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

Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I started by taking a class when I was in college. It was using film and you really had to pick your shots. My friend and I would go and explore downtown in the middle of the night looking for unique shots with fog and lamp light. It was there I learned to love photography, but my confidence grew working for a ministry called Many Hands for Haiti. I was their Admin and Marketing assistent, and frequently I would take snapshots from mission teams and need to edit them to make them marketable or usable for blogs, stories and such. You had a lot of varying skin tones from extreme light to dark in the brightest parts of the day. I learned a lot about what I didn’t like to edit.

Each trip I took to Haiti I learned more about my camera settings, particularly bringing my photos back to the states, eager to see them on my computer and realizing my settings were off in one way or another. After I left MH4H and started staying home with my kids, I started following photographers I admired on FB and IG. I decided, one day, to ask one of them if she did mentorships. That 10 hours with her was careering changing. I learned, in practice, why some settings were better than others, a better way to find the light and use the light, and a crash course in Lightroom (I had used Camera Raw with Mh4H). A year later I saw another photographer post about her workshop and again, after going there, the tools I learned how to use were amazing. That and the importance of social media. I learned that it’s okay to have a preference on what I shoot and to not accept projects that took away from my style and goal in my business.

The biggest obstacle I faced was confidence. There are SO MANY phenominal artists out there, and I just couldn’t figure out how to get there. What helped was going to in person trainings, after this I learned my lack of learning before was I just learn better in person. I had tried a few online classes and videos and they were somewhat helpful, but in person you learn techniques and ideas, and then go out and practice at a shoot with your mentor. Then you go back and play with the photos and learn some more.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well I am just a girl with a camera. Okay a bit more than that.

The reality is, I grew up with very low confidence in anything about myself. I had been bullied so much, I never believed I could be loved, or that I was beautiful. This belief crippled me for years. I would surround myself with beautiful things, subconciously trying to soak in the beauty with the hope it would rub off on me. Even when family and friends tried to build me up, it didn’t reach past the shell I was living in.

As I grew into my late 20’s, my worldview began to shift and transform. Instead of feeling this hopeless existence, I started to grow and see truths. I could get up and move. I could engage in conversation. I could learn a craft or skill. I could chase a dream instead of live in monotany. My husband came into the picture and pursued me even when I wasn’t interested. (In a sweet way not a creepy one!). It was hard not to fall in love with a man that loved so well and gently, who listened to my past and insecurities and responded with tenderness and love.

In our relationship, my career with MH4H, and then having kids, I started seeing the challenges we women face in our self worth. We look at our scars and are ashamed. We don’t see them and see a victory to a battle, but imperfection and something not desirable, something to be ashamed of. Our society pushes diet and fitness culture onto us teaching us that our bodies are a project to work on and only once we are complete will we be acceptable. But when I look through my camera, I see tender love from your man, and adoration from your children. When I see your scars, and your body, I see a life that your body has carried you through with love and grace, doing exactly what it was designed to do. Fighting illness, filtering toxins (environmental, emotional, physical), carrying children, loving your families, celebrating, grieving… we have LIVED this life, and it is worth notice, and tenderness and kindness.

So THIS is where my passion is. When you stand in front of my camera, I want to show you the woman you are, not the lies you have come to believe about yourself. I want to show you and your family as you are now, in the emotions, tenderness, joy, sadness… Your kids each have their own personalities: wild, tender, shy, sweet, diva, stunt devil… let them be them. Same with your man. Same with you. I will bring my camera, and gentle direction and LOTs of praise… you will leave filling lifted and joyful. And your photographs will be uniquely you.

When women come to me for a photoshoot, whether it’s for a Senior Session, Family Shoot, a Lift Your Soul Session, or a Love Story session, I provide a client closet that she is free to use. Clothing, is such an important part of setting the scene for your session, and helping you feel beautiful. It’s not required, but everyone who has used it, has loved it. My client experience is constantly expanding and growing as I learn more about business and what my clients desire.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I was a stay- at -hom mom running a small daycare to pay my student loans. A few friends knew I had done some photography and would have me do their family sessions here or there. While I liked the idea of doing photography as a career, I didn’t have the confidence, nor did I know how to start. So I just didn’t. Until a friend asked me to donate a session for a fundraiser.

There was a local mom in need, and I had a friend ask me to donate a session for the silent auction. I said I would, and she then asked if I had a name and photo she could use for it. My thought was, well if I am going to do this, I should do it right. So I came up with a name, and had a friend create a logo.

Around the same time, a close friend was getting married in Haiti and asked me if I could come. (this was 2020). It was also a year where we had dedicated to not travel and not do anything extra so we could pay off student loans. When I asked my husband, knowing she wouldn’t have many come to her wedding, he said, “If you fund it with photography, you can go”.

Well God definately heard that prayer, because after the fundraiser, people kept contacting me. I was able to upgrade one of my lenses and go to Haiti for her wedding, and grew in confidence! Maybe I CAN do this! The next spring is when I hired my first mentor.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

For months, several photographer friends kept telling me I should raise my prices. I was incredibly nervous to do it. Would anyone still book with me? Will anyone return? Will anyone new want to book me? Oh “Imposter Syndrom” can be daunting. Well, I had someone reach out and ask if I did senior sessions. I said I did, but I hadn’t yet created a place on my website to book them. So I quickly created one, and accidently priced it $200 higher than intended. Once I noticed, (right away) I went back to change it, and she had already book the biggest package at the higher price! It was so validating.

Then the next time I went on a trip to visit my home town, I met with two different friends who are not in the photography business. They are very business minded, and gave such sound advice mixing in with all the advice I had been receiving that year on prices, that it was my final nudge. I hired a business mentor and in 3 months, with her guidence, quadroupled my sales. Every change she asked me to make, was nerve racking, but slowly the way I saw money and business began to shift.

Take aways from all these inspiring people:

1. If you are so busy it’s hard to keep up, it’s time to raise your prices.

2. Are you in it for the money or are you in it for the long hall? If you are in it for the long hall, then turn down the things that steal your joy. (For me this was shoots that took away from the storytelling element that I love. It’s learning what I want to do and what I don’t and being okay saying no to the kind of shoots that cause stress. )

3. You don’t have to price your business inside your own budget. Decide who you want your clients to be, and then figure out how to make an experience that draws them in.

4. While free tools are nice, investing in your business pays for itself. My goal with ads was to get AT LEAST one booking. That would more than pay for the ad. More often than not, I got more than 1. Paying for a mentor, workshop, coach, also payed for itself within the same year. It’s worth it.

5. My first 2 years I didn’t take a paycheck but put it all back into the business. (minus the trip to Haiti) I learned this from a photographer friend, and it helped me grow and improve. Between equipment, website, ads, coaching, education, wardrobe, and random tools… it was needed. Now I am able to take a paycheck and still pay for those things with my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.withlightandlens.com
• Instagram: with.light.and.lens
• Facebook: With Light & Lens
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Headshot of me: Photos By Kelly Lynn, Franklin, TN