We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caroline Rose a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Caroline, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

If I’m being honest, photography sort of found me more than I found it. I was working as a barista for about two years and hated having to drag myself to a part time coffee shop job that I got no fulfillment out of besides a minimum wage paycheck. I kept thinking, “there’s gotta be a better way to make money doing something more interesting than making coffee that’s creatively fulfilling, doesn’t make me work 8 hour shifts, and makes me enouch money to cover rent and groceries and student loans.” Well, at the age of 20 with no college degree yet, there weren’t a lot of options that checked all of those boxes. I was in school pursing a degree in Acting, and started thinking about how when I had to get headshots done to turn into my industry class, how I had to save up money for a full month to be able to afford just a 2-hour photoshoot. And then it hit me- PHOTOGRAPHERS get to make their own schedule, get to meet new people and work creatively, and once they’re established they can make upwards of $600 in just one short photoshoot. So almost on a whim, I decided- this is what I’m gonna do, I’m a photographer now. I did a bunch of research and used half of my savings to buy my first camera. I always had an eye for photography, and studied lighting and composition and

My intention was NOT to become a headshot photographer (because I told myself headshots were boring and not creative enough), until I realized that I attended a school entirely of performers and actors who need headshots but are also broke college students and thought, it’s honestly stupid of me not to at least try taking actor headshots. So a few of my friends let me experiment taking theirs for free, and they turned out shockingly well, and before I knew it I had students all over campus requesting to pay me to take their headshots. I did a ton of research on lighting and portrait photography and began investing in better equipment. I charged less for my sessions than the other headshot photographers around LA, and next thing I knew I was doing up to 6 sessions every weekend and trying to fit in extras between classes throughout the week. In all honesty, I was shocked. I had REALLY not anticipated it to work out as well and as quickly as it did, but after only a few weeks I quit my barista job entirely and went full steam ahead into establishing my own photography business.

Only about a year and a half has gone by since I began earning my entire income as a photographer. Since then I’ve done nearly 200 headshot sessions and worked with many new creative friends on promo shoots for films, album covers, portrait shoots, editorial shoots, dance shoots, and so much more. I graduated college a few months ago with my BFA in Acting and a growing small business that allows me to create my own schedule to balance working as a creative photographer and pursuing my acting career. I have never felt more creatively fulfilled in my entire life. Don’t get me wrong, running an entire small business on my own is EXHAUSTING, but it’s taught the discipline to know that no matter how many screwballs life will undoubtedly throw at you, every artist has the power to create the life you want for yourself. You’ve just gotta be willing to take risks, fail, learn, grow, and utilize the creative friends you have around you, and you can accomplish a LOT more than you realize.

Caroline, 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?

Hey! I’m Caroline! I’m a photographer based out of Los Angeles specializing in headshots and portraits, with a passion for exploring the way photos can capture energy. As an actor first, I’ve always understood the power behind a visual medium and have become obsessed with discovering how to tell a story in a still image. Over the last two years I’ve been experimenting, learning, failing, growing, and have kept creating and it’s allowed me to build a life for myself that’s grounded in self expression and collaboration with other brilliant, passionate artists. In the coming year I have a lot of fun ideas that I want to try to push myself as a creative photographer, experimenting more with color, alternative lighting, capturing movement, and playing with digital visual effects. My favorite part about what I do is finding people to work with that love the mess of making art just as much as I do, taking chances and making bold choices in the hopes that we create something exciting together.

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

Of course there are always new advancements in technology, equipment, software and platforms that help us elevate what we do, and obviously I love learning and getting to know and play around with those things. But what I wish I would have realized sooner in my creative journey and what’s elevated most of my recent work is that the biggest resource we have as artists is each other. It sounds cheesy but it’s so true. I believe that in every creative medium, more minds are better than one. Everyone brings their own world perspectives with them everywhere they go, whether they mean to or not, and if you’re willing to utilize that, your results will often turn out way more interesting than what you might have done just by yourself. It also encourages you to get creative with the tools that you have. You don’t need to throw tons of money into getting the best equipment and rental spaces in order to make good art, just get a group of your artistic friends together and see what you can come up with using what you’ve got and chances are it’ll be a lot more fulfilling. It’s the teamwork of our industry that helps us thrive not only as artists but as passionate people and friends in a community, and that’s the resource I wish I began utilizing earlier in my journey.

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

I’ll be totally honest, social media has always been a challenge for me. I am someone that chronically overthinks everything I post, to the point that a lot of times I just give up and never post half of the things I intended to. But social media, especially Instagram and TikTok, have become really important marketing tools for me and I really encourage photographers to try to use them as much as they can. As a purely visual medium, it’s the fastest way to spread and share your work. When I started as a photographer, I made an account exclusively for my photography and if you are willing to post and share your work regularly, it’ll begin to grow itself. Like I said before, your biggest resource is the people around you. My following began with just my friends, and because they’re awesome and supportive, they began reposting my stuff and it gained more attention. I’m always sure to tag the people I collaborate with and take headshots with because then it becomes something we both share across social media and through simply posting and others reposting and hyping up their friends, word spreads. Now almost all of my marketing is done for me basically for free and has led me to so many cool new connections. I also encourage photographers to engage with your followers and encourage them to share their ideas. I did a giveaway a few months ago asking my followers to come up with unique portrait photoshoot ideas and would pick the top ones for a free creative session, and within minutes received so many cool responses and was able to work with some really awesome new people and create some of my favorite shots so far. I also plan to start sharing more of my process on TikTok and Instagram Reels, as I’ve always loved when other creators give us a glimpse into the behind the scenes that yield their final results. It’s not only a cool way to showcase your work, but also show a little more of who you are behind the camera because that is just as much a part of your art as what you create. Basically, the message is don’t be afraid to share! Even if it’s not perfect! It’s something I’m definitely still learning myself, but sharing our art is exactly why most of us make it in the first place!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carolinerose-photo.com
• Instagram: @carolinerose_photo

Image Credits
Caroline Rose Photography