We were lucky to catch up with Carmea Lawrence recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carmea, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

A friend of my partner’s had just started a small business selling lip gloss, and she asked if I could take some photos for her site. I was so nervous because I had never done product photography before, and I hadn’t even begun to think about pricing, but I was very excited. We discussed the branding colors, details of her site and more. We exchanged $50 for the shoot, and I asked if she could bring me 2 samples of each product, so I had some items to work with. I started researching how different companies marketed their products in their photos and tried to figure out what I could create on my next to nothing budget. I found some iridescent reflective craft paper from my local dollar store, tape, mini mirrors, and used an old set of tabletop lights to create as many images as I could. I played around with different angles that I thought would make the products stand out against the backdrops I chose. After 5 days, I delivered 34 images to my first client. She was so happy when I sent them! I think I was a little surprised myself that she like them so much, but I was proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and try something new.

Carmea, 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?

Hi there, my name is Carmea, or Mea :) I like to call myself an aspiring freelance photographer because I am still gaining new skills and knowledge almost every day. I currently practice mostly portrait photography. I was introduced to media arts in high school, where I took a video broadcasting class in an attempt to learn more about our school’s news program back in 2014. I learned how to record, upload and edit videos for various projects. I put the camera down until about 2018 when I invested in my first DSLR camera, the Canon Rebel T7. Over the last 5 years, I’ve practiced photography as a hobby because I initially did not think I was very good at it. As I have been learning more about my craft, I have learned to be proud of my ability to make clients feel comfortable and confident to be themselves during our sessions. I like to make sure that my clients are having fun, and I’m open to new ideas. I always let my clients or mentors know if I’m unfamiliar with a project, however I will do the research needed to learn that skill and try to accomplish to the best of my ability. I want people to know that I am always up for a challenge because no matter what, I take every opportunity as a learning opportunity. I try to take every opportunity I can to learn and collaborate with other creatives so I continue to build my network and skills.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

So I want to respond to this a little differently. For me, I’ve always felt like I was a non-creative, and at times I still do, so I continue to struggle through my journey to reassure myself that I am more creative than I give myself credit for. I started to notice a change in my thought processes when I started spending more time with my partner and watching her work process when she’s designing. I noticed that instead of doubting herself and her ideas, whenever she has an idea she gets really excited and will not stop thinking about it until she has completely written it down or created a mockup of whatever the project is to make it come to life. She will rework the idea over and over again, sometimes completely stressing herself out until she figures it out. After watching her process, I started to think about how I could apply this to my photography. I struggle with not feeling like I can fully bring my thoughts to fruition because I don’t know where to start. I will get an idea but talk myself out of it due to a fear that I won’t execute this correctly. Instead of talking myself out of it, I’ve started jotting down every idea that pops in my head even if it isn’t completely thought out and do research on how other creatives achieve their results of similar projects. I’ve started going back to the basics to learn basic photography skills like light mapping, how to plan a shoot from start to finish to be more organized, and how to better understand the client’s vision. I’ve always had to step out of my comfort zone to put myself out there to find other creatives to work with and start promoting my work more as I continue on my journey.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I would have known about more resources like AdoramaTV, B&H Event Space, Phlearn, and other creatives on YouTube when I was first getting started. I know, I know… it’s a little cliche, but YouTube University really can be a great resource for you. I’ve learned so much from creatives like Phloshop and Jessica Kobeissi to name a few. I wish I would have taken more advantage of TFP groups (Time For Print) while I was still in a larger city, as there would have been more opportunities to try creative projects with different people and build a larger network. Trying to find these opportunities in a smaller city can be harder than it seems when there are a lot of people who already have established clientele and networks of creatives they prefer to work with. One last thing that I’ve been having fun learning about recently is tethering my camera to either my phone or laptop during sessions. I’ve still been learning to get the hang of this, but it makes it possible for me to do my own portraits if needed or have better visibility of my work before post production. I’ve been working on having to do less work in post production so this has been really helpful for me to learn what to fix in camera while I’m still onsite with the client rather than working harder during the editing process.

Contact Info:

• Website: clphotography027.pixieset.com
• Instagram: Instragram.com/Clphotography027
• Facebook: Facebook.com/clphotography027

Image Credits
Columbia High School Prom 2023 Maynard Jackson High School Prom 2023 @camsbraidbeautique_ Upstate Pride Festival 2022 @UpstatePrideSC | @freemomhugsofsc | @freemomhugs Middle Georgia State University Graduation Spring 2023 @_jadedaj_ Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority Inc, Greater Garnets Alumni Spring 23 Beta Class IG: @greatergarnets1952 | IG: @gammasigmasigma