Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Domi Alcock. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Domi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
When I was pregnant I considered re-branding my business name after our child. I’ve never been a fan of my personal name on things, but liked the idea of leaving something to carry on for any children. The week I found out I was having a girl, I immediately changed the name to K. Elizabeth Photography. I knew if I was having a girl her middle name would be Elizabeth, and there were several “K” names I loved, so I let my husband pick which one, and he came up with Kali on his own. So not only is my photography named after her, she also has helped shift my focus to be more of a “grow with you” photographer, just as I have the honor of documenting all of her milestones, growth, and special moments, I hope to be able to continue with my wedding clients to be with them as their families grow and their milestones are reached.
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 think Photography was always in my heart, I just never considered it to be something to make a career out of unless you lived in a big city and had a line of models, magazines or news outlets to document for. When I was 18, i started interning with a local wedding coordinator while I was attending college for interior design, I fell in love with the wedding industry. I moved to Hilton Head Island after college and worked under various wedding and catering companies. I took photos at our events for our own social media and portfolio. I never lost my love for photography though and often took photos for friends and family and random nature scenes on the island. When I was dating my husband, his mother got me my first professional grade DSLR to use. I started taking it to weddings with me for my own use. In 2013 I had a mother of one of my brides email me after she saw some of those on my facebook and wanted to see the rest I casually took at her daughter’s wedding- I gave her the whole gallery just as shot, no editing, and she was so grateful, as she claimed they turned out better than the hired photographer’s. My now husband encouraged me to cross over to doing photography, as it was clear it was more of a passion and let me release my creative side more. I took the rest of that year to learn whatever I could about my camera, posing, lighting, etc. In 2014 I started offering photography services. By 2015 I let go completely of coordinating and shifted my focus solely on photography. I mainly geared towards wedding clients shooting mostly engagements. proposals, and weddings. Weddings were my comfort zone, I knew how to keep a good timeline flow, how to plan out a wedding day, I was extremely detail oriented, I could trouble shoot issues that came up and make my brides feel relaxed. After I found out I was pregnant, I started drawing more to the beauty of family sessions. I understood more about how precious those moments were. That’s when I realized I didn’t want to let my bride’s go after the wedding! I got to know them so well during their engagements that I felt like I needed to be there to document all the things for them. After my first handful of brides started families and kept coming to me to document, I knew this is what type of photographer I wanted to be. I wanted to document them as their family grew. I have been the bride-to-be, the bride, the expecting mama, the tired newborn mom, the mom of a wild toddler… So I understand those stages, how important it is to catch the kids at their true raw moments, get their attention and keep the session fun and full of laughable moments. When my clients have small children, I send them a little video the day of the session telling them personally how excited I am to see them later and take their photos. They always love that! I love the relationships I have with my forever clients. I really feel having a good relationship vibe with your photographer is a key to getting the best shots!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
When I started playing around with my camera in 2013 it was just to see where it could go as a hobby- I was not totally convinced that it would ever be anything more than a hobby. In 2014 when I started professionally it was still a side hustle. I had three jobs at the time. I was gaining more business, more clients but feared letting go of my other steady income and make the jump as a full time photographer. I had a major surgery in the very beginning of 2020 so I had to take some time off to recover and go through physical therapy before I could return to my regular jobs, but somehow found a way to still work photography into my recovery (I honestly think I was just having withdrawals from something that truly brought me happiness). When the world shut down for Covid, my full time job was shut down for 9 months. My photography business tripled that year. I think partly because I now had a wide open calendar and no longer had to turn away last minute clients that inquired after my full time schedule had been made, I soaked it all in. In 2021 I returned part-time for a few months, but made my other work schedule around my photography business and not the other way around. For me, 2020 is when I became a full time photographer. I didn’t return back to my other jobs after that and now I solely focus on my photography business, which has had a great reward in doing so. I offer more client experiences, lab products, things I had always wanted to offer my clients but didn’t have the time or money to invest into giving my clients a better experience. This is only the beginning, I have been crushing goals, and have some exciting things in the works for 2023.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
My wedding clients are becoming my forever clients. When a client books me for their wedding, they receive a complementary engagement session we use like a rehearsal. I teach them how to dip, lift, and relax in front of the camera. I learn their comfort levels, I learn their personalities and how they vibe with each other. On wedding day, I walk in their bridal suite/room like an old friend, they always light up when they see me, which alone is amazing for me. The relationship I gain with them ends up being so fantastic, that they know continuing with me as their marriage takes its next steps will be just as rewarding. They gained a forever photographer, and I gain a forever client. Some of my former brides have had me come out to their homes to capture them when they buy their first house together, and family portraits of them with their fur babies. Others have had me through their maternity sessions, newborns, cake smashes, and each fall after that and will continue to grow with me through their kid’s graduations, and hopefully their wedding day! (Thats my long term goal anyways! It’s only been 8 years, so I cant imagine how giddy and honored I’ll be one day to say I documented a family throughout their entire stage of life)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kelizabethphotography.com
- Instagram: @K_elizabethphotographygvl
- Facebook: @kelizabethphotographygvl