How I Started My Photography Business
If you’d told 6-year-old me, holidaying with my disposable cameras, that one day I’d run my own photography business - I’d have been like “what???” and wondered why a strange person was telling me about my future.
My love for photos started early, I loved documenting everything I saw and ahhh, the thrill of waiting for your prints!
I got my first digital camera around age 8, and I was off. Every few years, I’d ‘upgrade’ and keep playing… not realising the journey I was on.
2004
2012
2011
2013
Where It All Began
I didn’t really know how to become a photographer, so after school I went to college to do a Photography course and then to uni, where I started taking it more seriously and learning about a completely different world of photography that I didn’t know existed! All the projects that I enjoyed making all came back to an underlying theme of storytelling - makes sense right? I wish I knew that then, it would have been a bit easier.
Alongside uni projects, I shot live music at very small, grassroots venues (shoutout to sweaty mosh pits and weird lighting! I’m now a pro in a low light situation btw) and worked on a few creative projects that really fuelled me.
I also started working as a property photographer in that time, which was a job that kept a camera in my hand and taught me how to work fast in a variety of spaces, solve problems and deliver what clients needed. I can tell you many stories about that job. :)
2020: the year i was going to ‘make it’
After graduating in 2019, I told myself 2020 would be the year I ramped things up. I bagged myself an assisting job and I was soooo excited to start!
You already know what happened next.
Everything paused. About two months in, I sat in the weird quiet that was lockdown and realised that I didn’t want to go back to the job I was doing. If I wanted a freelance photography business to work, I couldn’t just wait for it to happen. I had to make it happen. Ugh.
But with nothing else to do and not being sure when I’d be called back to work, I finished building the website I’d started in January. I pulled together the beginnings of a portfolio and I messaged friends and family and offered shoots to build it out more. I then realised I loved working with small businesses and creative brands! Capturing people in their element, showing off their work and telling their stories? It felt like me. (Thanks Mel, she actually paid me after even though I said I’d do it for free!!! And I cried lol.)
Starting a Photography Business in Lockdown
Starting this kind of business mid-lockdown might not have been the most obvious choice, but I saw so many other small businesses springing up, adapting, succeeding. I loved the community I was seeing online and the way people were cheering each other on, sharing resources and supporting each other, I wondered if I could be part of it.
Spoiler: I could.
I did an online course about money and running a biz, and the emotions that come with it and I did truly start to believe that I could actually make this work out for me. Then I took another about money and manifesting (iykyk LOL it was good okay), and another business one and then ANOTHER more specific to brand photography. Anyway…
I’ve always loved getting things down on paper. Visualising. Mapping things out - even if they’re messy and out of order. That mindset stuff unfortunately really is everything.
I remember writing out where I was (a part-time property photographer) and where I wanted to be (a full-time freelance photographer working with brands I love). I scribbled down every step I thought I’d need to take, even though I had no idea how to actually make it happen! Spoiler: most of it didn’t happen in the right order. But that’s the point. It doesn’t have to be perfect to work.
2020
Learning about running a biz!
Visualising the life and business I wanted gave me direction. It became a little anchor I could return to anytime I felt stuck or unsure. And I still come back to those kinds of practices now. The moment you stop doing them, you notice and it’s like losing your compass!
So if you’ve got a dream or a business idea (even the tiniest flicker of one)… write it down, start somewhere - it matters more than you think.
Growing My Biz
Since then, I’ve worked with all kinds of brilliant small businesses - makers, shop owners, illustrators, designers and creative entrepreneurs. I've had work featured both in print and online. I’ve built a business that feels right... fun, relaxed, full of personality and focused on storytelling.
In September 2024, I quit my property photography job exactly six years to the day after I started (and yup - just four and a half years since I started my biz) and I haven’t looked back just yet!
What I’ve Learned
It’s not always been easy. There have been slow months, YUUUGE wobbles and the very occasional “what am I even doing I should just get a real job” moments. But every step has taught me something, even if I didn’t want it to.
I’ve written a little bit about some thoughts and perhaps advice, in my 6 months of freelancing - you can read it here when I finish that blog…
Want to Tell Your Small Biz Story?
Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been in business for years, you deserve brand photography that feels true to you. Relaxed, personality-packed images that show off the magic of what you do.
Are you ready to tell your small biz story?
WANT TO BOOK A BRAND SHOOT WITH ME?
You can find the my current packages and prices here.
If you want to see a range of lovely brands I’ve worked with, check out my portfolio.
