We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elizabeth Liu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elizabeth below.

Alright, Elizabeth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?

I’m super grateful that this is the year I feel like I’ve finally found my clientele and groove in the wedding industry. This business has been eight years in the making. My game plan in scaling my business was fully based on establishing good connections with my clients, and performing at my best so that those who see me in passing are also interested. The fantastic thing about my scaling process is I am always in the age range of my clients, i.e. graduation photos when I was in college, and now weddings and engagement photos now that I’m in my mid-20s. I’m able to connect to people close to my age and provide the expertise in planning and budgeting since I can relate to similar milestones.

When I first decided to take the leap into the wedding photography industry, I was taking every photo opportunity I could; discounting my prices to bare minimum, and knowing I was discounting my own time and skill. The mistake I made was putting bare-bone value on my work for clients who weren’t appreciative, putting me closer to burn out in my own work. The year of 2021 was when I finally raised my prices to reflect my own time and experience, and when I got fantastic couples that supported me in those prices, it was a HUGE moment of relief and happiness. The lesson I learned was “know your worth”, and people who want to support your business will continue to.

Now, I’ve developed an active social media plan that helps me connect with other photographers, couples, and new followers. I took time to focus on modernizing my brand and redoing my website, logo and coloring to provide a more cohesive look for those interested. Scaling came with more time and more attention to detail, but I am grateful for my current standings.

Elizabeth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

A little bit about myself is that I am a full-time dental student who loves photography equally as much. I got into photography in 7th grade when my parents gave me my first DSLR since I desperately wanted to take pictures for Tumblr, and that turned into my passion for taking pictures of my friends and family. I would hear the phrase “Why do photographers charge so much?” or “I can’t afford graduation photos” from friends. That was the driving reason as to why I wanted to dive into photography; learning from photo classes at school, editing classes in the community and learning editing and shooting tips via YouTube. I wanted to provide affordable and high quality photos to people who really do want it, but couldn’t afford to pay $300-$400 for photos. My mom was into taking photos and documenting our family life, and I wanted to make sure many people were able to look back on their special moments as I had too. I’m lucky that I’m able to have another career that allows me to lower my prices for photography so that everyone can enjoy it.

I am most proud of the connections I’ve established with my clients and even those around them. Tying in my dental experience with my photography business, is that people ALWAYS remember who you made them feel. I make my couples, my grads, and anyone I photograph a priority. I want everyone to feel comfortable and relaxed, that I’m just a friend taking photos. The great thing is, even after a short shoot, I know I’ve established a good rapport. I will always take the time to set up video calls to make sure details are finalized and we meet prior to the shoot so my couples know exactly who I am as a person and what to expect. By establishing these connections, these clients will continue to come back to support your business and sometimes even follow you to new cities!

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

In my personal life, I’ve been driven by my educational goals and constantly moving from state to state, city to city. Any photographer can tell you, establishing a new customer base in a new city is hard. Establishing new friendships in other photographers is also hard. I’ve done this from high school to college to dental school, and more than likely will continue to do so afterwards too. The resilience I’ve seen in my own business is my ability to know the city and community here; i.e. San Antonio is a very family and graduation photo orientated city. Knowing who your target market is and connecting with those people on social media or simply by ear, I’ve hit new heights in my business even after moving here about 2.5 years ago now.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I relied on the photographer’s community more when I started. Maybe because it was the day and age in which I started learning photography, but comparing them to young photographers now on social media, I can see how many other photographers are offering personal mentoring or shooting opportunities for them. Learning from those around you with more experience or gaining hands-on experience by second shooting is something I wish I had tapped into more early on. There’s so many tips and advice I’ve learned from my photography friends. They are the only ones who understand the fall busy season, the stubbornness to delete two photos that almost look identical, they can understand you!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mlphotographs.com
• Instagram: @memorylanep
• Facebook: @mlphotographsEL

Image Credits
Credit to Memory Lane Photography, Melanie June Photography and Ashley Huft Photography.