We recently connected with Sierra Campbell and have shared our conversation below.
Sierra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.
There are two main things I would’ve done differently now that I have the hindsight.
One thing I wish I would’ve done faster was dive in to specific education. Once I took the leap to study under other world-famous newborn photographers, my skill level increased dramatically. The same thing goes for sales. I consider myself much more of a creative person than a sales person (and prided myself on that) so I really avoided any sales-based training… which was stupid. I should’ve taken a sales class at the very beginning because not only did it help streamline my whole process, but I believe it has made my services a more enjoyable experience for my clients.
The second thing I would’ve done differently was not spreading myself too thin. I see a lot of photographers do this – charging too little for their services so they hardly make a living and then get so busy that their entire life is centered around shooting and editing. Having a balance is key – for my family, and my mental health and also to keep myself engaged and loving what I do.
I found myself losing my love for photography when I was spread too thin and my creativity and customer service suffered. Since photography is most definitely an art service, I believe it is extremely important to find ways to make sure it remains a passion and doesn’t turn into just a job. For me, this was to learn how to say no to jobs that weren’t interesting to me and to cap how many shoots I booked per month.
Sierra, 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?
I grew up with a photojournalist dad and a creative go-getter mom. My dad was always going on all kinds of different shooting assignments for the newspaper, including most of the winter Olympics and many different local sporting events. Some of my earliest memories are working alongside my dad in the dark room, developing the negatives, exposing the paper, moving it through the developer and fixer, and then hanging it to dry. The smell of developer, fixer, and newsprint will no doubt bring me right back to my childhood.
I spent many years on the sidelines with my dad, helping shoot University of Utah football or basketball games. A few other cool photography moments I had with my dad was when I took a photo of Chad Hedrick qualifying for the Olympics and my image was published in the newspaper. Another time I got to spend the day assisting my dad as the still photographer on a shoot with Jennifer Aniston while Animal Planet filmed a piece with her and grizzly bears.
Later, when I was well into my photography career, I had the privilege of being the photographer at a few different private concert events: Goo Goo Dolls, Blues Traveler, and also Crosby, Stills & Nash.
I have always been drawn to photography and it felt comfortable to me, I took classes in high school and was my dad’s understudy but at that point, it was just a hobby. I graduated from the University of Utah with a communications degree, but after a few years in public relations and advertising, I just wasn’t feeling fulfilled. I also wanted to create an environment where I could be self-employed and raise my kids at the same time.
At first, I started taking pictures for family and friends and the word just spread from there. It’s crazy for me to reflect on the fact that it’s been nearly two decades since I started, and almost my entire business has been built on a foundation of referrals.
I officially started taking pictures for profit about 18 years ago. I pretty much started with every genre but focused mainly on families and kids. I also did a handful of boudoir photo shoots for young women getting married, and once those women started having babies they asked me to do their newborn photo shoots. Over the years I started realizing I was very good with newborns and that it was a very unique niche to be in. I started mentoring under some of the best newborn photographers in the world and learning all of the little tricks and making adjustments along the way. Slowly that started to become what I was known for (although I still do family and children portraits), as newborn photography is not something every photographer can pull off successfully. I believe that newborn photography is about 40% photography and 60% baby handling!
Over the years I have fine-tuned how I do business, and it is my goal to make it one of the best experiences of those first few weeks of new life. I control every aspect of my studio environment from sanitation, light, sound, temperature, etc. to resemble the womb as closely as possible. I have a huge collection of hats, headbands, outfits, props, backdrops, etc. and I meet with each client beforehand to help them design the shoot to their specific taste.
After the shoot, my clients help me design beautiful heirloom albums or portrait boxes, meant to last hundreds of years. Especially coming from an era of film photography, I appreciate the idea that the photos that mean the most to you will be tangible in your hands and not lost on a computer and never seen.
Random fact, but I’ve created a tradition (without really meaning to!) of doing a fun, wildly photoshopped family holiday card every year. This year will be year eight!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Having four of my own children, newborn photography was natural for me. Then a handful of years ago, one of the best OB/GYNs in the area (Newport Center Women’s Health) asked if she could use my art to decorate her office. I was very humbled and flattered and it has been one of the best partnerships I have ever been in, both business-wise and friendship-wise. Their entire office is decorated with my images, and they put a pamphlet in every new mom’s folder. They are a great group of women and I feel like we jive well.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It sounds cheesy, but capturing these fleeting moments with an image so good that you feel like you can reach in the photo and touch your child is something I’ve grown to appreciate more and more as time goes on and those moments are over. We all have a million cell phone pictures, but when you take the time to shoot with a really good camera / good lighting / good angles / good editing etc, the product becomes something entirely different. Obviously I’ve helped people capture the newborn stage, which is such a unique and fast part of life, but I’ve also been with my clients through some of the worst times of their lives, including the passing of loved ones. I had never truly felt the weight and value of a really good portrait until then.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sierracampbellphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sierracampbellphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sierrasmartcampbellphotography
Image Credits
Sierra Campbell Photography