Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anthony Morrison Jr. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anthony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
7 years ago I set off to discover something I wasn’t even looking for..
It’d be real easy to say I started in a traditional way, you know, I had this idea and then “ this is how I laid it out ” but that just wasn’t my journey..
My background is in information technology this set a secure foundation for me in a lot of ways as regards to client management, customer service and communications, but IT left a creative void so just like most other people I thought maybe I could get this fulfilled on the weekend with some sort of extra curricular activity?.. When those avenues didn’t exactly either fit with my lifestyle or work, I dug deeper and it begin with a birthday gift from my wife.
I initially asked for the camera to take a few fun photos for the family but I would have never imagined a simple but thoughtful birthday gift like a camera would have turned into a lifelong passion. Her gift awakened something inside of me that I never even was looking for. This taught me that unintentional miracles often a-cure without warning.
Over these last 7 years, this simple hobby has morphed into a creative outlet that I am absolutely in love with, and grateful to be able to share with our amazing couples. I say it all the time, but if I wasn’t paid, I would do this for free. Executing this dream involved a few practical steps though,
#1 Developing something unique a to bring to market.
#2 Investing in education to further the business side of your art.
#3 Learning tools/strategies that enable you to continue to grow your quality of service in order to continue to live out your art.
realistic goals are key.
I guess if I had to offer one gigantic piece of advice, I would say don’t have a way that you think it’s gonna go, get busy and things will start to unfold in front of you. It’ll be amazing.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
At the heart of what I do is offer a unique, dynamic, photographic experience to couples. I believe your wedding is different from everyone else’s in the world, so your images should be the same. I work completely dynamically incorporating the specific elements of your day into a stress free, seamless photography experience.
Im only one half of what makes AMJPhotography, my wife Catherine is the heart of everything we do! Not only has years of marriage made us connected but also Intrinsically in-sync for our couples
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Our desire is to deliver an exceptional and seamless service which creates a stress-free environment so they can be present and enjoy they’re day!
How do we do this?
Well firstly we understand not everyone is super comfortable with the photographic process so building connections is KEY for us! We start by creating honest, genuine connections with our couples as friends, understanding their fears, worries and concerns and wiping them away by showing them a proven process that so many of our couples have enjoyed.
Secondly.. we steal them away for a date-night, Luxury Engagement Session, complete with champagne! 🍾🥂
These are few are few things we we do to build connections and trust wayyy before anyone picks up a camera.
Catherine and I believe that your session prep begins the moment you meet us or visit our website or check out our family Hijinx on social media! We believe that building connections builds confidence, allowing you to be your authentic self when it does come time for your photo to be taken!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Throughout my photography career, I’ve had to learn and unlearn a few things one of the key fundamental things I had to unlearn is having a way that I think things should go! When I arrive on a wedding day. I now understand that our day isn’t determined by what we feel or think it’s determined by what actually happens. Life in general can be this way you can either go with it or push against it and what we found is that when we go with the flow of the day and allow it to naturally unfold, it produces some of the more interesting and unique images. Some of the more beautiful images Ive created have been five seconds left on the clock metaphorically. We used to push for more of a rigged structure less of the dynamic moments emerged ; not that structure is bad but what we have found is that if you allow the day to unfold it produces more natural and dynamic environments, allowing for some of our most creative work.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Trust
Honesty
Transparency
Consistency
Building a reputation is key. It can actually be a form of currency. Trust is reputation as far as we’re concerned. For us trusting can be the key difference to getting amazing images. Honestly and transparency with my clients is also a major component. One of the things that helps build a good reputation is by being consistent. Consistency really gives people an opportunity to see a true representation of your evolution, everyone has a trajectory and with consistency you as well as a potintal investor or client can better evaluate your trajectory within your market as well as even something as simple as what to expect from your services.
Contact Info:
- Website: AnthonyMJr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonymjrphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnthonyMJrPhotography/
Image Credits
@AnthonyMJrPhotography