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

Elle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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?

Fortunately, I do earn a full-time living from my creative work. It wasn’t always like that, I worked several part time jobs while also doing photography. I was extremely lucky to have a paid internship through college with one my my greatest artistic role models, Liz Von Hoene. I can trace so many of my jobs through relationships I cultivated while in that internship. It was absolutely one of the best things I ever did for my career. After graduating college at The Art Institute of Atlanta, it was a bit of a wake up call to reality, honestly. You can try and prepare yourself as much as possible, but being suddenly thrown into the real world with zero structure or plan laid out for you is quite disorienting. You are so used to the confines of school, first grade, then second grade, etc, etc, there’s always a next step. But with freelance, you never really know when your next job will come, and that’s definitely a struggle. In time I would book consistent clients, some repeat gigs that would last for a few years, some I still have. You learn to trust the universe a bit, ride the ebbs and flows, and of course become very good at saving money for slower months.

Elle, 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?

My name is Elle, it’s short for Michelle. I am a Georgia native, and artist of many kinds. I love to paint, draw, and craft. I first picked up a camera to try out something called light painting, which is essentially a long exposure where you keep the camera’s shutter open and it records all light. So, if you are in a dark room you can paint with flashlights. I got really obsessed with it, and made my own tools, used fire, lightsabers, all kinds of stuff. It’s a really fun way to experiment. Then I just started taking phots of everything around me, I found photography to be such a quick and effective way to create art. I went on to get my bachelor’s in Photography at The Art Institute of Atlanta.

I love to photograph pretty much everything, but people and portraits are my favorite. I love making people laugh, making them feel at ease, and most importantly to feel beautiful. Photography as a craft takes so much technical skill, but what can really set a pro apart is their ability to connect with their subject, and make them feel comfortable enough to let their inner light shine. THAT is my favorite. Meeting new people, making genuine connections with them, and helping them create and capture whatever they are out to preserve, may it be a memory of their family, their new line of products, or turning 30. I love it all.

More recently I have been specializing in branding photography. I truly love working with other entrepreneurs and creatives like myself, and helping them develop a visual brand for their work. It’s so much fun!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think one of the biggest things that can irk me about non-creative people is assuming that making art is just all rainbows and blissful joy. It’s almost like some people feel like they are doing you a favor by “letting you create art” or helping you by “giving you exposure”. Like, it’s just so fun for you anyway, why do you need to get paid to do it? Or why is paying half your rate not enough? That is really harmful to creative people because our art has a lot of ourselves poured into it. So some of us can take things like that very personally. If you think our art is not worth the price we are asking, it’s almost like telling us we aren’t worth it. There are very polite ways to respond, just say “that’s out of my budget right now.” Or, “okay I’ll have to save up a bit more!” Or just something as simple as, “thank you for sharing your rates!” It’s mind blowing the things people will say to you about your pricing, especially when you are first starting out.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is freedom. I absolutely love being able to choose my clients, choose my free time, and answer to no one about my wardrobe, sleeping schedule, or how long I can take a lunch. Being able to just go on a hike on a Tuesday afternoon with my also freelance working husband and our dog is what truly brings me joy. I remind myself often how grateful and elated I am that I am not a slave to my job, I control it and not the other way around. I think the way our society is built now, on the 9-5 five day work week is not a very healthy model. I am happy to see subtle changes in businesses these past few years like working from home options so that people can spend quality time with their families, on self care, time to explore our world and travel. We only get one life, it’s important!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ellewood.com
• Instagram: ellewoodphoto
• Other: www.ellewoodphoto.com

Image Credits
Photos by Elle Wood