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

Alright, Cheyenne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment that I’ve made in my photography business is, hands down, education. And when I say education, I don’t mean majoring in photography because I didn’t. I majored in Biology which is basically as far away from creativity as you can get. By education, I mean online courses, mentorships, in person lectures and photoshoots, etc.

When I got my first DSLR camera as a gift for my 30th birthday I only knew how to turn it on. I didn’t know the first thing about photography or cameras. But I had a drive to learn and to learn fast because my kids were growing up before my eyes. I found a course about learning how to shoot in manual mode and edit in lightroom and I dove in headfirst. Sure, I could have learned a lot of it if I relied on Youtube videos but my brain needs structure. My first online course gave me the knowledge of how to use and shoot my camera and how to edit in lightroom.

Then I enrolled in my first group mentorship with a photographer I admired. I felt really insecure because I hadn’t been shooting for very long but I knew that she was going to give me so much valuable and practical knowledge. She taught me literally EVERYTHING I know about how to run a business. This was, by far, the best investment I’ve made in my business. Learning directly from someone I admire. The other photographers that were in the course have become some of my very best industry friends.

Since then, I’ve invested in lighting mentorships where I have traveled across the country to attend, I’ve shown up to in person lighting courses here in Austin with editorial photographers and I’ve bought online courses with photographers who work for brands that I love. Every single time I’ve invested in my education (and my business), I have come out on the other side more confident and more successful with my clients.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like many photographers, I got into photography to take pictures of my kids. I grew up in a family where pictures were considered of vital importance so I knew that I wanted to capture memories of my own family as much as possible. What I didn’t plan on was how much I would love the art of storytelling through photography.

I came to crave the beauty of photographing both the chaos and stillness of motherhood. I love the candid moments of tickles and snuggles with children and their parents. The unique look of awe that brand new parents give their newborn baby. I love collaborating with business owners to represent their brands and the creativity I get to create with editorial models. The vastness of the spectrum of services that I provide is one of my favorite parts about being a photographer.

A lot of times you’ll hear “choose your lane and stick with it” but I just couldn’t ever bring myself to ONLY photograph families. Or ONLY photograph newborns or ONLY photograph for businesses. I enjoy the diversity and creativity that each type of session offers too much to only choose one lane.

One of the things that I’m most proud of is that when I work with a client, whether it’s a family a brand or a model, they almost always tell me how comfortable they felt infront of the camera. And I always take that as a huge compliment. I want people to feel like they are worth having their photos taken. Their lives are worth the investment of photos.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn being a perfectionist and I had to unlearn the “rules” of photography. I’m sure if you’ve ever heard of the rule of thirds then you know that there are specific compositions in photography that you’re supposed to follow.

At first, I thought I had to check every single box to ensure that it was a “good” photo. I thought that a beautiful photo meant that the composition was perfect, the editing was perfect, every face is in perfect focus. But I eventually came to recognize that, for me, photography is art and there is no such thing as perfect art. Families aren’t perfect and I want to be able to capture the essence of an imperfect family but yet has a strong bond and love for each other.

During any photoshoot, I’m not trying to capture perfection, I’m trying to capture emotion in all of it’s forms. I’m capturing a specific season of life for families. And I’m capturing a vibe for a brand. None of it has to be perfect to be beautiful and emotive.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Oh man. The pandemic was a huge setback for me. It was discouraging, like I’m sure it was for most people who are self employed during that time. I was grateful to have my husband’s job in tact but oftentimes, photography requires being in someone’s home or in a studio and that wasn’t really happening. So I had to get really creative with my photography. I offered photos of people infront of their homes to show what the pandemic was like for them. I stayed back while families would be on their porch, parodying their stashes of toilet paper and clorox wipes with kids glued to their devices and parents on their laptop just showing their current level of survival mode. It made for some interesting memories for many of these families.

So even though it was hard to get photography jobs during that time, we had to get creative and work with what we could. I’m grateful that I was still able to serve families in that way during the lockdown but that was definitely a stressful time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cheyennemorrisphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cheyenne_morris_photography

Image Credits
Cheyenne Morris Photography