We recently connected with Bailey Patterson and have shared our conversation below.
Bailey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
Documenting the lives of others through photo and film can be a real blessing. I sometimes forget how powerful our jobs as visual creatures and storytellers are. One story that really impacted me was a client story that happened recently. A client had reached out to me asking to schedule a family photo session. But there was a small bump in the road, the entire family was visiting from out of town and would only be together for a couple of days. I knew this photoshoot meant a lot to them. So, we moved schedules around and made it work.
During the shoot, I really connected with the grandparents. They were so kind, soft spoken, sweet soul types. They were the center of attention that day. The grandkids sitting on their laps, laughing, smiling, the whole bit.
A few days later, I sent over about 20 sneak peeks (I was a littllleeee excited how they turned out!). This is what the client responded with, “Hi! So I just wanted to send another thank you for the photos. They turned out so beautifully and everyone had such a great time with you. Our mom and grandma love the photos as well and are glad we did them, because we unfortunately lost Grandpa late Monday night. I’m so grateful we were able to connect and capture some of these memories with the family. This picture is truly a great photo of Grandpa and I just wanted to say thank you again”
My heart went out to that family. We continued to chat more about Grandpa and how wonderful it was that we were able to preserve those memories before it was too late. Stories like this continually give me a newfound appreciation for the limited time we have with our loved ones and what a blessing it is to do what I do.
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?
Hi there! My name is Bailey Crawford Patterson and here’s the story of how I became a full time photographer and filmmaker.
I was in my first year of college when my good friend, Josh, taught me how to play guitar. We began filming our music sessions with talk of someday performing live at the local open mic night. He passed away in the winter of 2014. After that, I cherished those videos we created and vowed to really start documenting my life. I started traveling and filming my experiences. When I came back to the states, I enrolled in film school.
Now, I specialize in portraiture, wedding photography, studio portraits, in the photography relm and music videos, weddings, short films, sports highlights in the videography relm.
I am proud to have gotten my degree in filmmaking and I truly pride myself on being a sentimental story teller.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
When learning the mechanics of filmmaking and photography, you are told about all of these rules that you are encouraged to follow in order to create “quality” art. However, I tell my mentees, learn these rules, master them. Because once you do, you can break them. And that is when real art is made.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I took a lot of courses on how to grow my social media organically. There are really helpful tips like: establish your brand (colors, vibe, characteristics, topics, verbiage), then stick to that brand. Are you here to make people laugh? Do people follow you to be educated or to find inspiration in your adventures? Establish yourself and your brand, then continue to show up for your audience! Be uniquely you and be consistent.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.baileycrawfordmedia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey.crawford.media/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baileycrawfordmedia/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Vyf6pzYmjvH43-iN6Z8cg
- Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/baileycrawfordmedia
Image Credits
Featured Models: Jeremiah Davis/Uplifted Creative, Sadie Eaglin, Jaejae + Chason Aguilera, KO, Emily + Dailin Keith, Tatum + Eurial Soto, Macdermid Designs, Elithea + T Domingo