We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jillian Blanc a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jillian , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I definitely didn’t set out thinking photography would be my career, it kind of snuck up on me in the best way. I grew up with a camera in my hand because of my dad and his love for documenting life & loved ones. I went to school for graphic and web design fully expecting that’s how I’d make a living. In 2016 I bought my first DSLR so I could take better photos while traveling, and I started casually shooting my friends for Instagram. Suddenly people were reaching out asking me to take their photos, which felt so wild.

In 2017, a friend asked me to shoot her engagement photos, and I said absolutely. Then she asked me to shoot her wedding and I said absolutely not—too much pressure. But she asked again, gave me a year to prepare, and I said yes. I shadowed another photographer for a Summer and at my first wedding and instantly knew this was something special. From 2018 to 2023, I shot weddings on the side while working full-time at a couple of different agencies. Eventually, I found myself turning down dream inquiries because I didn’t have the time, and that was the moment I realized I had to choose.

In 2023, I finally took the leap into full-time photography. Honestly, I believe in devine timing. Had I done it earlier, I don’t think I would’ve been as financially stable or had the portfolio and clientele I do now. The crazy part? I made my full annual salary within three months of going full-time. It felt like the universe just opened the door and said, run with it. And I did.

It took years of building, investing in myself, and saying yes to opportunities that felt out of my comfort zone. Retreats and styled shoots were huge for me; they helped me build a portfolio beyond Minnesota and introduced me to a network of friends and collaborators all over the world. Some of my closest friendships came from those retreats, and they’ve turned into second shooters, travel buddies, and a real support system.

If I had to give advice, it’s this: work your a** off and invest in yourself. Mentor sessions, networking with planners and vendors, creating work that aligns with where you want to be booked, it all adds up. What you put into this career is exactly what you’ll get out of it. Looking back, I wouldn’t speed up the process, because every step, every side hustle shoot, every retreat, every lesson learned the hard way, every “yes” when I was terrified built the foundation that makes this work feel like the dream life I’m living now.

I’m able to earn a full time living doing what I love. I get to travel, do nice things for my friends, I get to take my parents on vacation (they were both flight attendants my entire life and took me to so many amazing places, it’s so fun to now get to return the favor). There is so much that happens behind the scenes, long hours, lots of emails, being a one person team can be tiring but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Jillian, a wedding and elopement photographer with a documentary approach and an editorial eye. I’ve had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember. My dad was always documenting life, and I inherited that instinct to want to preserve moments. Photography didn’t start as a career path for me, though. I went to school for graphic and web design and thought that would always be my world. But in 2016, I bought a DSLR to take better travel photos, and what started as photographing friends for fun snowballed into people asking me to document their most important milestones.

I shot my first wedding in 2017, and once I experienced what it felt like to preserve such a sacred day for someone, I was hooked. I spent years photographing weddings alongside a full-time job in the photo industry before taking the leap into full-time photography in 2023 and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.

Today, I photograph weddings, elopements, and intimate celebrations around the world. My work blends natural, documentary storytelling with a fashion-forward editorial edge. I want my couples to feel fully present while I create imagery that feels both timeless and artful. Photos that don’t just look beautiful, but carry the emotions and memories of the day.

What sets me apart is my approach: I never want my couples to feel like they’re being pulled out of their own story just for the sake of the photo. I direct when needed, but in a way that keeps people in the moment, because the memory tied to the image is just as important as the image itself.

I’m most proud of the trust people place in me. My clients invite me into one of the most meaningful days of their lives, and the fact that I get to turn those fleeting moments into something they’ll pass down for generations is such an honor. Beyond the work itself, I’m proud of the relationships I’ve built along the way, with couples, with other creatives, and with the community that supports this industry.

If there’s one thing I’d want people to know about me and my work, it’s that this is so much more than photography. It’s about creating a space where people feel seen, comfortable, and celebrated, while making art that outlives the day itself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A big lesson I had to unlearn was treating weddings like portfolio content. Early on, I found myself thinking in terms of Instagram grids – how things would look online, how they’d line up with trends. But weddings are not about me or my portfolio. They’re about my clients, their people, and the moments that matter most to them.

I was looking back through my own old photo albums and the images I cherish the most aren’t the polished JC Penney studio portraits, they’re the candid, imperfect moments that bring me right back to a feeling or a memory. That was a huge shift for me. I realized that’s exactly what I want to give my clients: photographs that will outlive trends and editing styles, and instantly transport them back to the emotion of their day. I feel like the images that will stand out in 50 years are the in home sessions at your first house, running around your backyard with your kids, maternity photos in the nursery you built together, going for walks around the neighborhood with your dog.

Now, I approach every session, whether it’s an engagement shoot or a wedding, with that in mind. It’s about the art of noticing. The in-between gestures, the quiet glances, the laughter that happens when no one else is paying attention. That’s the work I’m most proud of creating.

At the end of the day, I want every couple, no matter the size of their wedding or the location, to feel like they had a photographer who showed up fully for them. If a wedding doesn’t align with me, I’d rather say no than just take it for the money because couples deserve more than that. When I let go of chasing trends and leaned into creating timeless, honest work, not only did I feel more fulfilled, but that’s also when clients really started seeking me out for exactly that.

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

For me, the most rewarding part of being a photographer is getting to document moments that can never be replicated. A wedding is one of the rare times in life when all the people you love are in the same place, and chances are, that exact group will never be together again. Being able to preserve that is such an honor.

On a more personal level, I also love making people feel beautiful, sometimes in ways they’ve never seen themselves before. There’s something so powerful about handing someone a photograph where they recognize not just how they looked, but how they felt in that moment. That combination, capturing both the fleeting and the timeless, is what makes this work so meaningful to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jillianblanc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillian_blanc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillianblancphotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-blanc
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jillianblanc

Image Credits

all images taken by me.