We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Alsabrook-turner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I value my clients, and although I’m thrilled when they return, there’s always a little part of me that’s pleasantly surprised. The family I’ve worked with the most is really lovely and we’ve developed a good relationship over the years. I look forward to their requests for photos and enjoy catching up with them when we meet. After our eighth portrait session, I decided to create an album for them. It was something they’d talked about for quite some time, but just hadn’t gotten around to doing. I’m sure it’s daunting to think of going through a thousand images to choose your favorites. To show my appreciation, I decided to make an album as a gift full of wonderful photos from their eight sessions. I delivered it to them and it was such a fun surprise! I could tell it was completely unexpected, and they were very grateful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My dad has always been a big influence in my life, and he was very interested in documenting our family through photography. He also loved keeping up with the latest technology so there were many cameras, both still and video in our home. He gave me my first camera when I was eight. I think his enthusiasm and having my very own camera at such a young age are what initially interested me in photography. Even still, it wasn’t until I was an art major in college that I took my first photography course. What had been an interest until that point, quickly turned into an obsession. I dare say, I have been forever changed and my life enriched because of photography!

I primarily photograph people. I enjoy documenting real interactions between people, but because of my art background, I also love a creatively conceptualized shoot. Some of my most inventive ideas come to me in hypnagogic visions. (Imagine my surprise when I learned that Salvador Dali, one of my favorite painters, was also inspired by imagery experienced in the hypnagogic state!)

I was a photographer for many years before starting my own business. I photograph individuals, families, and couples, including micro weddings, and small events. “They” say you should choose a niche to become more specialized and sought after as an expert in a particular genre of photography. I’ve never subscribed to that idea. I know myself well enough to know I’d grow disinterested if I narrowed my scope, and there really isn’t one genre that I favor more than another. I think it’s just as much fun to chase a child around with my camera during a family session as it is to capture the emotions a couple feels when seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day.

I’m moved by rich, colorful, emotive and dramatic black-and-white photography so much more than the popular, overexposed, light and airy approach. I think that’s one way that I stand out as a photographer. The fact that I take creative chances, whether it’s through layering images or using prisms or other objects to shoot through, or use bold colors and contrast may be others.

I hope I’m thought of as a business owner who speaks up for who and what I feel are important; I intend to stand on the right side of history. I’m very open about my social and political beliefs. I am an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community and supporter of Black Lives Matter. I think like-minded clients find me, and for that I’m truly grateful!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve had my own photography business since 2015. I’m incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity, and I enjoy much of what it entails: having a flexible schedule, making my own rules, developing a voice and brand for my business, designing my website, running a blog, going on a great variety of photoshoots, meeting interesting people with amazing stories, etc. There are so many wonderful aspects of owning a photography business! There is also a lot of “hustle” that’s required. Somewhere around the end of 2022, I started to really tire of the never-ending hustle, meaning, the marketing posts and social media interactions, loads of emails, and basic PR work started to weigh heavily. I began losing my zest for promoting my business. There’s an interesting theory you may have heard of called the seven-year itch; it refers to a restlessness or dissatisfaction in a relationship around the seven-year mark. It’s usually in reference to relationships between people, but it’s the closest analogy I can think of to describe what I experienced. My relationship with photography needed a change, but it was months before I discovered one. Then in the summer of 2023, a friend and fellow photographer made a post on Facebook about a job opening at the University of Alabama at Birmingham a.k.a. UAB, a renowned research university and hospital. She had been working there for five years, and everything I’d ever heard her say or seen her post about her job was positive. In a nutshell, she loved it! They were looking for a photographer in the Marketing and Communications Department so I decided to apply. Initially, I wasn’t certain I wanted the job because of the compromises I thought I’d have to make, so I felt little pressure in applying. I knew I didn’t want to close my business, so I’d have to do figure out how to do both, which was somewhat overwhelming. An interview was scheduled, and it went really well. There were three interviews in total before an offer was presented and a decision was made. I had many discussions with people I trusted, but ultimately, it was up to me whether I chose to make the leap. I accepted the position and began in August of 2023. My concern was that I would be compromising too much-that I would have to give up on my business/my dream. Conversely, I feel I’ve gained more than I’ve had to let go of. For example, in my own business, I’m primarily an outdoor, natural light photographer, but at UAB, artificial light is needed quite often; therefore, I’ve become much more proficient. Another difference is that unlike in my own business where I choose the best times of day to photograph for optimal light, at UAB we’re often at the mercy of others’ schedules. It may be noon on a gorgeous, sunny day, without a spot of shade in sight when outdoor portraits are needed. I’ve grown so much as a photographer over the last year. My personal business is still going strong too! It’s been a benefit to work for UAB in addition to owning my own photography business. I get to use a camera almost every single day! And I would be remiss to not mention, as a photographer running a small business, I didn’t have a great retirement plan. I had a simple IRA, but it wasn’t getting a lot of attention. My approach to retirement was more of a “photograph until you just can’t anymore” mentality. UAB offers impressive benefits so I no longer worry about retirement. I am very fortunate the opportunity presented itself and happy I decided to pivot when I really needed a change. I think the moral of the story is to remain open-minded, and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself when granted interesting and appealing options.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I graduated college with an Art Education degree and a BFA in Photography. I taught at a Montessori school for fifteen years before resigning and going into photography full-time. As I began to think about starting my own photography business, I slowly, but consistently purchased camera and lighting gear. Over the last several years I taught school, I was able to buy what I needed to begin a business. I already had a camera and a couple of good lenses, but because I had a job while planning my second career, it made it a lot easier to prepare. There were a few non-negotiables: two cameras, multiple lenses (with the goal to have focal lengths from 14mm-200mm to handle just about any photography challenge), plenty of memory cards, a comfortable camera strap, and external hard drives for file storage. Strobes and light stands were purchased a little later. Since it was a long-term goal for a few years, and I had the benefit of planning while still earning an income, it made it so much easier to start my photography business when I resigned from teaching.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bangimages.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bangimages/