We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Jenkin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, thanks for joining us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

If I was starting over, the one thing I would do differently is to learn my worth. When I first started photography, I was working a corporate 9-5 job and taking photo clients on the weekends. The amount of work I was putting in to photography was just as many hours & effort as my corporate job, yet I didn’t believe in myself. I charged $75 or less for a photoshoot and I had a really hard time knowing how much my work is worth. I was burning myself out which was causing me to hold off on taking a leap and persuing photography full time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Danielle and I am a wedding photographer located in New York! Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been a visually creative person. My mom bought me my first DSLR camera in high school and instead of attending parties on Saturday nights, my friends and I would opt for creative photoshoots where we would try and become “tumblr famous”. I went to Hofstra University for TV and Film and have been involved in the performing arts since I was six.

Once I graduated college, I had my first “big girl corporate job”. After a few years, I realized that I didn’t quite fit in to corporate America. My team was male dominated and I had a hard time being taken seriously as a young woman. I had so many ideas and creative visions that would never be brought to light. So I finally decided to start my own business when the world shut down in 2020. I was working from home so I figured this was the perfect time to dust off that camera and get creative again. I started sharing my work and ideas on social media and before I knew it, I was booking real clients. People wanted me to capture their special moments and memories and were finally trusting my creative vision.

I spent the next few years building my clientele, perfecting my craft and following my dreams. I’ve niched down to what I like to call “love stories”. I mainly shoot weddings, elopements, engagements, couples and all things love! I want my couples to feel like they have a friend on their wedding day. I want to be someone that they can trust and that they can feel most comfortable with. The best photos come from the clients who can feel like they can be themselves. Basically, I just want to tear up the dance floor with you and get some bomb photos while doing so!

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

Social media can be extremely overwhelming for new creatives. At times, it feels like there is so much pressure and competition. I started out just sharing things that I thought were cool and being myself. People like to see your face so I would get on stories or live at least once a week and just chat to my followers. There are so many talented photographers and creatives to choose from and most of the time, people want to hire you for your personality. It sounds scary but just being yourself and sharing the work that makes you proud and happy is a great start!

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

Instagram has brought in about 80% of my inquiries. Sharing my work and showing up on Instagram weekly has really driven a lot of people to inquire. When it comes to Instagram, it isn’t about the amount of followers you have. You know your social media strategy is working when you see inquires and traffic to your website coming in from social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: daniellejenkinphotography.com
• Instagram: @daniellejenkinphotography
• Facebook: @daniellejenkinphotography