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

Jamie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I have always had a love for photography and I never had the courage to pursue it because I always thought “it wasn’t a real job” it wasn’t talked about as a job to pursue growing up. So I decided to keep it as a hobby.

I find most people who have been through a tragedy in their lives usually end up using it as fuel to pursue their dreams or make a change at the very least to live a more fulfilling life. That happened with me. My dad died unexpectedly in 2018 and after that I decided life is way to short to keep wasting time because tomorrow is never promised. So I decided that I was finally going to pursue that dream of have a photography business. So I saved up some money and bought my very first “big girl camera” and dove head first.

When I was thinking about names for my business I took so much into account, but the main reason I even started my business was from tragically losing my dad. His loss as great as it was has also brought so much joy and love and opportunities into my life. I wanted my business name to mean something to me, something that reminded me of why I started this business so when business gets hard I can remind myself why I even started. Growing up my favorite thing to see was my dads work boots all dirty and full of dust from a hard days work sitting by the door. The comfort of having his boots there meant he was there, and that always brought a sense of peace over me. I still have my dads dirty work boots that sit in my hallway for the constant reminder that life is short and we only have one shot at it and if we don’t chase our dreams they won’t chase us back.

Jamie , 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?

A little bit about me, I am a mama of 2 girls and a rescue fur baby. I love to go hiking and camping, I love old vintage Harley’s and to forever chase the sun. I love to garden and I am learning to be more self sufficient off of the land, when I’m not working or enjoying nature, you will find me curled up with my dog reading a good book. I love a a good conspiracy theory and my mornings slow and intentional with a perfect cup of coffee.

The way I approach my business is different with every client and what they are desiring to capture in a photoshoot. I am not a photographer that likes to niche down and be restricted to one type of shoot. I get to know each client on a personal level so I am able to find out exactly what they are wanting to capture in their photos. I always tell my clients “these are your photos not mine they will be hanging on your walls so you have to love them” I am here to provide a service and it needs to enjoyable for everyone involved.

I don’t take my job or any opportunity with my clients for granted. Time is precious and I am freezing their moments in time for them to cherish for years and generations to come. I cultivate a relationship with my clients before the shoot and often times it leads to friendships that last well after the shoots are over. It is important for me for my clients to feel completely comfortable in front of my camera. It’s awkward to be in front of the camera especially if it’s something you have never experienced before. I am very intentional about making sure my clients feel good being in front of my camera. My favorite parts of the photoshoots is watching my clients become so completely comfortable in front of my camera that they forget we are even taking pictures. The only part I wish I could change about the whole process is being able to see my clients see their pictures for the first time. I would love to start doing more video conferences with my clients to watch them view their galleries so I can see the reactions to the pictures.

A new package I have added onto my business is the ‘End of Life’ Pet portraits to be able to capture the last few days of your animals life. My pets are family members in my house and their lives deserve to be celebrated too. I offer these sessions free of cost to provide the family with a little extra love and support in such a vulnerable and difficult time. Love radiates out of these sessions, at such a sad vulnerable time it is also full of so much love. A lifetime of love that only animals are able to give us in such a short amount of time.

I love every session I do but the pet portraits one always leave a lasting imprint on my heart.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth recommendations have been my best source of new clients, and they are my favorite because that means people are sharing their experiences with working with me and not just seeing my images.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I make genuine connections from the very first conversation and build relationships with my clients. I may not have a multimillion dollar business and a huge team of people but the connections mean more to me and the experience my clients have with working with me is very important to me

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dustybootsphotographybyjme
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/DustyBootsPhotographybyjme