We recently connected with Meagan Lamontine and have shared our conversation below.

Meagan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

When it comes to asking friends and family to support my business, I feel like it’s most appropriate to let it happen naturally. I talk about my business and share photos on social media, it’s up to them if they want to re-post or share my work. I know my friends and family are fans of my work but I don’t want to pressure them into being my clients. I feel like they will come to me for photoshoots when they need one done but I’m not one to go out and request their support or for their business.

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

I am a professional photographer and I have been taking photos for over a decade now. I have always been interested in photography, ever since I was a kid. When I got my first DSLR camera, I wanted to take photos at concerts. I started there, taking photos mostly at EDM concerts and festivals. I did that for a couple years. When I grew out of that field, I moved into portraits. Portrait photography has been my niche for about 10 years. I love doing creative photography such as cosplay and artistic collaborations. Making art with my photography is what keeps the camera in my hand. I also love taking photos for clients such as engagement photos, senior photos, and kids. I provide a unique experience to each of my clients. I realize that everyone is different, we all have different stories to tell. I want to make sure each of my clients get a photoshoot that tells their own story. I like to capture real life and real emotions. Sometimes it seems like certain photoshoots all have a very specific look to them, I like to branch away from that and do different things with my clients.
Photography is art. There is no one size fits all formula to any photoshoot which is what I bring to the table with my sessions. I am more than willing to try new things and when my clients have ideas for poses or concepts they want to bring to life, I am listening and brainstorming ideas with them to ensure we bring it to life.
My outlook goes beyond the creative portrait sessions I mentioned above, this outlook is for all of my sessions. I want your engagement or senior photoshoot to be reflective of you and your life at the time. These are your memories and they need to showcase your time on this earth and tell your story.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started out with a Facebook page and an Instagram for my business. However, I don’t think that those two platforms give the reach needed in the fast paced world of the internet. I think that scrolling through the two feeds don’t really give your intended audience the connection required to make a fan or client out of them. Scrolling through the feeds is fast and unremarkable. You might remember a photo or post you saw for a little while, but nothing (in my opinion) leaves a lasting impression. To try to get around this, I created a Facebook group for my business. There I can interact with group members on a more personal level and it feels more like a community than like I am another faceless content creator on Facebook. In my group, I post my work, engagement posts, and questions. I like to do “small business Saturday” posts too so that my group members have a chance to show their own business and we can support each other. I like to foster a sense of community rather than “content creation” and I think a Facebook group is really helping with that.

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

What helped build my reputation within my market is being professional and trustworthy. I hear stories too often of people who worked with other photographers and those photographer never delivered their photos or were not professional with the models they worked with. I have always treated everyone I work with with respect and professionalism. My clients always get their photos back in a timely manner. My lines of communication are open too. I let my clients know if there is a delay in the turn around and I follow up before shoots to let them know I am thinking about our upcoming shoot. I think being professional, having open and honest communication, and ensuring my clients get their photos in a timely manner has helped my reputation throughout the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.darkdreamerphotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/darkdreamerphotography
• Facebook: facebook.com/darkdreamerphotography
• Other: Link to my facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2241844172623183/

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me.