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

Hi Tasha, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

When I did my internship, I thought I wanted to be a food and drink photographer. I had set up my placements early in the semester, and I was so excited to start and learn so much, being on big Toronto sets with some photographers I really looked up to. I got about halfway through my four-month internship, and I was so bored on these sets, I was standing for up to 9 hours watching set and prop designers move things slightly to the left and move products millimetres to look right on camera, and I was so over it. One day, specifically, there were already two assistants on set, and I felt so unhelpful and in the way, so I went and sat and checked my email for class work for a few minutes to try and stay out of the way of being underfoot on the set, I got an email a couple of days later saying they were ending my internship early, after I apologized they still didn’t want me back on set. In the moment, I was so upset, I cried for days thinking my career was over (it hadn’t even started!), I had to go back for my fourth year and face all my classmates; it was all fine, I just learned I hated food photography and didn’t want to work on big commercial sets. It was too much stress for me!

Tasha, 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?

Hi, I’m Tasha! I’m an Ontario-based portrait and branding photographer. I am currently based in Kingston, Ontario, specifically, but I love travelling from Ottawa through to the western GTA to shoot. I love to play with colour and light in my photography, creating fun, vibrant photos. I think especially in my area of Ontario, it makes my work stand out from other photographers. I started photography when I was about 12 years old, mainly focusing on landscapes and florals. While I was getting my Bachelor’s of Photography at Sheridan College, I fell in love with portraiture specifically, which I always think is so funny considering I always said up until the end of my third year that I would never be a portrait photographer! I based my brand mainly around empowering women and women-owned businesses, making them feel comfortable and like their most authentic, beautiful selves. I love connecting with my clients. I feel like every time I do a shoot, I leave with a new friend!

Have you ever had to pivot?

In my internship before my fourth year, I had signed up to work with some known food and drink photographers in Toronto, thinking that was what I wanted to shoot. Halfway through, I got super bored and decided it wasn’t for me. I then made a mistake on set and was asked not to return. I had no idea what I was going to do! I went back to school in the fall and had to start coming up with ideas for a thesis and narrative projects, all while trying to figure out what kind of photography I wanted to shoot. I decided to make the pivot to portrait photography and threw myself into it for all of my fourth year, learning everything I could with the little time I had left with access to all the resources the college had. I never regret that lesson I learned that summer, and I am so grateful for the pivot I had to take to be the photographer I am now.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Making women feel happy, confident, and beautiful! I pride myself on my ability to connect with so many different people and make all of them feel like we’ve known each other forever. Personally, I am the worst person to take photos of because I hate how I look most of the time. I always want to take that feeling away from my clients and help them rediscover a love for themselves and the bodies they’re in. Everyone is beautiful to me! I also love seeing how people react when they get their final photos, reading their words of excitement and how happy they are with the photos is one of my favourite things, then when they make one of my photos their profile photo on social media, I get butterflies every time!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tashanormanphotography.com
• Instagram: @tasha.norman.photography
• Other: Tiktok: @tasha.norman.photography

Image Credits

Tasha Norman Photography