We recently connected with Emily Vinyard and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I officially started On the Vine Photography in 2020, but I “unofficially” started taking photos around 2015. First graduates, then working into family portraits. I built this into a pretty decent part-time business, and after a few years made the switch to full time while keeping a flexible part-time bartending job. I did that for about two years, then jumped into photography full time.

You’ll never be ready, you just have to go for it. There will always be ways to earn money if you really need to, but that may mean you have to pick up a serving job during a slow season. I think that’s a small price to get to live your dreams; that’s not a bad worst-case scenario. If you invest in yourself and develop a clear brand, your business will make money. I absolutely love being a wedding and family photographer in DFW, running a small business has always been my goal in life. I’m so happy to be here, meeting people and telling their stories, that now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Emily, a wedding and family photographer in Dallas-Fort Worth. I’ve been doing family portraits for about eight years now, weddings and elopements for the last three. Weddings have really become my main focus over the last few years, but I definitely still have a soft spot for families. I love making a connection with people. I love getting to meet a couple, one that I would definitely be friends with if we’d met at a concert or something, and helping them through one of the biggest events in their lives. I get to be there with them for their happiest times; see their excited tears, meet their families, and preserve those memories for everyone. I also provide a list of cool local vendors, day-of timeline planning if you aren’t using a coordinator, and a safe space for all your questions. I’m genuinely happy to help, because the wedding space can be overwhelming!

I also want to make it clear that I’m an inclusive vendor. I strongly believe love is love and serve all couples and families, no matter what they look like.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Being the cheapest is not a good thing.

We live in a Shein society, where everyone wants the cutest option as fast as they can get, as cheap as they can get. It’s easy to think that you need to be inexpensive (or, those dreaded words “affordable, reasonable”) to get business.

You don’t want to be the cheapest vendor. It may get your your first few gigs, which is great, but after that you need to raise your prices significantly to support what you’re doing. Even in those slow seasons, the problem is not your pricing, it’s your branding. Invest more into yourself and hold onto your price-point. The only thing that lowering it will do is tell your clients not to value you. If someone reaches out to you and only wants you if you’re the cheapest option, let them move on. That person won’t value your work and you’ll both likely end up frustrated.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Instagram and Facebook. I’m starting to see more traffic to my website, which is awesome! I also find some couples through Zola.

Contact Info:

• Website: onthevinephoto.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/onthevinephoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/onthevinephoto
• Other: pinterest.com/onthevinephoto

Image Credits
On the Vine Photography