ecstatic. I agreed to come onto the team (with no pay, it was more so for exposure & to have a better chance of landing gigs). One of the restrictions with working with this outlet was that I wasn’t allowed to post my shots until they posted the article/gallery first. I understood this & to me it made sense. However after doing my first show with them & a week had gone by, my work still hadn’t been published. I went ahead & I posted a few shots on my Instagram page, still crediting that I shot for this specific outlet. Needless to say they weren’t happy (& neither was I). I ended up parting ways with this outlet as I could tell they took on way too much of a workload for a singe person to do. A little while after that I partnered with another outlet that has really helped my growth in so many ways. This outlet had been incredibly helpful in landing me some amazing opportunities, such as shooting for Lindsay Stirling & being able to work alongside Wooli.

Working with the first outlet I felt let down, disappointed, set back, unmotivated & like I’ve hit a dead end – but I always bounce back & I know that something better will come along, which it did. When one door closes, a better one opens. When the going gets rough you can either give up or keep going. I choose to keep going no matter what obsticles are thrown my way.

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

There are so many rewarding things about being an artist/creative – the first part I would have to say would be getting a session booked – an any aspect. Following that I would have to say it would be completing the session & seeing the work that I provided. & the last would be providing my work to the client & seeing them use my work or simply posting it on a social media platform & crediting me.

Contact Info:

• Website: amandamillermedia.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/amandamillermedia

Image Credits
Amanda Miller Media (I’m not sure if they uploaded, it looked like it was glitching – please let me know)