We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Wallace recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

When it came to wanting to start this as a small business there was a lot that I had to consider. When I started out my Instagram that was how I was conducting all of my business at first. It was mainly friends who were supporting me and I was sharing more of the photos I took during high school at events that volunteered at. However, when it came to expanding I went through and started a Facebook page to have another platform to share photos and let people know that I am open for doing sessions with anyone who wanted photos. That got me off the ground a little bit because I was finding people who were looking for a few specific photos that I could do for a great price. As I went off to school and was taking more photos, I decided that I needed a way to share all of my information about myself, my business, and my photos. So I began working on a website. That was a lot of trial and error for me, it did take me a while to launch that, but through that, I found wonderful growth in my business because anyone could see my photos and have an easy way to get in contact with me. When it came to cap and gown season for college having my website was a great way for students and parents to look at a past sessions with ones that I had done to decide if they liked my style of photography. Taking that from ideas to reality was truly a wonderful moment for me in my growth on this dream of mine. My website is always changing around as I take more photos but it has been a great way to grow more professionally and keep all of my photos in one place for anyone to view so they can decide if they would like to choose me to capture their moment.

Samantha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Much like other people, I know with photography businesses of their own it can be hard to grow a business that is different from all of the rest. I try to keep the mood light and happy all the time. I make sure that everything I do is heavily communicated so that way everyone knows exactly what they are getting. I have been working with the camera for over 6 years now and I am always learning new tips and tricks to improve my craft. I rely heavily on the feedback from others which has proven to be beneficial to me. I am very proud of the feedback that I have gotten from others about how I run my sessions. Many have said that I do keep the sessions bright and energetic from beginning to end. If anyone has any questions about their photos I make sure to answer those questions as soon as I can. For example, I had a client who wanted a couple of the photos done in black and white so I made sure that I worked with them to do a few of them in black and white along with having the same photos in color so that way they have both options to choose from. I provide a lot of services as I have built my business, I do a lot of portraits/ seniors, cap and gowns, groups, families, headshots, and events. I even over the past season did a few engagement/ couples sessions which are always a joy. I am always willing to collaborate, I prep the night before with ideas of poses and locations to work with so that way I come into the session making sure that the time spent is used to the fullest it can be.
I hand edit all of my photos and I put them on my website in a live album with a download code that it sent to my client so that way they can download the whole album right to their phone in the highest quality possible in only a few simple steps. I try and share my most recent sessions on social media so those who are following my work can see how I am improving and what I am up to with my camera.

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

The most helpful way I have found is my testimonials on my website. Anyone who has not met me may not know how I work with others and having those gives people a personal way to see how some of my sessions have gone. Being at college there was many who knew me through taking photos or just knowing me from activities around campus. I always made it known that if they ever want photos they can always let me know and doing that helped grow my reputation as a photographer. Another way that helped me was Instagram stories, I used that to share sessions that I was editing and showing off who I was working with so that way people can see their accounts as well when they share their photos.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During my time at school Cap and Gown season does tend to get very busy. I found that taking photos, editing them, and sharing them took up a lot of my time. I had to make sure that I was on top of my school work. I created a schedule to make sure that I had time to do homework. For example: Monday through Friday: 9 am-3 pm class and school work 3:30-6 pm sessions
Saturday-Sunday: 9am-3pm sessions 5-6pm sessions
During the other times, I would make sure that I was doing homework and taking my evening to edit photos and answer any questions that people would send me. I found this to be the best way to get all of my homework done and to give me time to enjoy my days as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samanthamariephotography11.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/s.wallace_photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=samantha%20marie%20photography

Image Credits
Samantha Marie Photography