We were lucky to catch up with Christopher Montgomery recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

I’ve been a full-time photographer for two years now. I started photography as a hobby in 2015 taking photos on my phone. I took it seriously in 2017 when I bought my first professional camera. Even at that time, I had no thoughts of doing it full-time. I just fell in love with the craft, because I was able to use my gift of seeing.

Photography was never even actually on the radar when I got my first camera. I got it to work on a film project with some college friends. The project got put on hold, so I had a camera that I paid good money for and figured I should get some use out of it; so I started exploring photography. I was part of an employee resource group at my job at the time. After looking at their past event photos, I was certain that I could take much better photos. So I volunteered as an event photographer. Word quickly spread around the other employee resource groups, and I became the go-to guy for event photography.

Outside of work, I reached out to two of my entrepreneur friends and said “Hey, I have a new camera and just trying to hone my skillet and build my portfolio. Do you have any photo or video needs at the moment?” I ended up shooting a recap video for one of them and took some product shots for the other. They both really liked the work, and one even asked me how she could pay for the services. That’s when the thought of having a photography business was planted. Shortly after, I started posting some of my work on Instagram. Next thing I know, I had a photography business. I locked in my LLC that year to really make it official.

From the beginning, my business was always built on quality. My goal was and still is to provide the most quality images to my capability. It’s all about the value. I heard one of my clients say once, “Value always finds an audience.” That held true because I never really had to do much marketing to secure leads. I became a photographer that had really nice work, and people would always compliment me on the quality and how clean my images were.

From 2017 to 2020, I was shooting a lot; social events, corporate events, weddings, birthday shoots, headshots, maternity, newborn, graduation, etc. As you can imagine, I built a pretty solid portfolio. By 2020, it got to the point where the business got so busy, I would be working from home with my work laptop on the left and my photography laptop on the right. When it seemed liked I was spending more time on the business laptop, that’s when I knew something would have to give. I’m very grateful for my experience in the corporate world. I learned a lot, made some great connections, and was able to build some stability. I’m a creative at heart, so I always knew my corporate stint would be temporary.

The company started having annual lay-offs starting around 2017-2018. When 2020 rolled around, it was announced that it would be the biggest lay-off to date with almost 800 people being affected at all levels. Everyone knew it was a 50/50 chance. My number got called. We had two weeks to find another position within the company or take the severance package and walk. I chose the latter. I dove into the deep end of entrepreneurship and have been swimming ever since.

Christopher, 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?

Early in my photography career, I covered almost everything. Doing that allowed me to realize what I enjoy shooting and what I don’t. I learned that full-day wedding photography is not my thing. It’s too structured and repetitive for my spontaneous nature. But I love shooting corporate and family events where I get to come into a space and just flow and capture what I see without being held to an extensive shot-list.

There’s a consensus among photography experts that in order to really scale your business, you have to niche down and focus on one area of photography. That was always difficult for me, because I feel that I’m flexible enough and have the skillset and knowledge to cover different types of photography very well. There’s a lot of validity in niching down. While I still cover other areas upon request, my top services are event photography, headshot photography, videography, and photography lessons.

For events, I work corporate, entrepreneurial, and social events. My headshots mainly consist of group headshots for companies. I recently did a group headshot session for a medical staff and another session with a company that held a conference in Atlanta.

My videography services include event recap videos, promo vids for small business owners, creative visuals, and YouTube production services. I love helping people improve their photography skills, so I also provide 1-on-1 lessons. With my photography lessons, I ask people what their goal is with photography and I build the lesson from there.

My approach with all of my clients is to show them in their best light by bringing my knowledge and skillset to the table. I want to bring out your authentic self. I think I accomplish that by being my authentic self. People always speak on how calm I am and never in a rush. That allows people to relax and express themselves as they really are. When I take a photo of someone, I want to show that person in the photo. I want their true essence to shine through, and I believed that’s accomplished by creating the space for people to be authentic. For example, some people are naturally more outgoing so it’s not much coaching needed. If I’m working with someone who’s more reserved, I’m able to read their natural disposition and still have them express themselves, but in their own way. I think that’s what sets me apart – having that level of emotional intelligence.

I’m most proud of how many people continue to support me, spread the word, and my loyal clients who give me repeat business. With entrepreneurship, especially when you’re full-time, it can be easy to get caught up in looking at the numbers. You do have to look at the numbers because it’s your livelihood. But I always remember the purpose in it. It’s all about serving the people. Without support from the people, there is no business. The more I focus on service, the more opportunities I receive to provide service, which inevitably leads to more money. When you have a service-based approach, there’s never a lack of opportunities.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The driving force behind my creative journey is directly tied to my gift. I can see. It’s a seeing with the eyes, but it’s also seeing in visions. I can trace it back to high school. I never thought photography would be my path, but the more I learned about myself, it makes perfect sense. If a person is blessed with vision, working with a camera is just the perfect fit.

I see things in images. If a person tells me about an idea, almost immediately I literally start to see it playing out in my mind’s eye. I feel that we’re all endowed with certain gifts and just maybe our purpose is to own it, express it, and give it to the world. I want to inspire, heal, and teach by giving people imagery that they can feel.

The other part of my purpose is family, legacy. What I’m building here will impact family members that I won’t even get to meet in this lifetime. I believe at its essence, life is about enjoying it while we’re here and leaving something for somebody when we’re gone.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I went full-time with photography, it was a complete 180 from my day job. My work background is in IT. In my 9.5 year corporate career, I did tech support, software automation, and end-to-end systems testing. It was a very left-brain centric environment. Even though I was getting a good number of clients with my business, my livelihood was mostly supported by my job. When I got the severance package, it give me about six months to figure out how to support my lifestyle with photography alone. I had to get certain things in order, such as building a website and adjusting my pricing. I had to get more focused on the value that I provide.

As far as getting insight on the direction I should take in my business, it was a lot of prayer and meditation involved. I believe that thinking through things rationally doesn’t always yield the best answers, because the mind can be clouded by the ego. For me, it’s about turning off the mind and and allowing God to reveal the path. It’s getting in that space of silence to get the answers. “Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.montyangelo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montyangelo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-montgomery-98716421/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MontyangeloProductions