Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Irwin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

I started by photographing for a friend’s children. I always loved photography and had a good eye for it, so I photographed some actor headshots and modeling shots for them with their camera as I didn’t have my own yet. They then signed with an agency and the agent loved their shots. From there I started getting referrals and it built from there. I bought my first camera and lens on credit cards and hoped I’d get enough bookings to be able to pay them off. I remember being very nervous with my first few clients but found I loved the sessions, and clients loved their images which helped to build my confidence. I worked for a few years just shooting headshots and modeling portfolios. After a couple of years I found I loved the storytelling aspect of photography and started to teach myself a more fine art style of shooting and editing. Then I started to offer children’s fine art sessions and then family sessions and I built my business from there.

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.

I have always loved photography. I started with a polaroid camera when I was a child, and often had a camera in my hands. I started my business in my 20’s, starting with shooting actor headshots and modeling portfolios, then I moved into fine art photographing maternity, newborn, children and families. I love my job and I love creating images for different families. I have a happy, positive way about life and love to find the magic in every day life which comes through in my images. I love it when I hear from clients after their session and how much they love their images, and I love when they send me snapshots of my prints up on their walls at home. My own daughter loves to see her newborn images on our walls and I can see how special it is to capture those magical moments and love that I can capture those for so many families.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

It did. I always had the idea of building it up to my full time business, but I started with a credit card and a passion. I bought all of my equipment on credit cards and hoped I’d get enough clients to pay them off. I was working as a full time assistant and would photograph sessions on the weekends. I would edit at night, sleep a few hours and then be back up to go to my assisting job. I did this for about 3 years, then eventually I felt confident enough to take a leap of faith and work my assisting job part time, and then about one year after that I took another leap of faith and turned my side hustle into my full time business. I am a believer of what you put out into the universe you get back, and so I put out that I was going to build the business enough to be able to go full time, and then I worked to get the work to make it happen. Over the years as it built I would go from getting a couple of clients a month, to one a week, then there would be dips with barely anything and so forth. When it was slow I would shoot for myself so I was still creating and learning. Eventually, I would raise my prices to be a more sustainable business and it slowly but surely built from there.

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

I get my clients through a range of different sources but the biggest has been word of mouth. A happy client refers their friends, or they post an image from our session to social media and their friend then gets in touch. This is how I have found a lot of my clients. I also have clients that find me through google, so keeping your website up to date and making sure it really shows your style is important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elsierosephotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elsierosephotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elsierosephotography/#

Image Credits
Elsie Rose Photography