We recently connected with Lindsey Bundschuh and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lindsey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I guess our journey with photography started about 15 years ago… initially wedding photographers, we started shooting with minimal gear, confidence and education. But we loved to take pictures and had such great feedback from sharing our personal images so we were asked to capture friends weddings. ” Fake it to make it” was our initial motto. It always worked out, we had a lot of fun shooting these celebrations and I think not only our images but our personalitys were key into growing our client list. We shot weddings all over the world, Norway, Mexico, Hawaii, Portland, you name it. We were booked solid for years in advance, earring a sustainable income during our summer months. With my previous education and background in fashion I had a calling to create more on the months we had off. We started off doing shoots with friends and family, getting product and just putting it all out there. The response was more then we imagined. We landed our first Volcom campaign while on vacation in Hawaii, and from there everything else seamlessly fell into place. Ou intuition to continue in the commercial photography world came not from monetary gain but for the passion to create art, travel and share something unique. Our clients have always given us a lot off creative freedom when it comes to our work, they trust in our vision and style. One of our biggest steps in our career was creating Nordic Retreats and all women’s photography retreat. When your work becomes not only about the ego, status and money and becomes more about sharing, collaborating and serving a purpose it gives you more fulfillment and that translates in your imagery :)
Lindsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
There is no I in our photography, it always has and will be we. My twin sister and I have been co creating together since the start. Its the balance of the two of us that makes our work unique. Being unique is very important, it will emanate in your work. We have always stood by collaboration of competition and that is why we started our retreats. We have held 15 photography retreats world wide bringing like minded women together to shoot, stretch surf and share. We want the women who join our retreats to leave feeling supported, confident and have a new insight into creating not only images but art. Photography can be very lonely but when you join forces your potential expands to new places. Its important to have fun and not look at others as threats but as potential for possibilities. We have connected hundreds of women who have carried on to join forces, its been a beautiful and fulfilling experience for us. Our retreats have allowed us to capture these women in authentic environments which has translated into alot of our art work. Without intention our audience wanted to purchased these images as prints, which lead to literally thousands of print sales. My sister and I now have a passive income from our print sales which sustains our lifestyle and allows alot of freedom in what we do. That being said, multi revenue is key, dont get stuck in one product or service. When you open the opportunity for different ideas thats when the financial freedom will fall into place :)
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being an inspiration to others has held great value to us. We want not only our images but our purpose as photographers to serve as motivation for freedom, fun and femininity. Our purpose is to be of service oppose to be self fulfilling. We believe if you want something bad enough you will find a way, if not you will find and excuse. Travel, see the world, connect with others, spend more time in the ocean, surf, soak in the beauty of the sun. I think our images give the sense of those ideas and that has lead to so many sales. People want to embody our lifestyle and the images translate that.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
Covid was a turbulent time for our business. We were about to fly home from one of our retreats in Mexico when lockdown started to come in. We had sold out a retreat in LA and had planned and booked a retreat to follow in Norway. Our business was on an ultimate high and then…. No travel! Luckily for us we had just filmed an online Nordic Retreats workshop which was a huge success. We believe the universe had our back and when you plant many seeds you will always flourish.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nordic-retreats.ca
- Instagram: @nordicretreats
Image Credits
@nordicretreats