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

Becky, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

Mental health is very important to me. Our teens especially are in crisis. I donate a percentage of my high school senior sales to Bryson’s Chase https://brysonschase.org/ so they can help local kids and teens pay for the mental healthcare they need.

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

I began my business in 1999. I had first picked up a camera when I was a child. This was the time of film and I went through rolls and rolls to the dismay of my mother. I asked for a more “professional” camera when I was a freshman in high school. My grandmother bought me one and I had no idea how to use it! I asked my art teacher if he could help me and he did. I have been doing photography ever since. I started doing primarily doing weddings but, as the years went on I missed my weekends with my kids. I switched to just portraits in 2010. I primarily focus on High School seniors and boudoir. People ask why all the time as they are very different genres. However, I see them as similar in the fact that the people who have the most self esteem issues are women and teens. My purpose is to show the people I photograph how beautiful they are and to generate some self love for themselves.
I connect well with my clients as I am a real person who has experienced the same body and self esteem issues that they have.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My biggest lesson about being a photographer is to value your work! Many people feel that if you are self employed that you should be less expensive than the big corporations. This is especially true of creatives. Photographers and all creatives must treat their passion as a business. I know if can be hard when you love what you do! However, your passion business will fair if you don’t understand the cost of doing business and pricing yourself accordingly. When I started out as with so many in my industry, I based my pricing on what my collogues were charging. This is a path to disaster. You don’t know the circumstances that another is in to charge what they do. This can be a hard pill to swallow but, if you want to make a living at your craft, you need to charge accordingly.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to create beautiful images that show off what you love most about yourself. I want women and teens to embrace everything about themselves and stop comparing themselves to others. I give part of my earnings from High School senior sessions to Bryson’s Chase. They are a local non-profit that helps kids and teens pay for their mental health care. We have one of the highest teen suicide rates in the country and that breaks my heart. Learning acceptance for yourself and believing that you are worthy of love, especially from yourself is my mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.blackforestphoto.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/blackforestphoto
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blackforestphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blackforestphotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackforestpix

Image Credits
Black Forest Photography