We were lucky to catch up with Xinran Yue recently and have shared our conversation below.

Xinran, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

It was a small wedding session referred by a friend of mine. Before that I had tried shooting portraits and events on different occasions but as a hobby, and my major interest was on landscapes (and still is). My friends loved my photographs and gradually started referring clients to me. That’s how I found out that I do love doing candid photography and I have gained confidence from doing it since then.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Originally from east part of China, I am currently a fine-art photographer based in Colorado. I first came to Denver for my Master’s Degree and now I’m working full time as a business consultant besides my photography stuff.

I’ve had experience taking photos since 2010, when photography was first introduced to me as a hobby. Colorado has significantly inspired my potential in photography to a higher level during all these years with its stunning landscapes and unique Midwest culture. Now, with more advanced photography skills, I am very specialized in shooting different objects and topics under various light conditions. Among all, natural light is my favorite and is what I do best at. My goal is to reflect the best of what I see by my photographs, but with my own understandings. Various reviews mention that they can see stories in my works, even landscape photos, and that makes them feel warm. Others also love the oil-painting like color style, ingenious uses of light, and distinctive views in my works.

Landscapes, night photography, cityscapes, and travel photos are my favorites. However, I also enjoy observing people, and am very good at catching unnoticeable but fun and meaningful moments among crowds. I strive to deliver peacefulness, emotions, and dynamics to my audience through my photos, and I hope I can lead people to see the beauty of the world surrounding them.

Currently, all my photographs listed on my Instagram account are available for sale. If you like what I do and would like to purchase a print or digital version of any of my photographs, I would be more than glad to hear from you regarding your detailed requirements and expectations. I am also open to customize images for prints or digital media. If you are interested in discussing portrait, events, engagement or wedding sessions, please check with me for scheduling availability and rates. Like image prints, photography sessions are completely open for customization as well.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in social media or SEO but here is my story. I used to post my photographs randomly in a few different places but finally decided to build a formal photography profile to exhibit my best works. Back in 2020 I started a brand new account on Instagram and have been posting my photographs since then. It was quite a difficult process to grow a social media account to be honest, not only because of constant changes of Instagram’s algorithms, but also because it requires constant work and dedication to maintain the account and keep active. I did a lot of research as well to see what influencers suggested. The core ideas were basically the same – post good contents, be persistent, and interact with the community to create values. These worked on me. I made friends on Instagram, got featured every now and then, followers increased, and got clients sometimes. And I am still exploring. These suggestions may apply to now even though the format may need to change in accordance with social media platforms’ expectations. For example, short videos have become crazy popular in recent years due to the rise of TikTok and a lot of other social media platforms are following the trend aggressively. I do not like the change personally, but in the meanwhile, I understand the reason behind it. People have seen too many cool pictures from all over the world by all the world-class professional photographers and ordinary pictures may no longer satisfy everyone. The urge for more videos is inevitable, especially when technology makes everything easier. In spite of this, I am not going to change my style completely. I enjoy what I have been doing so far on social media, and my love and dedication will attract the same people to me. I believe that’s the most important.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Photography is still a very important part of my life after so many years. A lot of people have asked me what I love about photography. I’d say I just enjoy recording things and people I like in my life, and a camera is the most direct tool to achieve that. Even random and poorly taken photos can remind me of what was happening around me in the past, and bring back the precious memories which make me smile when I look back. When I do landscape photography, I will want to explore different spots where a lot of people may barely check or can hardly reach. I will also want to try different time periods, so that a lot of different scenes can be seen. These possibly spontaneous adventures can be a lot of fun, and encourage me to go out and explore more, not to mention that I can produce a bunch of nice pictures after my trips, and the pictures I take demonstrate my unique understandings of the world.
Kinda similar thing when it comes to portraits and events. I have taken pictures for a lot of different people in different situations. Most people are not born to be models and usually get nervous easily in front of cameras. But when I show my friends and clients how pretty they actually can be in the pictures, they get touched so much. I believe this is another purpose of photography for me – to convey my feelings to others, and have more people get impressed by the beauty of the world and the beauty in themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.aldebaranstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xy_owo/
• Other: Instagram (Portraits) https://www.instagram.com/aldebaran.photography