We were lucky to catch up with Carleigh Lienemann recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carleigh, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think what it takes to be successful is determination and a strong will to follow your dreams. In order to be successful, you have to be okay with failure. Without failure, you’d never discover new ways to grow your talent.

Carleigh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Carleigh Lienemann and I am a destination and elopement wedding photographer based out of Texas. I have been in the photography industry since 2014, and finally went full time in January of 2022, it had been a long time coming. I started out in high school taking fun and unique portraits with my friends, as well as doing some branding and family shoots for people that I knew. I’ve loved photography for as long as I can remember and I kind of always knew that I was going to make a career out of it. I now am mainly a destination and elopement wedding photographer but I still do some other work on the side as well, like families, portraits, maternity and I love getting to do some boudoir. After trying out so many different styles, I’ve finally found a way to tell my story. I’d consider my style to be more of a documentary type. My goal is to get the more raw, candid type photos and less posed, however, I do make sure to throw in a couple of more posed styles for each client so they have many options to choose from. My goal is to make my clients feel as comfortable and confident as possible, and I’d like to say I’m very good at it. I always make sure to do my research on anyone who hires me before the session to check out their style and vibe so I know how to properly pose them doing their time spent with me. Throughout their session I will constantly remind them how great they look and am always showing them pictures from the session throughout the shoot, I know sometimes that’s frowned upon but I truly think it makes people warm up to having photos taken of them by seeing how they look during the session and if there’s anything they’d like to change or do different before it’s too late. After every session my clients always rave about how comfortable I made them feel and they always leave me the sweetest reviews, so thankful for them. 🥲 I also love uniqueness very much and try my best to make each session as unique and similar to the couple as possible. I send out a client questionnaire months in advance of a session to get to know them better and to help make the session as “them” as possible. I find out their hobbies, favorite drinks, foods, etc, so we can plan a unique experience. Whether it’s a pizza and wine picnic in the park, or snapping a couple of pictures of where they met, their first date, favorite bar , etc, I will try my best to make it happen. I want them to walk away feeling like they were on a regular date and I was just there in the background snapping some pictures.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The Oh Shoot podcast by Cassidy Lynn photography has truly been life changing. Each episode she talks about so many different things, she always brings in other photographers and entrepreneurs as well so we can learn so many different interesting techniques and things about running a successful photography business as well. She literally covers everything, from the business side, to editing tips and tricks in Lightroom and on your camera, to using flash, and making your clients have a great experience.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect in my business to me is the after affect of my work. Once the shoot is done, and they start to receive their sneak peeks and final galleries. It’s always worth it seeing how happy and emotional it makes people. I’ve had so many clients send me long paragraphs about how nervous and insecure they felt before their session and how the final results made them feel so great and how much they truly needed to do a session and didn’t even realize. I’m a big people pleaser and I just truly enjoy making everyone feel so great about themselves and helping everyone love themselves a little more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carleighraephotography.com/home
• Instagram: @carleigh_rae_photography
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/PhotographyByC.Rae

Image Credits
desertinbloomphotography on the image of me