We recently connected with Camille Rodden and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Camille, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Throughout my early adult years, I’ve had countless business ideas ranging from being a photographer to opening a boutique to crafting homemade soaps to designing stickers. The thought of pursuing any of them was overwhelming. I knew I would have so much to learn and so little to invest in startup costs. I had always had an interest in photography but did not consider myself tech savvy and the moment I messaged a photographer asking for advice I panicked as I read “you should start with doing some research on DSLR and Mirrorless cameras”. I left it at that and moved on to the next idea. I was horribly indecisive, constantly coming up with new business names, heavily researching my ideas, and then scrapping it all entirely only a few weeks into each business plan. Years went by and my interest in photography was renewed when I met my wedding photographer, Brit, and began closely following her on social media. She offered internships under her business Little Daisy Photography, where she would teach her interns everything they needed to know about business and photography and I desperately wanted to learn. So I took the first steps. My mother in law had gifted me an old camera and I began practicing shooting in manual by taking pictures of the birds in my backyard.
It was spring of 2022, I was only 24, and you would think I had it all. A fun new hobby, a stable well paying job, a healthy 401k, my Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, no student debt, married to to the love of my life, two cute dogs… from the outside looking in I had the perfect life. But realistically, that corporate job with all the benefits a person could want, was slowly killing me. My mental health was in the gutter and there was nothing more I hated than showing up to work everyday spending 8 hours straight answering an endless queue of calls. It was not rare to spend moments so burnt out that I was fighting back tears struggling to get through the final hours of my shift. It was a highly competitive “career” with little room for growth, no matter how many times you were told otherwise. I couldn’t see myself working there much longer, let alone retiring from it someday. Not to mention it wasn’t even my dream job. I wasn’t sure what my dream job was, to be a photographer or something else…. but it certainly wasn’t working in a corporate call center. All I knew was that ever since the 8th grade, I’ve wanted to be a business owner so I became one and with that decision, Through Camille’s Lens was born.
Shortly after launching my business, I transferred positions and began working in retail sales with the same company. It was a refreshing change of pace and seemed to work great with my preferred business hours. That summer I got my first paying clients and began to grow my following on social media. I was so happy to have a business that was slowly getting off the ground and relieved at the affordable startup cost. Later that fall I applied and was accepted to Brit’s internship. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I spent two years by her side interning and second shooting at weddings all over the West Coast. I was getting more and more confident with my photography skills and I was consistently booking clients. Everything was going great until my 9-5 job got in the way. After a whirlwind of management changes our store ended up in chaos and everyone got stuck with schedules that were beyond inconvenient. I got put on a weekend closing shift in the end of summer and if you’re a photographer, you know that that is the thick of busy season and the best time of day for sessions. I was constantly having to use PTO, trade shifts, schedule out or turn away clients. After the management changes curated a toxic work environment I decided that was the last straw and I took a risk. I left my full time corporate job with benefits to work a part time job at a local coffee shop that would be flexible with my business hours. In the course of a year, I went from making as much as my husband to making minimum wage so that I could focus on my business. To no surprise, this was far from sustainable. I had to heavily rely on my husband for financial support and I have to give credit where it’s due, without him, I probably could not have done it. I am so grateful that he allowed me to pursue my dreams with minimal complaint.
Fast forward to June 2024 and I had I had recently given birth to my first child, my maternity leave was over and business was booming. I had decided to go full time on my own. I had spent the last two years working towards this moment, scaling my business and transitioning from one job to the next until I could do so. It was the biggest risk yet and no matter the outcome would make the biggest impact on our family. Balancing working from home while caring for my newborn daughter was a challenge I couldn’t prepare for, but I made it work. Like they all say, the months went by so fast and the mom guilt ate me alive as I often felt like I never stopped working. The remainder of 2024 was filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows as I was learned how to juggle being a businesswoman and mother. As 2025 kicks off I am so proud to say that I am doing the dang thing. I have weddings booked for the summer, inquiries rolling in, I have found my rhythm and my family is thriving. I took a risk and I have absolutely zero regrets.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Camille Rodden, I own Through Camille’s Lens and I am a wedding and lifestyle photographer based in Oregon! I photograph a wide variety of moments including but not limited to weddings, maternity, couples, families, seniors and more! Prior to starting my business I spent five years working in customer service and graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management. I always knew I wanted to own my own business but it took years for me to figure out exactly what type. After following her on Instagram, I began to highly look up to my own wedding photographer (turned mentor) Brit, the owner of Little Daisy Photography. When she did my grad photos I told her how I recently bought a camera off of Facebook marketplace and was thinking about starting a business. When Brit excitedly encouraged me to do it and then apply to her internship program to learn more, that was all it took. I registered my business with the state, downloaded all the software necessary, created a contract, and set up everything else I would need. And of course I applied to her internship. It was incredibly important to me that I had the experience necessary and wedding portfolio to show before I jumped into the wedding market. The internship provided me with just that. I learned everything from how to properly expose images during harsh light to what to do do when the grooms boutonniere is missing. At the end of 2024 I completed my two year internship with my mentor and the things I’ve learned have been priceless. Now that I think about it, it could very well be the thing that sets me apart from other photographers at similar points in their business. Experience is not an easy thing to gain. It takes time and effort, and even then you are constantly learning and growing. Throughout these last few years I’ve discovered my style, created a complete brand and a put together a beautiful portfolio. I feel very confident and comfortable in my skills as both a photographer and business owner.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
When you really get to the root of it, I would say giving clients a great experience and being genuine. I think it is so easy to treat people like a transaction or to have my social media look like a store front covered in marketing with no trace of a real person behind the brand. At least 80% of my clients start their session explaining to me that they have never had photos done before or that they are worried they will look awkward on camera. Being in front of a camera is a vulnerable thing, so I always make sure to hype them up and give plenty of compliments. I love seeing people’s confidence shine by the end of the session. It doesn’t stop there though. People want to connect and relate to you. To know that you have flaws too. I am constantly engaging with previous and potential clients on social media, specifically Instagram. I post stories of myself talking about all things personal and business, reply to other people’s stories, comment on posts, share posts, etc. I would say about 70% of my clients come from Instagram and the rest comes from word of mouth. It always surprises me when clients tell me that they found me through a friend or family. One year I had a senior refer me to so many of her friends and then her friends referred me to their friends. By the end of that year I did over 20 senior sessions and at least half of them found me through word of mouth. I really love senior sessions so I decided to create a special shoutout on my story for each senior on the day of their graduation. I got so many messages from them, they all loved it. Sometimes it’s as simple as that, sometimes it’s not. Now that I think about it, it is a bit challenging to narrow it down to one strategy. It’s just like the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. The same thing applies to these types of strategies, especially in such a competitive and saturated industry. You have to constantly be thinking about what you can do next and how to set yourself apart from your competition.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Motherhood, hands down. Everything I do is for my family. Don’t get me wrong, I would be doing photography whether I had kids or not, but I always envisioned myself having my own business so that I could choose when I wanted to work and when I wanted to be present with my family. I started my business in 2022 and ever since I’ve been racing the clock to leave my 9-5’s and go full time working for myself. I wanted to be able to support myself with the income from my business the minute I began having kids. I left my final part time job when I was 37 weeks pregnant with my daughter and took on sessions up until the week before I was due. I ended up going 10 days overdue and had my beautiful daughter on April 17th, 2024. Being a new mom and not planning for her to be born so far after my due date, left me with only two and a half weeks of maternity leave. I was fully booked for the month of May with my first session back being on May 4th. All of my clients were incredibly understanding and it wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own. I guess you could say that’s how serious I was about making it work and building my business. I wanted to hit the ground running; I was going into busy season and didn’t want to lose out on any opportunities. I told my husband to give me a year to try to make it work and he agreed. I am blessed to have an incredibly supportive husband who provides so, so much for us. I have to give credit where it’s due and say I most definitely could not be doing this without his support. I scraped by for the first several years and he carried a lot of the weight financially, and still does. But every month gets better and better. I’ve been able to stay home with my daughter the majority of the time while still getting work done while she independently plays, naps or after bedtime. We’re coming up on a year of me going full time and I am truly proud that I have made it this far. My new goal for 2025 is to continue to streamline my process for everything so that by the time we choose to add to our family I can be even more present.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://throughcamilleslens.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughcamilleslens/#
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/throughcamilleslens
Image Credits
All images taken and edited by myself, Through Camille’s Lens