We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grace Ebbinghouse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Grace, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
Throughout my journey as a young creative so far, I’ve humbly accepted the support that my friends and family were willing and able to provide me. Personally, that support has been one of the essential pieces in my being able to pursue a career in the creative field.
My friends have always been my moral support in making it this far and reinforcing my confidence as I continue to learn and grow in my practice. When I told my parents I wanted to fully pursue photography, they never once doubted that I would work hard to make something of myself so that I could grow into my potential and live a fulfilled life doing something that I love. They financially supported me while I completed my education at the University of North Texas. As with anything else, there were, and still are, learning curves and growing pains to overcome, but they’ve always been the positive voices in my head encouraging me to keep going as well as the practical ones that pushed me to develop a plan to turn my education into something that would allow me to support myself as I enter the professional world. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have such an amazing support system with whom I’ve been able to celebrate my progress with and who makes my successful moments all the more worth it.
Grace, 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?
In 2017, I began my journey as a landscape photographer after I had gotten my first DSLR camera and taught myself how to use the equipment and how to understand manual exposure. While my roots as a nature photographer will always hold a special influence in my practice, my interest shifted to freelance portrait and event photography. On my own time, I currently still book portrait sessions for professional headshots and individuals, families, and graduates as well as various events. My most recent addition to my photography services is wedding photography. Career wise, this I what I would like to begin focusing my full-time attention on.
Overall, I’m a naturally reserved person that prefers to observe and listen to my environment. This personality trait is reflected in my shooting style and is something I would consider as one of my strengths in my portrait and event photography. My way of moving through spaces allows for actions and emotions to take their natural course in, not only the bigger, expected moments of an event, but also the softer, mundane moments that hold just as much beauty and importance. Something I’ve discovered I love about portrait and event photography is my ability to create something so emotionally sentimental for my clients to be able to look back on and keep. Knowing that my clients trust me to bring their vision to life through my own creative expression puts me under just the right amount of pressure to continue to better myself in my skills and provide the best client experience I’m able to.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Within the last year, I got involved in the Union of Vietnamese Student Association of the Southern region, a non-profit organization compromised of over 10 partner schools across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. UVSA South holds two major, annual events called Leadership Summit, a conference centered around developing leadership skills, and Camp Legacy, a weekend-long, team building getaway. This past year, I served on the media committee staff as a photographer for each of these events and have found an incredibly welcoming sense of community from my team members. UVSA South created a safe environment that gave me the opportunity to grow as a creative leader, both individually and as a team member. Continuing to grow increasingly confident in my abilities and wanting to push myself further outside of my comfort zone has lead me to applying for and obtaining a role as media staff for the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Association (UNAVSA), the national wide organization for the 13 regional VSA’s of North America and Canada. UNAVSA holds a single, large scale leadership conference every year where they focus on providing a supportive space for each of their committee members are able to learn from each other’s creative processes and evolve to our fullest potential.
It’s been so gratifying being able to look back and see the progress I’ve made on my journey as a creative and being part of such a supportive community that, not only recognizes it, but also celebrates it with me. The creative community that I’ve come to be apart of has changed me for the better and is something I look forward to continuing to immerse myself in.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think a common misconception about developing as a creative is that natural talent is what carries you to success in your field. While it’s true that some people may be more inclined to take to creative practices, it’s rarely a determinant of a sustainable career. Working in the creative field requires having a vision and putting forward the time and energy it takes to hone the set of skills that’ll make your vision come to life. It’s also essential to maintain the spark of curiosity that pushes you to continue learning and growing through the failures and critiques which ultimately help you better yourself in your practice.
Especially for photography, it’s common for people to say “the camera takes great photos” and that, as the one behind the camera, all we do is press a button. Something a lot of clients and non-creatives miss, though, is all of the conscious decisions we make to create the most visual appealing product for you and what exactly it takes to create the galleries you see in our portfolios. The reality is, creative skills take countless hours of dedication, a continuous cycle of trial and error, and even self exploration to understand how to push your voice as an artist through your work to reach your clients and audiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gyephoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grace_2002_/profilecard/?igsh=ZnI5eGFqb3ZpOWhm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080490286054
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/public-profile/settings?trk=d_flagship3_profile_self_view_public_profile