We recently connected with Zahara Mehta and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zahara, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

It takes a huge time and effort commitment to be successful in owing a small business. Balancing life and work is extremely important so one doesn’t burn out professionally. Enrolling in continuing education to help refine your skills is also key. Practicing what you have learned in online or in person classes is detrimental to perfecting your craft, to be the best that you can be.

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

Newborn photography is my first love, a passion and I think it truly shows in my work. It is an incredible feeling to do what I love for a living. It is a dream job and I cherish every moment with my clients. It brings me so much joy to deliver gorgeous portraits. I grew up in Texas but eventually landed up at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. It is there I learned there what the word “style” really means and it has stuck with me over the years. I strive to maintain consistency in my work though the use of dark shadows, deep jewel tones, and rich neutrals. The subject is always my focus. Moody edits are my thing for sure and I feel this trend is here to stay.

ZLM photography is a nationally recognized fine art photographer providing beautiful photographs for maternity, newborn and baby’s first year. We have offered custom portrait experiences to clients since 2010 and truly create art to document your life memories. We have received national recognition in several prestigious industry publications including Lemonade & Lenses, Mozi Magazine, I Heart Faces, and the 50 Most Beautiful Children Campaign. Zahara is also listed as one of the 30 top family photographers at the Atlanta Parent Magazine.

Newborn photography is like no other type of photography, it is a culmination of extensive training, technical expertise, and extreme love for the subject. Each session is customized to the client’s unique preferences, while maintaining my artistic vision. It is all about creating art and memories with a newborn baby as you subject – their tiny fingers, their delicate features, their porcelain skin and dainty toes. How can we pose them in such a way where they look comfortable and we can see all of their features?

It is all about the art, and creating lasting & priceless memories for my clients. After recording our family’s milestones over some years, ZLM photography became a natural extension my desire to document other peoples special moments as well. I took several classes, trained with the industry’s leading professionals, and practiced until I was ready to open up my small business. I love my job and recognize my unique position.

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

Although I started my photography journey in 2009, there came a point where I didn’t want to be a “master of none”. I decided to only photograph newborns about 5 years ago. It was a challenging time because I feared that I would lose a lot of past and future clients since my genre was limited. But since then, business has been booming because we are such niche oriented business. Clients come because they know we specialize in a certain type of photography that requires a whole separate set of skills then family or wedding photography. They know that we have worked extensively with their precious brand new babies and trust us to handle them with care and skill that not everyone can do.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

We started this business as a very small side-gig as full time parenting takes over when the kids are young. As friends became clients and the word spread we found that photography requires a lot more than just “taking a photo”. Upgrading to professional cameras and lighting, acquiring a studio, and endless workshops have brought us to the successful point we are at today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zlmphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/zlmphotog
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/zlmphotog