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

Sally, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

My photography career started many years ago.  In college I did not only complete assignments but I took time to reflect on my surroundings visually so my work encorporated a broader viewpoint than just my own. That statement may sound vague, but as an artist in whatever form you chose to express your skills toward,  there is more than a natural talent that helps you succeed. From a student perspective to growing into a professional in your field, the strongest element needed to succeed is understanding who your audience will be to hire your services. When I teach students now, I ask them to look at their careers in photography as a service industry. Photography is a luxury and not a necessity. Remembering that fact will help you succeed because you will look at your service through the eyes of your client.
Let me explain further. Never assume that clients will want your skill  and have to hire you, you need to make them want to hire you because you are good at what you do.  Clients will want your service as a photographer because you understand what their viewpoint is. “Look through their eyes”  when you start a photography business.
Another important aspect to succeeding in a service industry, like photography, is being a skilled business person. Natural talent takes you only so far. You have to manage your business, know why you charge what you do and be able to be reliable to deliver the finished product well and on time.
A good photographer is passionate about photography and that will show in how you work with clients and in the final result.Be willing to learn and improve continuously. Acquiring technical skills is just the beginning. You will need artistic vision and be able to tell a story with your camera. This takes time and perseverance until it becomes the only way you do business.

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?

Sally is a professional photographer with over 40 years’ experience spanning both publishing and small business studio ownership. Sally travelled as a photojournalist and her work has been published thousands of times in magazines and books. Her expertise illustrates competency in studio and location lighting, coordinating with writers, publishers, and editors.
As a small business owner, Sally has been managing clients through social media, website, and Branding expertise to be distinctive in the crowded workplace of small business owners. Her knowledge and creation of Visual Branding has helped distinguish her as a photographer and allows her to help others.
She has a BFA in Advertising and Communication Design.

Sally Ullman began her career as a professional photographer first in publishing as a photographer and as a photo editor for Bicycling magazine and a contributor for many national magazines and books. Her photography in publishing spanned many subjects. Subjects that required knowledge of lighting both in the studio and on location, including sports photography, travel, corporate portraits, and food photography expertise. The results included many magazine and book covers and knowledge of large-format cameras.

After 17 years, Sally opened her own portrait studio on 3 acres in Pennsylvania, including an indoor and outdoor studio. She was shooting as many as 600 assignments a year, including food photography, families, and children.

Today, after moving to Florida 10 years ago, she has now increased her Branding Photography specialty, which includes corporate and business clients along with portraits, weddings, and mentoring new photographers all over the country.

Sally Ullman offers Professional Photography in the studio or on location for Business headshots, Branding, Real Estate, Family & Children Portraits, Engagement and Small Wedding, Beach, Graduation, Maternity and Newborn, Lifestyle, Product, Food & Pet Photography

Photography for the Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and surrounding areas. Sally can be reached at 941-301-8926

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My career needed to shift when I decided to have a family. I continued to work full time for many magazines and books with the publishing company I started my career as a professional photographer with but after the birth of my first child, I decided to make change. I wanted to have the best of both worlds, professionally and personally, so I was fortunate to present the option of working at my photography job part time. The other days of the week, I was learning to be a Mom and thinking about how this new aspect of my life, being a mother, created other opportunities for me in the business world.

I started photographing my own child and at that time, pregnancy, newborns, natural light and nudity (done very professionally and with class) did not exist very much in suburbia. First my friends and other young Moms took notice to my work. My reputation grew that I was skilled, compassionate and a professional photographer and a new portrait business blossomed for me. Eventually the portrait business grew so much that I switched to doing it full time and became a self employed professional photographer with a booming home business!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Having the tenacity to work through the highs and lows of a new business takes much strength and persistence. You learn that every day is different and that being your own boss requires discipline and vison. I never seemed to want to be anything but a business person that strove for outstanding recognition in my field as a professional photographer.

This is about the passion and setting goals you need to succeed.

If doing your best while working your business to fit into a community is what clients want from you and this is where your passion lies, you will succeed. Succeeding also requires flexibility in your schedule and in your outreach within a community that you want to do business with. In the beginning of my business there was no social media. Websites were just beginning to exist after about 10 years from when I started, so change on my part was necessary and I stayed focus on the goal.
the goal meant to staying in touch with trends in my business and finding ways to meet people and get my name known. This resilience means seeking outreach to many other businesses to align with yours for promotion and helping others.

I volunteered my work frequently to help other businesses and the payback was always visible in the business they gave back to me. There were days with no work and then weeks with so much work, I couldn’t keep up.
Remember to chose to do what you love to do and the struggle to stay in business will not seem so difficult. Be ready to change yourself and your business model to adapt to the business that is available for your expertise.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sallyullmanphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridafamilyphotos/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SallyUllmanPhotographyStudio/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyullmanphotography/

Image Credits
All photos copyright by Sally Ullman Photography