We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tonya Civiello. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tonya below.

Hi Tonya, thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Sometimes I look back and wish that I would have started this business so many years prior. Namely, when I was living in the Orlando area, living my dream of being able to go to Walt Disney World and Universal whenever I wanted to. Had I started my photography business in Florida, my life would be vastly different than it is today.

Unlike in Michigan, Florida allows the opportunity for weddings and elopements year round. Between the locals and the tourists, business would have always been flourishing and financial problems would have been scarce. During my time in Florida with my wife, money was always tight as we were living on a Disney salary (which let’s face it, isn’t very much). We faced many financial struggles and fell on our face repeatedly. Starting my business would have saved us without a doubt and most likely, we would still be there to date.

With that said, looking back, if I had the chance to rewrite my life and start my business down there, I would always choose the way it panned out in my current life. Without us falling on our face in Florida, my family would have missed out on the birth of my son and watching him grow up. Most importantly, my grandpa; my role model and reason I even love photography, would have missed out on the year and a half he had with his great-grandson and namesake. If I had chosen to start my business in Florida, so many things would be different but I wouldn’t choose that life over the one I’ve created here. After all, business is still booming, even when five months of the year is met with hardly any time with my passion. In lieu of photography in those slow months, I get to spend the most precious time with my wife, my son and my family.

So no, looking back, I wouldn’t change a single thing because everything in my life up until now has shaped who I am and how I run my business today.

Tonya, 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?

Hello! My name is Tonya Civiello and I am the owner and founder of C’est La Vie Photographie (CLV Photographie, for short).

I started this company in 2018 just three months after giving birth to my son. Photography had always been my passion, since I was just a young girl, but in 2018, I decided to take the leap and allow my first love to become a career. At first, I didn’t think it would go anywhere and I pursued it as a hobby. By the end of 2019, I realized that I dreaded going to a normal job. I missed my child and hated missing milestones. I had photographed seven weddings that year, against the odds of thinking that nobody would ever hire me and it was only a pipe dream.

By the start of 2020, pre-pandemic, I had booked twenty-one weddings just through Facebook wedding groups alone and a few regular inquiries through my website directly. I was amazed and so, so grateful that the photography community embraced me and my clients took the chance on me. After learning the love of photography for years through my grandpa, it was so exhilarating to be able to take it pro.

I knew right away that I wanted to photograph weddings. As great as family photography is, and you meet so many special families, there is just something so pure about a wedding. It’s stressful, often chaotic and comes with so much weight on your shoulders but seeing the joy and love between clients as they wed is something beautiful most people can only dream about. My wedding clients are often times my most special clients. They allow me into their life at the very beginning and through the years, I get to watch their families grow.

I like to think that I provide a bit of stress relief going into the awful thing that is wedding planning. When my brides are stressed, no matter what time of day it is, I try to make myself available to help console their worries. Being that pillar for them is one of my favorite things about my career.

I once had a bride tell me upon my arrival that her bridesmaids kept asking what they could do for her and all she told them in response was, “I just need Tonya here. I need my photographer. She makes me feel calm and like I’m not going crazy.” Things like that are what I am the most proud of, and also maybe being chosen to be in two separate magazines now. That’s a pretty big accomplishment in itself.

Someone once said, if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life. How true that is for me. I chose this industry and I’ve never looked back.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My clients! Absolutely my clients. My couples, my families. Every single one of them are special to me and they have, undoubtedly, become the reason that my reputation has built within the photographer community of Metro Detroit – and beyond. I cannot thank any of them enough for what they have done for my business and my family.

Sometimes clients think a tip is the best way to go but quite honestly, there is nothing that beast a rave review from someone you have worked with. Through word of mouth, I have booked so many different family sessions, maternity and even weddings. Those are always the most special because my couples trusted me with their wedding enough, and loved the outcome, that they spread me around like wildfire to all of their engaged friends, coworkers, family.

Without word of mouth and positive reviews, I wouldn’t be where I am today so to them, I owe everything.

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.

In my time as a photographer, I have heard the ringer of put downs on the community. From other photographers criticizing pricing or the way someone edits or shoots, to those who may not understand what all it entails to be a photographer. The most common misunderstandings are how difficult of a career being a wedding photographer actually is.

A non-creative who has no experience of the industry often says things like:

“Oh your camera takes such great photos.”
“It must be hard to click a button all day and call it a job.”
“All you’re doing is taking a picture, it can’t be that hard.”

In reality, being a photographer is far more than just that push of a button. Not only are we responsible for a persons entire memory and making sure they don’t get damaged or misplaced, we are also responsible for the editing, the delivery, the tiring job of going through the 2000+ images we’ve taken that wedding to find the most memorable of the day. Even then, it’s so much more than the post-production. We aren’t just going to the wedding as a guest or even as a photographer.

For months prior to the wedding, we are responsible for building a rapport with our clients. We have to make sure we are creating that bond of trust with our brides and grooms (however that variation may be) before the big day. We communicate for months, sometimes at all hours of the night and day to soothe anxieties and help plan the timeline. On the day of, we are the ones who have to keep track of that timeline. We are with the bride all day, soothing any worries she has, fixing the chaos that might ensue if something starts to go wrong. On top of all of that, we, as wedding photographers, are responsible for one of the biggest milestones in a persons life.

It’s more than just the click of a button. It’s the posing, the lighting, the settings being right on the camera, the ability to have a natural smile on your clients face and yes, that click of a button. It’s the ability to be able to move fast because the days events aren’t going to wait for you to catch up to them. It’s thinking quickly on your feet because time doesn’t allow for you to pause. Even not photographing a wedding but working with kids, time is everything and someone that is a non-creative may not understand how crucial time really is in every single thing we, as people, do.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.CLVPhotographie.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/clvphotographiex
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/clvphotographie

Image Credits
Headshot by Jacklin Civiello