Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rinat Halon Neal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Rinat, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

When people say to me ‘ Wow! You succeeded overnight!’ I answer: ‘ Yes, but 25 years is a long, long night. I’ve been making a living as a professional photographer for over 25 years, and at first, naturally, it was far from easy. If I could do it over again I would invest in a great mentor and business coach in my field immediately. Yes it can get expensive, but looking back I believe it’s the best investment in a business starting up and best possible shortcut to success – learning from someone who has been there and done that successfully. I made it happen through tenacity and dedication to learning and growing – both in the business of photography, and the art of photography. I was willing to put in the time, I interned for 4 years with two different photographer, and I learned how to shoot any photography style and didn’t stick to ‘my style’ only, but became much more versatile for my client’s. I still keep taking continuing education classes in photography and keep developing my craft – there is always more to learn. I also understand this is a business first – and I treat it as such – creating a business plan yearly, having goals set up and a plan on how to reach these goals.

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 am an award winning Craftsman Photographer, Certified Professional Photographer, Creative Director, Author, Speaker & coach. ‍

I was raised in both Tel Aviv and Columbus Ohio. My professional career started at 16 when I became a child actress-singer on a hit Israeli television show. At 18 I joined the Israeli military and served for 2 years after passing the competitive auditions to serve at the USO branch as an entertainer.
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I graduated from The Ohio State University with a personalized honors degree in Photography & Visual Merchandising. For my degree she researched and wrote a thesis about the influence of Photography on purchasing behavior – which 8 years later became the basis to our one of a kind Personal Branding Photography system we offer our business clients.
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I photographed internationally, portraits of high-ranking government official & celebrities, weddings, culinary, high fashion, jewelry, architecture and more. My photographs appeared in magazines and exhibits internationally. Five of my photographs were chosen to be part of the permanent collection of the Israeli congress. I was awarded a “Superior Artist” award in Israel and Distinguished Honor in the Florida Professional Photographers Print Competition.
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Today I have s studio in Apopka Florida where we captures family, beauty and high school senior portraits. We also specialize in helping businesses separate from their competition by creating personal branding photographs for their advertising and marketing needs.‍

I hold a PPA Craftsman Degree and am a Certified Professional Photographer and an inspirational keynote speaker. Recently I was elected to serve on the PPA Council. I taught photography at Rollins College Center for Lifelong Learning and at professional photography guilds around the world, as well as coached photographers on how to set up their photography business for success.

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I am the author of the basic photography book “What’s wrong with my camera?”

What separates us from the competition is our commitment to excellence combined with a friendly personality and calm demeanor that makes us a preferred choice by many returning clients who trust us as their family photographer and commission us again and again to capture their many lives’ special moments. Our most important values are to provide a high end personalized service and products to our clients who feel valued and appreciated as we turns every portrait session into an easy, fun and lovely experience while creating beautiful one of a kind heirloom portrait art.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

For the past 25 years the only initial capitol I borrowed was from my dad and an angel friend – $5000 each. If I want to purchase new equipment I do market research, find out the cost – and save for it. Once I have the money saved up – I purchase it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to show people how beautiful they truly are through their images. Showing my clients that being ‘photogenic’ is a myth and that we are all photogenic when the right photographer is capturing the portrait. I absolutely love empowering people through my camera. Often we get in the studio people who have stayed away from the camera for years in fear of hating their pictures. Watching the joy of a client who understands for the first time they are truly beautiful just the way they are – never gets old.

Contact Info:

• Website: rinathalon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rinathalon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RHPCC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rinathalon/
• Youtube: @themindfulphotographer

Image Credits
Rinat Halon