We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Swanson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most
essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Photography is the process or practice of creating a photograph. 3.3 million photos are taken every single minute, according to the latest statistics on photutorial.com. With that many images being produced you may be wondering how you begin to take images that make you stand out and, more importantly, get paid for your work. As a professional photographer with over 15 years of experience ‘getting paid’ for my work, I am going to share with you some advice I wish I would have known to give myself when I first got started.
Let’s begin with the basics- how I learned photography. Photography, like any skill, improves with practice. However, photography is unique in the sense that it is not a black and white skill, unless we are discussing monochrome photography, which in this instance we are not. Photography is an art. Art is defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” I learned the art of photography through what started as a passion for capturing what I deemed as beautiful moments and scenes in my young life. I grew up in a family which documented traditional family moments such as vacations, ballet recitals, birthdays, and holidays with disposable cameras and handheld (on your shoulder) boxy camcorders. By the time I was a freshman in high school the dream sparked to make photography my career goal, but I did not know how yet.
As a result, I decided I needed to learn more about photography formally and enrolled in my first junior college night course, Photography 101. I learned how to use my dad’s 1990’s AE-1 Canon film camera properly and started with landscapes as my subjects. Landscape photography is a very common place to get started with understanding your camera, because you do not have to deal with subjects, like models or animals, that will add challenging elements to your photo taking process.
Additionally, understanding natural lighting will help you down the road in studio photography. Learning how to use an analog camera is the best first piece of advice I can give to anyone trying to get started as a professional photographer. Once you understand the mechanics of a camera, you can spend more time thinking about the art and less about the process.
The second piece of advice, as cheesy as it is, is believe in yourself. I wasted a lot of years I could have been growing as a photographer trying to fit into boxes others thought I should, since I did not believe in my abilities to become a professional photographer initially. Coming from a small town, the youngest of four, and first to go to college out of my siblings, I didn’t have a lot of hope leaving the nest that I could become a professional photographer. The initial story I believed was that getting into college was a big deal already and throwing away my opportunity to get a degree by focusing on an artistic subject, like photography, was too risky. Therefore, it was not a straight shot. I transferred to three different colleges and changed my degree three times, before I gave into what my heart was telling me all along, which was to focus on photography. My pivotal moment of belief was when I started working a part time job for a sport photography company while in college. The man who owned the company initially got his doctorate in chiropractic medicine. He was top of his graduating class and gave up his very successful practice to pursue a business he started as a weekend hobby, because he was making more as a photographer than a doctor. Like the doctor turned photographer, a lot of the best photographers I know did not get a degree in photography; but they did make huge sacrifices to gain success as a photographer.
Regardless of how you start your journey to becoming a professional photographer, my third piece of advice, maybe the simplest, just get started! Like I mentioned at the beginning, photography is a skill and skills need to be practiced especially if you want to make money using said skill. If you are not sure what type of photography you want to focus on yet, that is ok. I was not sure either and tried many categories before I figured out what I was most passionate about. Learning more genres of photography will benefit you in the long run, because you will have several avenues to make money as a freelance photographer vs. being hyper focused in just one category. As an example, if you are an outstanding wedding photographer and something unimaginable happens, like a pandemic, and you now find yourself out of work, you may need to pivot to other types of photography, like product, to maintain your income. However, even if you are an amazing wedding photographer, a company may overlook your submission to their product photography posting due to your lack of ability to show them relevant work.
To that point, piece of advice number four: becoming a professional photographer is possible, but it is competitive. Standing out amongst the competition requires a beautiful portfolio of relevant work; but it is also extremely important to leave a positive impression everywhere you go. There is an unfortunate reputation in the professional photography world I try very hard to not fall into. Maybe this reputation came about, because deep down most photographers are sensitive artists at their core and professional photography is unstructured like a standard professional job. Nevertheless, I have heard it from clients and fellow industry professionals time and time again; “typical photographer, they haven’t responded to my email, and it’s been a week,” or “they were rude because they didn’t like the feedback the creative director or bride’s mom gave them about their work.” This behavior can lead to bad reviews, and bad reviews equals a quick death to a professional photography career!
Be punctual, be reliable, be flexible, be open to feedback, but most of all be kind! There is not a single photographer who was born into success, they all started somewhere and probably worked for free to get their portfolio and industry knowledge at the beginning. Even when I was in a position in my career where I was sorting through resumes and portfolios to pick photographers for assignments I was managing, I never forgot where I started and how I dreamed to be successful one day. I am always patient when coaching new photographers under my direction whether I am in a role on set as an art director or managing a creative team. I am not better because I have more experience in years than the next photographer, I am not more talented because I have been paid to deliver work for many well-known brands or because I have experience leading a creative team. That is not how it works in the photography world. I am successful because: I foster positivity, am reliable and have practiced my skill relentlessly since the start of my journey.
Piece of advice number five, once you do start getting paid, whether it be a weekend hustle or a full-time career, get a separate work bank account. Organizing your finances is equally as important as believing in yourself. Financially I use a specific account that caters to supporting small businesses. Finance is not a subject that brings me joy, but it is critical to be organized when owning your own business. I also have a personal CPA I use to help me with taxes. Anything that takes away from me creating what I love is worth outsourcing. Remember time is money!
Final piece of advice, get out of your own way! you must check yourself at the door each day you step out to chase that goal or dream. You are only going to be as successful as you allow yourself to be. Don’t let fear, pride or your ego get in the way. For the longest time I wanted to be a freelance photographer but feared I would not have enough traction to succeed if I took the leap of faith and left my 9-5. Within one month of stepping into freelancing full-time, I had over a dozen leads from the connections I had built over the past decade. It was my pride that tricked me to believe the untrue story I was told by doubters in my life, that I could not be successful in this industry therefore stunting my future, where I became a photographer anyways. It was my ego that held me back from leaning into opportunities to learn from a peer about a topic they knew more knowledge about than me. Remember it is not your peers, it is not your client, it is not your camera, or your spouse, holding you back. Your growth and success are always in your control. Looking back, if I could tell my younger self one thing, I would say, change your mindset to foster curiosity, because the only limitation to becoming a master of a skill is yourself.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
For those of you who did not read my first interview with Voyager- I am a skilled freelance visual storyteller proficient in all styles of brand photography, visual strategizing, and art directing. I am experienced at guiding a brand from start-up to IPO and building teams and studios. I am passionate about production design, art direction and photography for active lifestyle and retail brands. Throughout my career, I have been recognized as an artistic leader with the ability to inspire and support individual creativity while driving organizational goals.
Although I spent most of my professional career as a photographer and creative team leader in house for a brand, I recently departed. I am now chasing after a bigger life goal which is owning my own photography business full time: SJ Life Photography. I am currently taking on new brands, businesses, and clients to collaborate with in helping grow their photography departments, teams, or simply delivering creative content. I am currently open to all opportunities, big, small, and in-between, as I transition into full time freelance. That includes engagement sessions, corporate events, model portfolio building, food, and beverage, you name it. The one unique note to understand about my style before considering a collaboration with me is my work will tell a story. Even if it is just one image, I will capture the personality of the couple, the energy of a crowd or the vibrancy and softness of a brand’s fabric through my work. This is what has set me apart and how I see the world through my lens.
If you want to collaborate please do not hesitate to reach out to me on my ‘Let’s Work Together’ tab at the top of my website, sjlife.photography. I would be excited to hear from you!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Resilience is one of my favorite words. Instead of highlighting one instance I felt resilient, I want to share what I think is the bigger picture to resiliency. Resilience is what I have learned to embody not only on my journey to becoming a photographer professionally, but throughout my journey and I will continue to embody a resilient mindset in my future endeavors too. Resilience is a choice. It is a word, that’s meaning, I believe is needed to harness a successful entrepreneurial mindset. Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.
Resilience is key to being successful in any business, but especially in a successful photography business. Throughout my journey, I have experienced moments that haven’t always gone the way I hoped. There have been times when I found myself facing a fork in the road or dam in my river, whatever metaphor relates best. My point is resilience is not a one-time occurrence it is a mindset. It is a daily choice. It is still getting out of bed at 6am, when you were laid-off, to treat finding a new job as your new full-time job, instead of sleeping the day away and wallowing in your sorrow. It is tough to be resilient, but it is the only way to success. I don’t like to use the word failure, because I think when things do not end up as planned, in business, (i.e., if you did not financially gain), you most likely gain value in a lesson along the journey.
There are moments I can reflect on leaning into resilience. For example, not losing steam when I lost a job bid because another photographer’s bid was better. Instead going right back out there and bidding again on another job. Another time was when I had to take on more work outside my role, because a team member quit unexpectedly. I have had to learn a new skill to stay in the game, and I have had to wake up each day and remind myself of how valuable I am even after being laid off, from a company who did not see the value in me anymore for their company. Resilience is key, and only you can use that key to unlock your potential.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
If you have ever worked with me this will not come as a surprise. The goal and mission driving my creative journey is passion. I am a passionate person in general, but especially when it comes to my work. Therefore, my main mission is to keep building on the goal of finding a way to continue doing the work that makes me happy so I can keep sharing my passion with the world.
I believe when someone is truly happy in the work they do, it attracts more work and more people who want to work with you. I love working with people who are thirsty to learn and better themselves genuinely. They are not in it for the money, or in it to be better than anyone else. The way I choose to chase my goals is to make it my mission to be better than I was each new day from the previous day. That could be done by learning something new about lighting, trying a new approach to make my editing process more efficient, helping a new brand out through consulting work, listening to a new book or podcast to expand my mind, attending a networking event, you name it. I believe my journey, even 15 years into it, is truly just getting started. Success doesn’t come in a few years; it comes slowly and over decades. Patience is required. I try to pay it forward, instead of expecting to be paid back. I bring a smile and an extra coffee to pass out on set when I arrive ten minutes early to a call time. Just being better than I am expected to be is how I like to operate my business. It is a lot of work to go that extra mile, but if you do it, you will be repaid ten-fold with recommendations and positive reviews.
No matter where you are in your journey, goal setting is critical and should be unique to your business. Do not try to copy and paste, it won’t work. Figure out what gets you out of bed or gets you excited then set goals to achieve it. Make that your mission. I will end with one last thing someone shared with me that I have been reminding myself since my start, to never forget. If it scares you or makes you nervous, you’re doing something right, because comfort doesn’t foster growth. Challenge equals change. Keep doing what you find exciting, keep growing, stay curious, but most of all, get started!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sjlife.photography/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjlifephotography/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-swanson-a587235b/
Image Credits
https://www.sjlife.photography/