We were lucky to catch up with Jenny Walker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

I’ve always had a love for photography! As a kid, my grandmother subscribed me to Zoobooks magazine and I swore that when I grew up I would be a wildlife photographer. Over time my passion went elsewhere and I ended up leaning toward education. Though my career outlooks changed, I always kept a camera or camcorder around my neck. I was the one who documented everything: smiling faces, candid conversations, friends doing dumb things (Jackass was all the rage-my friends definitely thought we would end up on it.) In college I took a black and white film photography class. That was the first time I owned a camera that wasn’t just point and shoot. I learned the technical terms like exposure, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed and what they each do. We had weekly assignments that helped us work on composition and eventually developed our own photos in the school’s dark room! That is when I first thought, I’ would LOVE to do this!
And, as life goes, I ended up not doing that. I was a teacher for 9 years and didn’t love it near as much as I thought I would. I love to learn & I love to teach, but there is so much more to teaching that wasn’t fulfilling to me. (All my teacher friends will 100% get that)
I was looking for something that I could do part-time and kept coming back to photography. It had been years since I took photos with a camera at that point. Everyone has an iPhone and that was what I was using. I discussed it with my husband, Michael, and he encouraged me to purchase a good camera and get started! My church was looking for someone to take candid photos on Sundays, so that is what I started doing to refresh my skills.
I decided to start my business in September 2021 and just do photos on the side while still teaching. I went back and forth about just quitting my job and doing photography full time, but I am not a risk taker. I told myself that when I get enough clients to where it starts interfering with my full time job that’s when I would quit. I figured it would take 1-2 years at that point, but only 7 months later I found myself struggling to find time to fit in sessions around my job and family obligations. In June 2022, I started JW Photography full time!

Jenny, 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?

My name is Jenny! I am a teacher turned photographer. I have always loved photography and finally made it my full time gig. I currently offer sessions for:
families, newborn, engagement/couples, prom, branding, headshots/business portraits and real estate.
Chattanooga is saturated with photographers, but we all offer different session types and have our own style! My editing preference is to keep photos looking as natural as possible.

I’ve been told that most choose a speciality, but I don’t really want to! I enjoy offering more because it keeps me learning and practicing my skills. The one area that I wasn’t planning on offering was real estate photography. It surprised me how much I love shooting houses and there is so much to it! Realtors constantly have listings and each wants different services. Over the last year I began offering twilight, 360 tours and virtual staging.

It’s hard being a creative! Honestly, I try not to compare myself with others in my profession. I know I’m not the most technical or the most experienced, but I do give my all at every session and am constantly training and out practicing my skills when I don’t have clients. I enjoy taking photos! I have quick turnaround as well, typically 2-3 weeks, except real estate is same day!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Consistency and communication helped build my reputation. My prices and packages are listed plainly on my website and I work out pricing ahead of time for custom packages. It took me a couple months of working to figure out what packages and pricing my market would want. It was also important to me to remain affordable without selling myself short.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that every day I get to do something that I love! It’s never boring or monotonous. Not to mention all the people that I come in contact with! One of my favorite things to do is stop random people while I’m out and about and ask them to do a spontaneous session. I love seeing their face when they see the back of my camera! It’s also a great way to network and create content for social media!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jwphotography.live
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jwphotography_chattanooga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074528775066