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

Corey, 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?

My business, photography, didn’t happen overnight or just suddenly fall in my lap. For the longest time, I didn’t truly realize or expect that I would even be able to do it as “work”. About 6 years ago, I was personally going through a time in my life where everything felt like a struggle. I was living somewhere I didn’t want to live, I felt depressed at times, I didn’t love my job like I had hoped, and I had just gotten out of a relationship. Up until that point, I had done very little with photography. Back in high school, I had taken a black and white film and darkroom course. Being that it was high school, though, who of us actually thinks about the future? I enjoyed it, sure, but never thought about it past that. Fast forward back to this challenging time in my life a few years after college, I was looking for ways to get back to me. To invest time and effort back into myself to develop my passions. My friends took me on some hikes in New Hampshire (at the time I was living in Massachusetts), and I decided to dig out my dad’s old film camera to take along. A few hikes and a few rolls of film later, I realized how expensive film was. It was certainly neat to play around with again, but I didn’t see myself keeping up with the costs. Being that I was in such a vulnerable place in my life, I decided somewhat impulsively to purchase a nice digital camera. After that, everything seemed to happen in a whirlwind. I started taking photos every day, even if it wasn’t while hiking or outside. I had never been much of a social media person before this, but my friends suggested I create a website and an Instagram to start sharing some of my photos. It wasn’t long after that I was applying for outdoor brand ambassadorships and even free product trades for content. It wasn’t exactly work, but in the moment, it was a blast and I was too excited to stop the momentum of trying these new things and taking more photos. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I was building the foundation of my reputation and networking with the very brands that I would eventually be working with in my business. Day one never really felt like day one to me. I was in such a spiral of excitement and new that I didn’t much think about what the future would hold. Eventually when I started getting inquiries for little jobs every few months, I thought to myself how neat it would be to even be able to do things like this in my life now and again. Then, these odd jobs started getting bigger and more frequent. When Covid hit, I was furloughed from my primary day job in hospitality. It made me realize how unhappy I was with what I did for work. I decided, somewhat on a whim, to quit and take a part time job at my local REI. At that time, I was getting enough photography jobs that I thought maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to sustain the other half of my income. I had always heard that at some point for a photographer, to do it full time, you had to take a leap. I’ve never been much of a risk taker. Not a year later, though, I found myself taking that exact leap when working at REI wasn’t working out anymore. I had just had my busiest month of photography work, and it all felt right and I decided to go full time, freelance photography. I suppose some of the major steps and milestones for my photography career were the points in my old career where things were changing. Points in time where I remember not being happy with my day job, and where I remember grinning from ear to ear even just doing the smallest of jobs with photography. Milestones for me were times where I got hired by large brands fairly early on. Brands like Eastern Mountain Sports, REI, Therm-A-Rest, MSR, Appalachian Mountain Club, and Kahtoola. All of this happened in a small span of 5 years or less. Do I think I could have sped up the process somehow? Sure. I could have been more of a risk taker, lived more frugally, and gone full time much earlier on. I don’t think I would have considered myself as successful going that route and who knows, it might’ve discouraged me from continuing on. Having gone through each phase of my photography path, though, I think it helped me grow and also learn what I needed to in order to feel confident enough to take the next step.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m Corey! Born and raised in New England, I am an outdoor lifestyle, commercial, and landscape photographer, originally inspired by film, now based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In my free time you’ll find me spending as much time as possible running, hiking, camping, volunteering for local Search and Rescue, drinking coffee, cooking, writing, and eating all of the breakfast foods.

Growing up, I always had a love for the outdoors. Ever since I was young, I have enjoyed spending my time camping, hiking, and finding all things beautiful in nature. Several years ago, something hit me and I began hiking constantly. Now, I’ve hiked all 48 of the 4,000+ footers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and have many ambitions for my mountain portfolio. I’ve explored more of the outdoors and seen more sunrises from mountaintops than I ever expected I would. The lifestyle and landscapes of the outdoors is something that continues to inspire me. I am a strong believer in pushing oneself so that you can enjoy the full breadth of the outdoors, opening up the outdoors to be inclusive for all, and sharing these moments in life with others. In fact, my intention with my photography is to document people broadening their experiences through a lifestyle approach.

I got into my industry and business through immersing myself in the outdoor lifestyle. Sure, that is very different from owning a photography business. Nonetheless, I was showcasing myself as capable of something that I wanted to do professionally. Brands and potential clients don’t want to guess or take risks when they hire photographers. My best piece of advice is to show your ideal client that you are capable of what they would hire you for. That is what I’ve been working towards in not only living out my outdoor lifestyle, but also taking photos along the way.

I am most proud of my style and my determination in the outdoor spaces that I conduct my business. In my industry, there several styles including more travel oriented outdoor photography, more commercial and heavy production, and more. Each style has a place, but my style is the immersion and integration into the outdoors. I feel confident that I can not only be capable in those environments, but also be that much more attractive to potential clients because I can then make my photos look authentic to the environments. I strive for authenticity in my photos and work every day. It is not just because I do these things that I think my work is unique, but rather also because they are my passion.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is actually several. Beyond work, in my personal time, the outdoors is my passion. Somehow, getting to combine my work and my personal passion became possible. I certainly do have to put in the work for it and there are times where I don’t always get to work outside, but the fact that most of my work is outside in spaces that I love is a fortune. Additionally, as an artist working for myself, getting to build my own schedule and work when I want to is something I never knew I would enjoy as much as I do. My active lifestyle and wanting to spend as much time as possible in the mountains requires a lot of flexibility and personal time. My photography career gives me that work/life balance that I need. Lastly, another rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing each piece of work that I do from start to finish. There is no one else responsible or with you in the trenches doing the work. You are it. It’s both incredibly challenging, but also rewarding seeing it through to the end and seeing what comes out of every project.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I invested in my first digital camera, my friends suggested that I get an Instagram to start sharing some of my photos. I had never been much of a social media person, but I decided to give it a try. My friends and I at the time were starting to hike and run all the time. Every single weekend, without fail, I was going up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. My friends and I started doing sunrise hikes almost religiously. As all of this was happening, I began sharing on Instagram all of the adventures I was on. I think it started out very personal. It wasn’t just work. Experiencing all of these grand adventures, I think, drew a lot of people in to watch it all unfold. The hiking community in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is also bigger than I first expected. I used social media to connect with all sorts of like-minded individuals, hiking and meeting with people that I met from Instagram, and sharing that appreciation. Beyond the adventures, I think what helped me greatly was always writing my story, about the adventures, and about my photography journey in my posts and my stories on Instagram. People always seemed to want to know more, and connect with that. While doing this, I was always making sure to show my face and open up discussion to my audience. Even if we aren’t all extroverts, I think we all crave some kind of connection. Especially for those like-minded to what I was doing (spending time outside and photography), social media was a great way to start that connection.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coreydavidphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coreyoutdoors/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coreydavidphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-mcmullen3791/