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

Hi Tera, thanks for joining us today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

I don’t necessarily donate a portion of my sales, but I do a lot of volunteer work with my photography. I help out a local cat rescue. I take photos of the adoptable cats and make cute photos to catch people’s attention when scrolling. I also do photoshoot for holidays and the money goes toward helping the rescue. We are doing several Christmas photo session with Santa and “The Mean One” People can bring pets, or family and get a 5×7 to take home.

I used to volunteer with a local church taking photos of events, baptisms, and photos for social media content. I also went on a mission trip to Kenya and took photos of the trip to share with the church in hopes of getting donations and more volunteers.

It’s just one way I use my talents to help others in need. It’s important to give back to the community I live and work in. I am blessed to have the life I do, and hope to make a difference and leave a lasting mark on the world.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Tera Jones, I’ve been a photographer for about 8 years. I started by taking photos of my kids. When I would share photos and friends started asking for family photos. I slowly started getting clients and I realized this is what I was meant to do. I love my job.

Sometimes you will meet my assistant, my husband John. We have been married for over 24 years and have two sons (23 & 20) You may see them as my models from time to time.

When I’m not taking photos I enjoy dancing, kayaking, traveling and crafting. I also organize a volunteer group, Crafting for a Cause – Low Country. We craft things to donate to our community. We have supplied over 8,000 masks at the start of the pandemic, we make blankets for shelters, bags for foster kids, presents for nursing homes, and so much more. We also teach classes to give people the skills needed to help. My goal in life is to make this world a better place.

I do portraits, family, and kids photography but my passion is styled creative shoots. I love out of the box themes and photos. I enjoy letting my creativity run wild and see what happens. I look forward to continuing to improve, learn and see what I can accomplish next.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I have learnt that money isn’t what most important. Providing a service and product that I’m proud of, is more important to me than money. I’ve also learned to know my worth and not be afraid to charge that and stand by it.

I have a price for my work and sometimes people will try to “make a deal” to get more for less money. I’ve turned them down. Yes, I lost money by not making the sell, but I can hold my head high and know that I am worth the price I ask and if they aren’t willing to pay for it, then they are not my client.

I had someone ask me to photograph a wedding. I quoted her a price and she just couldn’t understand the breakdown and said I was charging to much. I told her “thank you for calling, but I don’t think I’m the right fit for the job. Good luck.”

It seems to me that most people don’t understand everything associated with photography. They think that I buy my camera, so it’s not costing me money to take their photos. They are VERY wrong.

There are so many expenses that most people don’t think about. Wear and tear on your gear is just a small part. I have to pay for my website, domain name, editing software, photography sales sites, business licenses, insurance, continuing education, taxes, credit card fees, business expenses like business cards, flyers, advertising, the list goes on. A lot of booking sites also take a commission, so a percentage comes right off the top. All these things need to be factored in before you even think about all the time it takes. A photo session may only last 60 minutes, but I had to take time to answer emails and inquiries, make contracts and invoices, then editing takes a huge bulk of time. A shoot with almost no editing needed takes 2-3 hours. That’s to upload photos, go through them to find the best ones, and then upload to photo site for you to preview. If there’s any kind of editing involved that tacks on hours more time. At the end of the day, I’m not making that much money from the photo session. If I want to make any profit, I need to sell you additional items after the photo session.

With cell phones and everyone having a camera in their hand, people don’t value photographers or photographs the way they used to. Most people don’t even print out photos anymore. They live in your electronic devices and probably aren’t even looked at or appreciated much.

Professional photographers are not as valued or appreciated as they once were.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

My goal is to create art that is unique and different and hopefully inspires others to think outside the box and try new things. I’m always trying to think of new concepts that haven’t been done a million times before.

One example is when I glued googly eyes all over my model’s face. There was a big incident in my city where someone put googly eyes onto a statue. It made national news about how it was graffiti and vandalization. It was so stupid and silly to me. I was like, someone needs to cover their whole face with googly eyes. Just like that, an idea was born. I’m extremely lucky to have models that are down for all my crazy ideas. So we try it out and see if we can make it work. We can usually accomplish what we set out to do, it’s not always how we imagined it, sometimes it’s better and sometimes we have to try a different approach. I like to make a lot of my own props and sometimes clothing for my photos.

One project I started was “The Unusual Dress Project” We made dresses and outfits out of recycled and unusual items. I photographed them and we did some some runway shows and festivals.

The main thing is to keep trying and always be willing to learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twocraftycats.com
• Instagram: @TwoCraftyCatsGA
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/twocrafty cats
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/two-crafty-cats-photography-pooler?osq=two+crafty+cats+photography

Image Credits
Brandice Hughes Tyler Jones Ashley Edwards Nova Ashley Donahue