We were lucky to catch up with Cayce Wagner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cayce, thanks for joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

I recently made a huge technical error with a clients photoshoot and shot all of their images in a format that was much too small for professional portraits. It was a honest human error, but it made me stop and question everything. Isn’t it funny that you can find so much success in life and business, but one failure is all it can take to send you down a spiral of believing you are not good enough? The images from this particular shoot were stunning and some of my very favorite since I began this journey 14 years ago. But the fact that I could go into a professional shoot and not know that my camera settings were off left me in a negative space. Creatively I have never been more confident in my photography. However, this made me stop and reevaluate all that I know about the technical side of things. So, after wallowing a bit in self pity and embarrassment, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and dug deeper into the technical side of things. I took online classes about the inner workings of my camera and all there is to know about file types. Of course, these are all things I have known about before and forgotten since. I give myself grace as I remind myself I am a creative. Those are the things that stick in my brain. I know that it will be a continuing education in the technical side of things for me to stay in tip top shape! There is always a lesson in failure and mine is that I cannot get too comfortable in my business. I have to always be learning and striving to be the best in EVERY aspect. Not just the ones that come naturally.

Cayce, 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?

I am a natural light family and high school senior photographer. I have had a profound love for photography since I was in college and over the years my hobby became my passion and now my career. I have been Cayce Wagner Photography for 14 years. The thing I noticed early on in photography was that it didn’t matter how beautiful the landscape or the backdrop was, I needed people in my photos. Human subjects added to my images way more than any mountain or ocean. So, naturally, I dove into family portraiture.

I love to help my clients freeze time and create memories that they can look back on for years to come. One of my very favorite aspects of this job is the relationships that I get to build with families and kids as they come back year after year. Watching them grow, their personalities take shape, and bonds that exist between them are my very favorite! I love to help families relax and feel their best and most confident so that shines though in each image.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Hands down the best source of new clients for me is a referral from current clients and a share on social media! We trust our peers, they become our influencers, and when they share something that they love we tend to believe them even more than a well planned advertisement. Nothing else that I do compares to the power of the word-of-mouth referrals!

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

The most rewarding part of being a photographer is finding what invokes the most authentic smile from a client. Sometimes it is as easy as a silly joke. Sometimes I have to dig deep. Either way, when I find it, I love that feeling. Photos should make people smile when they look back on those memories.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CayceWagner.com
• Instagram: cayce_wagner_photo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CayceWagnerPhotography