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

Hi Megan, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I didn’t actually know I wanted to pursue a creative career path until I was in my 30s! I was always more of a math and science person, and I previously worked in environmental conservation and in public health.

Photography had been a hobby of mine since high school – I went through a ton of disposable Kodak cameras taking photos of my friends, and when I got my first point and shoot camera I filled it with a million photos of flowers and sunsets. I never took a formal photography class, but just enjoyed capturing candid moments of my friends and the beauty that I found in nature.

Fast forward to 2015 when I was planning my wedding! As I spent countless hours poring over photographers’ websites to decide who I wanted to photograph my big day, I was drawn to those same things I’d always loved to take pictures of – the fun, candid moments and the beautiful scenery! I’d never considered photography as a potential career path until I saw all of these wedding photographers making a living this way.

I spent the next year in research mode. I upgraded to a nicer DSLR camera and read every photography book and watched every photography YouTube video I could find. I reached out to friends of mine and asked them to model for me. And as more of my friends learned about my hobby turning to a business, I eventually had two separate friends ask me about photographing their weddings. I ended up photographing both of those weddings (for free!) in 2016, and things took off from there! Once I had two weddings under my belt and shared them to my blog and social media, I started having strangers reach out and book me for their weddings (and started getting paid haha). When that first couple booked me who weren’t friends of mine, that’s when I had a real “wow, maybe I could actually do this as a job” moment. By 2018 I was booking consistently enough that I was able to take the leap and quit my day job!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a wedding photographer based in the DC/Northern Virginia area, and I specialize in colorful, candid photos. I always take those classic posed photos and pictures of the decor and details too, but my favorite thing is capturing all of the people and moments throughout the wedding day. I pride myself on my ability to make clients feel comfortable in front of the camera, so it’s more like they’re hanging out with a friend than having formal photos taken.

My other specialty is dogs! So of course I love it when couples involve their fur babies in their engagement photos and wedding days. I always carry treats and a squeaky toy to help pups perform their best and convince them to look at the camera!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

One of the biggest things I’d love to see our society do to support artists, creatives, and other small business owners is improved access to affordable healthcare! Health insurance for someone who is self employed can be astronomically expensive, and many people have to work another more traditional job in order to have affordable coverage. I wouldn’t have been able to quit my day job to pursue photography full-time if I wasn’t able to get health insurance through my husband. I’d love it if EVERYONE could afford healthcare, no matter what career path they’ve chosen.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Getting involved with networking groups has been a huge help for my business, and I wish I’d known about all of them earlier! I’ve joined local groups for photographers, wedding professionals, and general small business owners/creatives and I’ve made so many great connections and friendships through every one. There are meetups and educational events, and active Facebook groups with helpful discussions. It can be isolating working by yourself, so it’s nice to feel like you have a group of co-workers that you can ask questions to or bounce ideas off of!

Contact Info:

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