We were lucky to catch up with Whitney Schupp recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Whitney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I don’t think there is just one definition of success for every person. Every individual person will have their own answer to such a deep question and I respect that so much. For me, the simple answer is liking who I am as a business owner, loving the services, space, and energy I am providing and holding for my clients, loving how I am doing my job, and being proud of the results that come from my work.

I think success is a constant aspiration that I am continuously trying to pursue. Once I hit a goal to try and be successful, I create another goal to achieve to be even more successful, and another one, and so on. I think success is being in a continuous process of doing something and doing everything you can to get to what you want to be deemed as successful and achieve the goal you have set to obtain in making the life that you want. Real success is being able to maximize your potential and being able to tell yourself I’m doing the best I can. I’m setting and maintaining boundaries with my personal and business life. I’m improving every day. I am able to enjoy the process and love what I am doing and achieving.

In the photography world, I am constantly battling a state of imposter syndrome. I think most photographers are dealing with this because social media is such a huge part of all of our lives. But I use this feeling to help drive me to keep going to be better and achieve the goals I have set for myself. Being a small business owner, I want to feel special and sought out. So, it is non-stop, trying to keep up with trends, what people want for their sessions and the product they are wanting to see in their images. I focus on my main goals intently and put all of my energy into creating that to make them what I want them to be. I am continuously pushing to be better in all aspects of my business and personal life and correlating the two together and making a difference in my clients’ lives with our sessions. I think that is what it takes to be successful in business and in life.

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

I am an intimate lifestyle storytelling photographer, primarily serving Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, but I’m always up to travel and experience a new adventure. I specialize in capturing moments, creating memories, and captivating the beauty of families, couples, high school seniors, branding, mamas-to-be, kiddos, and newborns.

I have always admired the beauty and memories a photograph can contain. Growing up as a middle child, my parents often forgot to take out the camera and document some of our core memories. This pushed me to always be that person who had to take pictures of almost everything and store them away to look at another time to remember that day. This inspired me to want to get a nicer camera and learn the ins and outs of photography. I took a class through my local high school and learned the basics of photography, but when I got my first DSLR camera in my 20’s, I taught myself how to use my camera, how to adjust my settings to get the exact look I was wanting, etc. I have spent so much time watching educational videos on Youtube and working with some of my favorite photographers in the community that have mentored me to help better myself and build my career. Photography truly started as a hobby, but soon blossomed into something more for me. As I began capturing photos of friends and family upon request, I found a real passion. I fell in love with those real, raw moments that are going to be forever captured in an image. I am 4 years in and am loving every single aspect of it all.

I would say what sets me apart from others is my ability to set the vibe and energy for a session with the help of music and my enthusiastic personality. I love making my clients feel so relaxed that they release the awkwardness or anxiety of being in front of a camera and show them the photo magic we can create in our session. I love being able to show my clients my true self to help aid in making them feel more comfortable. With my ridiculous antics, I let them see my awkward and enthusiastic personality shine. Do not be surprised if, during a session with me, I begin screaming and yelling with excitement from the pictures I am capturing. I want to make sure you understand just how good you all look! And I take pride in being your hype woman.

I am proud that I put my soul and energy into every image I capture and I want my clients to feel exactly that. You are not only investing in me…I’m going to be investing my time, creativity, and love into capturing your special moments and freezing them forever in the photographs I give you. I put my blood, lots of sweat, and tears into every session. I often am so dirty after every session from rolling around on the ground to get that exact picture I want and feel that you need in your gallery. Together we are going to create memories for you to cherish forever.

While I’m always expanding the types of photoshoots I offer, I am open to all concepts, creative ideas, and adventures anywhere to capture those raw, organic, and real-time moments. I am always ready to create photo magic with clients.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spent from 2012-2020 going to college and working, graduating with multiple degrees from medical administration to becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Nothing seemed like the right fit for me. When I went to school to become an OTA, I thought this was the career for me. I was made to be a pediatric OTA, but due to unfortunate events that played out because of Covid, I never got to get my clinical fieldwork working with children to know if that was the right path for me. I see this as a blessing in disguise, though, because I wouldn’t have followed my dreams if this didn’t happen and the following life-changing moments guided me down the path to be able to pursue my dreams.

I was working in the intense Covid world as an OTA when I became extremely ill and bedridden from contracting Toxic Mold poisoning and Chronic Lyme disease, having to leave my job, and putting my career on hold to fight for my life. I spent months just trying to survive and get to the next day and was in a constant questioning state of mind. We could not figure out what was wrong with me for 9 months. Being in that constant state of questioning made me really put into perspective what I wanted to do with my life. With the world shut down around me and being stuck in bed just trying to get better, I focused on what my dream looked like. My dream was to gain education, teach and train myself how to work a DSLR camera, take on clients, and start a professional photography business that I could go full-time with. Over the past 4 years, I have done just that. I took action on those dreams and made them my reality. Each year my business grows more and more. Leaving the occupational therapy world was so difficult as I thought that was the career I was always meant to be in, but I lost my soul and my health while doing it. I miss the physical aspect of helping people achieve their goals and being creative with different therapy plans, but there is something so special about being able to provide help in the emotional, sacred aspect of images, and be creative in capturing memories for people to cherish forever.

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

When you have the ability to see real people sharing real moments together that you get to preserve in a picture for them to cherish forever…it is the most rewarding part of my job. The ability to capture raw moments that will live on through photographs for my clients forever. Capturing the beautiful chaos and the perfectly imperfect moments. It is the most rewarding aspect of photography when you can make memories while telling someone’s story and making an image not just seen, but felt.

This past year I got to personally experience the rewarding aspect of being a photographer when my world came crashing down. The week after my sister got married, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She survived 42 days after her diagnosis before she passed. When we received my sister’s wedding gallery, I scrolled through the images speechless and taken aback at the power and beauty of the images. Her photographer was able to capture pictures that we get to hold in an eternal space. She gave us images that we get to look at, remember, and cherish as the last amazing day with our mom. The power of a single photograph can hold so much. It is sacred work. And I am forever grateful for that. And even more grateful that I get to give my clients that gift.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whitneyreneephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitney.renee.photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046972016429

Image Credits
Headshot: Taken by Tigerlily Photography, edited by Whitney Renee Photography