We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julie Buckman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julie below.
Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I started my photography business from home, after may years or photographing my own children until they developed “photographer’s child syndrome”. Every working photographer that still has kids in the home knows the symptoms of this sad phenomenon. With my own seedling in the throws of this affliction, I loved onto other peoples gene pools. I spent year photographing newborns. I had been a labor and delivery nurse, and always felt right at home with newborns.
Years later, the baby props and gear started overtaking our home. After all, who can resist the perfect baby carriage, the safe yet rustic apple box, or the latest prop craze? Eventually, the hard work of lugging all this around both in my home and in and out of client homes led me to invest in a small one room studio. Within less than a year, I started adding more genres, and found my square footage was limiting. The second studio was much larger. Then, two years ago, we moved again, figuring if I ever outgrew my new 3000 square foot, I needed to consider therapy for hoarding.
The larger studio allowed me to offer many others form of photography. Once i started photography adults it just made sense to focus more of personal branding, headshots and product photography. What I found it that these type sessions were very special to me. There is something very special about being trusted with someone’s branding images. They are what makes a business more appealing on a website. While photographing newborns, children, and teens will always be the heart of my work, the branding photography has become the passion of my work. When I see a business owner using my images to promote their business, it touches my creative and entrepreneurial soul in a unique way.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began my photography training in high school, with a polaroid camera. The film cost meant that I could only take about 15 images a month, but I made the most of it. I would spend hours thinking about the image I wanted to create. I did some fun ideas where I would stand in a certain way and make it look like my subject was holding the sun. The next camera was a film camera too, and while the wait of two weeks to get my photos back was harder than waving the Polaroids in the air for a few minutes, and the almost instant satisfaction, the images from my new camera were much nicer and could be reproduced from the negatives.
By the time our fourth child was born, digital cameras were on their way into the mainstream, and I got a surprise for Christmas that year. A brand new Canon Rebel, the original one. It was the most expensive thing I had ever owned other than my beat up car. That $1200 camera now would sell for about $20, so I have held onto it just for the sentimental value or still having the camera that started it all. I would take that camera into the bathroom, in pitch dark, lit one candle and stayed in there photographing the flame until I began to properly expose in manual mode.
I poured myself into learning to produce proper exposure, focus, and posing. My big thing was eyes, I wanted the eyes to be like looking into the soul of a person. I wanted them tack sharp, every lash sharp, and with enough detail to show the mesmerizing iris details. To this day, I want to see eyes, directly interacting with viewer of the image. since, then, I have learned to embrace more lifestyle type photos, but direct eye contact is still a big deal to me.
I had the chance to become comfortable with my skill level before I launched my studio and started charging more for my work. I sometimes leaped too fast, before I was ready, but even those stretches were overcome with hard work and dedication. I think being a lifelong learner has set me up to learn from my mistakes and overcome challenges I have faced along the way.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
By the time my youngest (of four children) entered high school, I new I wanted to find my “whats next” before the nest was empty. I didn’t want to be one of those people that suddenly found their life with less purpose after the years spent raising a family. I did some real soul searching about what I wanted out of my 50’s. I considered going back into nursing again, but had no more passion for the long hours on my feet the aching back, and life and death situations in the balance, I knew what I really wanted it to build my own business. I took the “hobbie that sometimes paid a little”, and dove into the business side of it more.
I was suddenly in the midst or business owners from all walks of life. My business has changed me in so many ways. I have since learned how to network, how to pay bills and taxes, how to fix toilets, and how be confident in who I am and what I can do. I am overall just a happier and more resilient person because I am doing what I love.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
One of the challenges I faced was lack of finances. I was always dreaming of getting that better camera, that better lens, that better lighting gear, ect ect.
I learned to make the most with what I had. The first five years of charging, I was using that original Canon Rebel, a nifty 50, and one 85mm that I splurged on for $350. That camera and those too cheap lenses were all I had for a long time, and some of the photos from that time period are still some of my favorite work. I learned that my skill and creativity where made stronger by the limitations. If your camera is too noisy with ISO being high, you learn to compensate with more light. By the time I replaced my camera, it was so outdated, that people could not believe I was doing what I was doing with such an outdated camera. I have learned the difference between being limited by my skill and being limited by my gear. So I only purchase gear when I know my skill and experience are being limited by my gear. Yes, I still dream of that next great camera, or that dreamy lens, but lean times have also taught me to invest wisely, and save for the rainy days.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photo of Juls In the Headshot taken by Cat Ford Coates