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

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Learning photography started in college for me, when I was getting a degree in Film and Video Production from the University of Memphis. I minored in Art so I could take photography and drawing classes, but it was the photoshoots I did outside of the classroom with my friends that taught me the most about photographing people. During my last two years of school I ran a little online magazine about style, and hosted 3-4 photoshoots a week – so I was taking a TON of photos, very consistently, with a lot of different people. In hindsight, this was one of the best things I ever did, because I sharpened my technical skills, learned how to take photos in all kinds of different lighting and environments, and really learned how to work and communicate with new people.

Knowing how important practice is now, I continue to make time for creative shoots with my friends where I can experiment more with posing and styling.

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 a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Memphis, where I was born and raised. I have always loved visual arts, but it wasn’t until college that I first tried photography and fell in love with it. In 2018, I photographed my first wedding, and now it’s my full time job!

Over the past 4 years I’ve photographed weddings and elopements in Memphis, Chicago, St. Louis, and all around Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

My true love lies with the moody and nontraditional weddings, the couples who like breaking convention and having their wedding their way. Some of my favorite weddings have taken place in breweries or outside mountain cabins, or used unique color palettes or decor inspired by Dungeons & Dragons.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Other photographers! There are so many workshops, summits, YouTube channels, podcasts, and educators that are easily accessible online. I wish I had dedicated more time to alternative kinds of education after graduating college, rather than believing my degree was all I needed. Now I invest in learning pretty frequently to make sure I am constantly improving my craft and my clients’ experiences.

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

Connecting with and empowering other people has been the biggest reward of being a photographer. There is nothing more satisfying than watching someone grow comfortable and confident in front of the camera, and being able to capture them in a way that feels authentic and truthful.

Contact Info:

• Website: emilyaswan.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/emilyswanphotos
  • • • • • • • • • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilyswanphotos

Image Credits
Photo of me taken by Jacob Rodgers Photography