We were lucky to catch up with Betsy Botsford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Betsy , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

I got the idea of starting Point of Light Photo a long time ago when I was 15 years old. I was visiting Seattle. It was my first time in the “big city.” As a small town girl from New Mexico I was blown away by the culture and energy of the city. But along side the glamour and excitement was the sad underbelly of city life: homelessness.

After a sumptuous and luxurious lunch at Pike’s Place Market, we left the restaurant feeling satiated and happy, only to step out and find a homeless person lying in the gutter outside. My heart broke. I didn’t understand all the complexities of homelessness at 15 years old, but I understood the pain. I vowed that when I was older and had some financial stability I would do something to help.

Point of Light Photo is my answer. I have always been drawn to the power of photography. The amazing way one can capture a moment of light, a moment in time in a photograph and then bring it home to relive and share with others. I chose to become a physical therapist for a living but I was out with my camera photographing all the time. It was my time to feel whole and alive. I shared my images with everyone I knew. I was proud of them.

A friend of mine said “you should make a calendar with your images.” So I did. The first one was a challenge to put together both because of the physical task of creation but also as a mental task. I was not sure it would sell. It highlighted all my fears of inadequacy. But it did sell! My first Calendar raised over $310.00 just through word of mouth. It was validating that what I was creating was worthwhile to others besides myself. I figured if I was going to photograph no matter what, and I didn’t need the money for myself I could do something really worthwhile with it. That first year all the money went to the homeless shelter in Las Vegas, NV where I was living. It felt so good to do something with the money that eased some of the pain for another person.

I chose to name the business Point of Light Photo for a number of reasons. The first and foremost is that my mother Maria taught me that a meaningful life is a life given in service. This echoed the idea of the “1000 Points of Light Initiative” of President George H.W. Bush. During his administration, President Bush formally recognized more than 1,000 volunteers as “points of light.” He advocated that “points of light” demonstrate how “a neighbor can help a neighbor.” I was inspired by this idea and formed Point of Light Photo to help extend human-kindness to people experiencing homelessness, people who are largely invisible and shunned in our society. I have since expanded my philanthropic efforts to not only serving the homeless population but also to animal rescue organizations.

Each year I have been able to find more and more people who are excited by my ideas, more and more people who love my work and love the idea that if they purchased a print from me some good would be done with the money.

Last year the money raised from the sale of my photography supported Project Street Vet, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit public charity that provides free veterinary care, treatment, and support to the pets of individuals experiencing homelessness and/or housing vulnerability. I also donated money the “Homeward Hounds” program of Roist-Hurst Humane Society in Grand Junction Colorado which provides emergency housing for homeless people who are denied entrance into the shelter because they have a pet.

I am hopeful for the future of Point of Light Photo. I hope that my work will be seen and appreciated by thousands of people. I hope when someone purchases a print from me, they purchase the work not only for the beauty of the image but for the beauty of human-kindness and the idea that we can do better, we can be kinder, that together we can create a gentler world in which the pain of homelessness and animal abuse is a much smaller footprint.

Betsy , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have taken many many “personality tests” which show I am equal parts Left and Right brained. This leaves me with a very analytical mind that thrives in a medical career. I do well with diagnostics and logical deduction. But I get bored. I need to create. I need to explore things that are not linear but expansive and expressive.

This is where photography comes in for me. I am a lousy artist if I have to draw or paint, but the camera becomes a vehicle for me. It is less a tool, but rather an extension of my heart where I can find beauty. I can be alone in nature with a moment of light and the quiet of the onset of evening and create an image that is the essence of the moment.

I suppose if I am honest my photography is no different than many, many others. I find beautiful moments in nature to take home and share. I try to capture the expansive, amazing beauty of Colorado and the desert southwest as do many other photographers. The difference is my mission.

I am not selling my photography to make money for myself. I use the money from the sale of my photography to donate to homeless shelters, organizations that work towards helping homeless people and their pets, organizations that rescue and provide medical treatment for abused, neglected and abandoned animals.

Currently I offer prints on my website and am represented in the Starr Family Gallery of the Grand Mesa Arts and Events Center in Cedaredge Colorado. I am really proud of the impact I have made already. I hope the effort will grow and my work can make an even bigger influence in the world.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I picked up a camera in college taking Photography 101. It was a fun class, an exploration into learning something new and something creative. It was a time of great passion for me. I traveled to Australia and photographed every day of the experience. I found a book of nature photography while in Tasmania that sparked a desire to create the same type of thing in my local area. It was fun to do and fun to dream about photography but it didn’t have a life of it’s own. It lived as a dream in my mind.

The big pivot came in late 2016 when I found out I had basal cell carcinoma on my scalp requiring a surgery. Two weeks after finding this out, my boyfriend, Nick Shockley, was killed in a motorcycle accident. I underwent the surgery alone which was much more aggressive than I thought it was going to be. I had to have the top of my head shaved bald for the surgery. I was left with a painful wound on my scalp, my face swollen and bruised, and a broken heart from the death of Nick. Four months later my mother died. I just couldn’t take any more.

I picked my camera back up to just find something to do instead of getting swallowed by grief and self-pity. This “pivot” changed my life. I found a purpose again. I found peace in the wild spaces of nature. I found a well of energy inside of me that allowed me to create and I found Point of Light Photo as a way to change the course of my life.

Now Point of Light Photo takes up most my free time but in the most joyous way. It drives me to get out of bed in the morning, to create images and to create this business, this philanthropy, to grow the influence of the dream in my head. It has changed my life and added to my life in a way I never expected.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is both a blessing and a curse but as a business owner it can’t be ignored. Social media can really be demanding of your time but is worth spending the time if you spend it in the right places.

Art requires a great deal of creative energy and is therefore not a low end product. I have found that apps such as TikTok and Instagram have a younger audience who generally do not have the money for big art purchases. For that reason I focus my attention on Facebook. The audience of Facebook is generally older, more affluent people. Facebook ads can be targeted to find those people

Algorithms will drive your online presence. The algorithm requires daily posts in order to be seen. So I post every day. Luckily for me sharing my images is the joy in the process. I love to have people see a new image. I love to interact with people who connect with my work. I have built many relationships with people who initially just liked my photographs but now are friends of mine, friends that I talk to on social media weekly if not daily.

I do also post in many Facebook groups. I try to find groups that will have members that are interested in nature photography, Colorado photography, mountain and desert photography. This allows me to reach new people and hopefully grow deeper relationships with those people.

I invite people to join my mailing list and I email regularly with updates, behind the scenes videos and newest images. My email subscribers get first dibs on sales, promotions and insider VIP images that I do not share to social media. Quarterly I do a free print giveaway which helps to build that email list.

It is not a one size fits all approach. I try to get my work out in to as many places as I can on Facebook. It is a consistency over intensity approach. Daily effort yields strong results when done consistently over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pointoflightphoto.com
• Instagram: @pointoflightphoto_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063487361741
• Youtube: @betsybotsford9719

Image Credits
Betsy Botsford, Point of Light Photo