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

Alright, Michaela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I think one of the big things that a lot of photographers are told when they are first starting out, is that it’s good to work for free to “build your portfolio”. While it is true that you need to build your portfolio, I don’t think anyone should ever be working for free. Photographers – spend time organizing your own spec shoots (speculative shoots) that really portray the types of photos you want in YOUR portfolio. Even shoot product of brands that you’d love to work with, but don’t offer your photos or time to anyone else for free. This not only puts you in a position where brands will start seeing you as someone who works for free, but it also lowers the standard of pay for other photographers. Building your portfolio with spec work that you create yourself gives you more space for freedom to create what you want in your portfolio, and will give you the opportunity to practice producing and shooting without the stress of messing it up for a client.

Michaela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a land and sea adventure lifestyle and fashion photographer based on Oahu, Hawaii. I shoot mainly for brands and lean heavily into ocean lifestyle work, like surfing, diving, and outdoor island adventures. My mission is to inspire a love for nature, its playground, and the people who play in it through my work, so whether that’s photographing humpback whales in Tonga, surfers in Waikiki, or an ocean-inspired jewelry brand on the lava rocks, I love being in the natural world and sharing it through my photography.

I got into photography at a young age when I was gifted my first film camera. Since then, I’ve continued shooting film, and have also moved into digital photography and some video. Two and a half years ago, I invested in a water housing for my camera, and my entire perspective on photography changed. Being able to photograph the scenes I see while in the ocean has become one of my biggest inspirations. Around that same time was when I made the move to go full-time as a photographer for work. It’s had its ups and downs, but overall has been incredibly rewarding, not just because of the photography, but because of getting to learn the ins and outs of the business side of this industry. Working for myself and building my own business has given me a confidence I didn’t know that I had. It’s not easy, but I love it.

I love being able to bring my own style into the work that I do for brands. The most rewarding shoots are the ones where the brand lets me have more creative freedom to take their vision and create my version of it. That said, I always will go the extra mile to make sure that the work I’m creating for a brand matches their vision and identity. I love creating content for brands that inspires others to get outside and to appreciate nature.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Outreach outreach outreach! This industry is really saturated and the best way to connect with people is to take the first step and reach out! Also, follow up a few times. People are busy, and it’s not personal if they don’t respond right away. Pitching clients is kind of like dating – it has to be the right project with the right person at the right time. And if it isn’t the right time, it might be in the future, so just reach out and let them know you’re interested.

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

This is a tricky one. I know there are a lot of people who have a system for this, but to be honest, I got lucky. I went viral with a random Reel I posted of myself polar plunging in Antarctica. It had the Kendall Jenner voice on it saying “I’m literally built as an athlete, every blood test I’ve ever taken says so blah blah blah”. It took off. Some people thought it was me talking, and were arguing in the comments, so other random people were arguing back that it was a joke. I never responded to a single comment that didn’t come from someone I knew. It got 21.6M views. It was crazy. Anyway, I jumped about 5k followers after that, and since I don’t put too much pressure on it, I haven’t grown much from there, but somehow the number I’m at seems to legitimize me in the social media world a little bit. Social media is a weird thing though, I try not to overthink it too much.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://michaelarabinov.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelarabinov/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-rabinov/