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

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success requires hard work, dedication, and a good personal brand. In my experience, nothing has ever been handed to me. My parents worked hard to get my siblings and myself out of certain areas and I appreciate them doing that. Their drive influenced mine. Sometimes I felt as if I was the underdog but this fire inside me burned hotter whenever anyone presented doubts in my ability. I worked harder just to prove to myself that I could do it and in the process, shutting down the doubters. Photography was never supposed to become a business. I only bought a camera to take family photos and random photos of landscapes. As time progressed, I connected with people who liked being in front of the camera and this gave me more practice time. I thought I was good until a fellow photographer critiqued a photo that I was overly excited about and it humbled me. He said “there’s no separation”. I was clueless as to what that meant. I didn’t argue about the critique or feel bad. I went home and googled what he said. I researched it and learned how to prevent it from happening again. I make it a point to keep learning regularly. With all of the information that I’ve learned, I try to spread the knowledge. In some cases you’ll reach individuals who welcome the feedback and in others you will get pushback. Those who are willing to adjust often are more successful than those who are not. No one owes us anything. If we want it then we have to really work to get it. There is no point in crying that nobody wants to support your dream…it is YOUR dream and if YOU want it then YOU have to put in the work.

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

I have been a photographer for 5 years. I got deeper into portrait photography after being asked to join a modeling group. This helped me to gain access to more individuals who liked being in front of the camera. Each time I did a photo shoot I would always have takeaways. This started with adjustments needed for myself then I started noticing that I was not always getting my shots due to adjustments being needed from the model. I then started learning how to pose and direct to be able to get more of the shoots that I actually wanted. When someone works with me they typically tell me that I’m much different than some of the others that they’ve worked with due to me being able to direct and give feedback during the session.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency has been one of the main things that has helped me to build my reputation. I try to post regularly and elevate my work consistently. People see my work being shared on social media and in some cases they reshare it or they reach out to set up a session. I have built some solid relationships over the years through networking and collaborations.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I remember when I posted my first boudoir image on Facebook. I was so worried about what people would think or say and what was even worse, my mom was my friend. “Sweating bullets” was an understatement. After posting the image, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive. There were so many comments about how they loved the image and how they would love to do a shoot like that. My mom even commented on how much she loved the photo. I even had a few inboxes from other photographer’s clients stating they should have booked their session with me but they did not know it was something that I offered. Knowing that my mom had my back, I was in the clear. Ever since that moment I continued to post all genres and made a dedicated “bold” page for my boudoir work.

Contact Info:

• Website: Mgarrisphotography.com
• Instagram: Mgarrisphotography
• Facebook: Mgarrisphotography

Image Credits
Lailanni, April, Kallee, Karmen, Raven, Abby, Gabrielle, Samaiyah