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Erin - Professional Photographer
64 Plays1 year ago
Ever since Erins father gifted her that first camera as a child, she has been taking pictures. Fast forward to adulthood and she owns, manages and runs a successful photography company. Weddings, engagements, babies, senior pics, she can do it all. If you're a shutterbug and are curious what it's like to have a career as a photographer, this interview is for you. Join us as Erin talks about the skills she learned in school, at various internships, the grind it takes to grow a business and get your name out there, as well as editing software and AI, mirrorless vs DSLR and numerous other aspects of being a photographer.
If you enjoyed this interview and would like to support the show, you can do so HERE. Thanks!
Music by: SnoozyBeats - Song Title - "Keep It Calm". Please check out SnoozyBeats on PixaBay for a ton of awesome content! - LINK
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Transcript
Intro
Meet Aaron: The Photographer's Journey
00:00:21
The Jobs Podcast
All right, Shutterbugs, this is the interview that you've been waiting for. We have got an expert photographer with us today, and she is gonna walk us through what it's like to take pictures and do all that sort of stuff for a living.
00:00:34
The Jobs Podcast
Aaron, thank you for joining me today.
00:00:35
Erin
Hi there.
00:00:37
The Jobs Podcast
How are you doing?
00:00:38
Erin
I'm good. How are you doing?
00:00:40
The Jobs Podcast
I'm doing all right.
Balancing a Busy Photography Schedule
00:00:41
The Jobs Podcast
Are you busy with the Christmas rush for for your photography stuff?
00:00:45
Erin
Oh my goodness. It's wild over here.
00:00:48
The Jobs Podcast
Well, business is good, so that's good.
00:00:50
Erin
Yeah. So within the last like week, I've had three weddings, two Christmas parties, nine Christmas minis and three full sessions. And then I have a proposal tomorrow.
00:01:00
The Jobs Podcast
Good grief.
00:01:03
The Jobs Podcast
Man, that is busy.
00:01:05
Erin
Yeah.
Early Life and Passion for Photography
00:01:07
The Jobs Podcast
So let's just start off by telling us a little bit about your childhood and walk us through when you started showing an interest in photography.
00:01:15
Erin
Yeah. So I grew up in Stratford, Missouri. My dad actually bought my first camera whenever I was in like seventh grade.
00:01:25
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:01:25
Erin
And I started taking it to school. I was shooting all of our sporting events in seventh grade. I got connected to the high school yearbook staff, and I started shooting for them.
00:01:37
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:01:39
Erin
And then by the time I was in ninth grade, I was declared the photo editor, which just to brag on my high school self, you don't usually get to be the photo editor as a freshman.
00:01:51
Erin
That's usually a senior's job.
00:01:53
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:01:53
Erin
So yeah, that was pretty cool. But I was always, there's always a camera around my neck. I was the kid known for skipping class so I could go shoot this or photograph that or pretty much I had a pass to do whatever I wanted all through high school if I had a camera.
00:02:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:02:11
The Jobs Podcast
Did you get down onto the sidelines for like the football team and things of that nature?
00:02:15
Erin
Oh yeah. And then with football, it's funny cause you have to have a spotter because you'll get tackled.
00:02:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:02:21
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:02:22
Erin
I was almost tackled a couple of times.
00:02:26
The Jobs Podcast
So your dad kind of launched this whole thing by gifting you a camera. did What kind of camera was it?
00:02:32
The Jobs Podcast
What did you start with?
00:02:33
Erin
Oh, it was this tiny cannon point and shoe, like
00:02:38
Erin
I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was like a little purse camera, and that's all it was. And then my dad actually gifted me a underwater camera whenever I was in college, and that was for Christmas.
00:02:50
The Jobs Podcast
neat.
00:02:53
Erin
And by January, I set up an underwater photo shoot with my friends, and I learned to scuba dive about 10 minutes before the photo shoot out at Divenchers.
00:03:03
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:03:03
Erin
so he is the ah catalyst for a lot of my photography career. And then my first ever like professional-ish camera was a Nikon D50.
00:03:15
Erin
And he also bought me that one.
00:03:15
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Man.
00:03:18
Erin
I know, he hasn't bought me any cameras lately. I should bring that trend back because they're getting more expensive.
00:03:24
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I know. Was the first camera that you got? Was it the traditional film where you had to take it and get it developed? Or was it digital at that point? I don't know how old you are.
00:03:34
Erin
It was, it
00:03:35
The Jobs Podcast
So
Education and Creative Exploration
00:03:36
Erin
went to, I'm skipping ahead, but I went to Missouri state and they are one of the only schools that still has a full like film program.
00:03:38
The Jobs Podcast
That's fine. Okay.
00:03:45
Erin
So I've learned to shoot on 35, 35 millimeter medium format, large format. I've developed all my own film, black and white and color.
00:03:56
Erin
And then I continue to shoot a Mamiya, like medium format camera. And I'll take it whenever I travel to get some landscape photos. And I've been playing with like painting on the film.
00:04:10
Erin
It sounds crazy, but it's really cool and like technicolor whenever you see it.
00:04:16
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:04:16
Erin
It's very trippy.
00:04:17
The Jobs Podcast
you call it a memaia? Is that did I get that right?
00:04:19
Erin
Yes.
00:04:21
The Jobs Podcast
What does that stand for?
00:04:23
Erin
That's just the name of the camera. I think it's a Mamiya C33.
00:04:25
The Jobs Podcast
Oh. Okay, so it's like a cannon or a Panasonic or that's ah the brand.
00:04:31
Erin
Yeah.
00:04:31
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:04:31
Erin
And I think it's from like the forties or the fifties.
00:04:35
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:04:36
Erin
So it's a twin lens medium formats, like that square format.
00:04:41
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:04:42
Erin
So it's like a, maybe a two and a half by two and a half inch square. And then I developed the film like in my bathroom. and and And then I scan it into digital because I don't have that full printing process anymore.
00:04:56
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:04:57
Erin
But yeah, it's a way to keep that art form alive. And for me to be creative and not to be paid for something, which is always really important.
00:05:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:05:06
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. So you said you went to Missouri State for your education. Did you I'm assuming you just walked in the door focusing on photography from the get go. There was no other consideration as far as a career.
00:05:18
Erin
Well, actually, my senior year in high school, I had two internships.
00:05:24
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:05:24
Erin
And one was with this very like, it was convey studios. And she was very like free flowing, very artistic and fun.
00:05:35
Erin
And it would be like a senior session. And she's like, we're gonna go in a field and just twirl and dance. And I feel like I got a lot of my prompts and my style from her.
00:05:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:05:46
Erin
But then I got a job at Lamb Portrait Studio. And it was much more like studio backdrop, very professional lighting, sit down and look at your images, now buy some prints.
00:06:00
Erin
It felt a little more JCPenney kind of style.
00:06:04
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:06:05
Erin
not quite my style, but I got the advice that a business degree, you're going to be a business owner. You should get a business degree because artists starve.
00:06:15
Erin
And so I took that and I went to Missouri State and I chose to get a marketing degree because marketing and at at least is artistic and fun within the business realm.
00:06:26
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:06:26
Erin
And then I got a photography minor and a graphic design minor.
00:06:31
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:06:31
Erin
And so yeah, and I use all of those things all the time.
From Internships to Innovative Styles
00:06:35
Erin
So it worked out perfectly.
00:06:35
The Jobs Podcast
I was gonna say, Yeah, you're you came out well prepared.
00:06:40
Erin
I think it's rare to know exactly what you want to do the moment you walk into school and have like a good game plan and then actually use it afterwards.
00:06:45
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:06:50
The Jobs Podcast
Those two internships that you had, it seems like even though you preferred one or the other, you got a pretty good taste of two, I'd say opposite sides of the business, but I can see how they both could merge together in certain scenarios.
00:07:03
Erin
Exactly, like that advice was was perfect. It was everything I needed to hear in that moment.
00:07:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:11
The Jobs Podcast
Now, I don't know anything really about photography, and I'm interested to learn about all the tech and whatnot that we can talk about in a bit, but when you go and get a degree that focuses, I know the marketing part is pretty straightforward, but if someone's focusing on a degree in photography or that field, what types of classes would they typically take? I mean, know it's not as simple as point and shoot, but is it shading and lighting and equipment and all of the above?
00:07:41
Erin
So you start with all of those film classes.
00:07:44
Erin
So your very first one is that media, no, it's a 35 millimeter format. And so because they make you take all of your film classes before you can take a digital class, you learn the importance of aperture and shutter speed and exposing everything correctly and how hard and how much heart you put into one image.
00:08:07
Erin
And so you have this great appreciation for photography before you ever touch a digital camera. And then they teach you, have studio classes, digital classes. So like a whole array of things. If you were going to be a photography major, you had to take a lot of art history classes. And I got to skip all of those since I was a minor.
00:08:07
The Jobs Podcast
okay okay
00:08:35
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, there you go.
00:08:36
Erin
So I still had to take drawing and sculpture classes, but I didn't have to take all of the art history and education, which I'm sure they would have benefited me a little bit, but I was excited to not have to take them.
00:08:42
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:08:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:08:49
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Do you get to spend a lot of time once you've kind of got your basis covered with the general early classes? Are most of your classes still inside in a in a structured classroom setting? Or do you spend a fair amount of time out with teachers learning your craft? I mean, simply walking around taking a picture of a tree or something on campus?
00:09:12
Erin
So there was almost none of that at all. It was, here's how to use your camera.
00:09:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh,
00:09:16
Erin
Now you go out and shoot. Here's your class time to develop film. Like you have only two hours this time of the week.
00:09:23
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:24
Erin
If you don't get it done, you need to come in on your off time.
00:09:28
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:28
Erin
And then a lot of our classes were critiques. So the moment you have your first image, we put them all on the wall and they're like, okay, here's where it could have been better. And every semester you're creating a photo project and a whole portfolio for whatever project you want to do. So I think my very first one was abandoned houses. So very cliche, but a great project. And then it merged into like my large format class. So those are those like big accordion cameras that you put the drape over your head.
00:10:06
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:10:06
Erin
The tripod alone was 50 pounds.
00:10:07
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:10:09
The Jobs Podcast
Good grief.
00:10:09
Erin
And then the camera was about 20. And I decided to do women in nature doing yoga. So I would have to carry this crazy tripod and camera up the hill at the Nature Center, have a friend meet me, and then she's doing a headstand.
00:10:27
Erin
And it was a great project, but it was not the most feasible one I ever chose.
00:10:34
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:10:35
Erin
I did a project on my Graham and Gramps and did a very like photo journalistic style of their day to day lives in their eighties.
00:10:43
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:10:43
Erin
So it's like you pick a project and you work on that all semester long and you're getting critiqued and, and they're, they're going off the content as well as your style and like how it's exposed, how it's developed all the, the meat and bones, I guess.
00:11:04
The Jobs Podcast
Sure, sure.
00:11:05
Erin
Yeah.
00:11:06
The Jobs Podcast
The camera that you were talking about that you carried up the hill there, is that the one that you see the old time pictures, they would have a flash pan, they would hold over their, head and it would it would go off.
00:11:18
Erin
That would be a large format as well. Yeah.
00:11:20
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:11:21
Erin
They may not be.
00:11:22
The Jobs Podcast
What do they use to make? What do they use to make that flash? Is it just a little bit of gunpowder? Or what is it?
00:11:27
Erin
I think so. I don't know for sure.
00:11:28
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:11:30
Erin
And then those type of cameras also do the 10 type where they're like shooting on metal instead of film.
00:11:36
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, sure.
00:11:36
Erin
But it's that same like accordion style giant old billow camera.
00:11:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I always think of Silver Dollar City whenever I see one of those things, but.
00:11:45
Erin
Mm hmm.
Transitioning to Full-Time Photography
00:11:47
The Jobs Podcast
So you've got your training, you've got your education, you've you've left school, you've had a couple of internships, you've been shooting since you were young.
00:11:47
Erin
So yeah.
00:11:57
The Jobs Podcast
Now what?
00:11:59
Erin
So the last couple of years of school, I was interning at a marketing agency and doing photography on the side.
00:12:08
Erin
like advertising is great, agencies are great, but I looked like I was 14 and no one would pay me to do anything.
00:12:17
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:12:18
Erin
So within that internship, that paid internship that turned into a job right after graduation, I learned how to build websites, I learned how to do social media, I really implemented all of the marketing that I had learned.
00:12:31
Erin
And then after that, I had mentioned it earlier, my dad got me that underwater camera and I went to dive ventures and we did an underwater shoot and I was sitting there talking to them and I got hired on the spot to start doing their marketing, but it was in house.
00:12:47
Erin
So I left the advertising agency and I went to work for dive ventures, photography is on the side this whole time.
00:12:55
Erin
And, I was there for about six or seven months. And it's fall. Business is booming photography-wise.
00:13:02
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:13:04
Erin
That's the busiest season you can have. I had just gotten engaged to my boyfriend at the time, and about two weeks later we found out we were pregnant.
00:13:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, boy.
00:13:15
Erin
And I thought it would be a great idea to quit my job. to quit my hourly paying job, photography's booming, let's do it, I don't want a boss anymore. So I quit and I start doing photography full time and then winter comes. And I realized that January through about March, like until it gets green again, nothing happens in photography. Like unless there's an event or a newborn session, those are your slowest months, you'll make no money almost at all.
00:13:49
Erin
And so at this point I'm pregnant and we're starving and I've got to do something else.
00:13:54
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:13:54
Erin
And so that's when I started um offering social media and website design to other businesses and I started networking. And so I started a marketing company alongside the photography business.
00:14:07
Erin
And then that's how we kind of kept afloat. And so. That first year after quitting my job, I made like $12,000.
00:14:18
Erin
That was it.
00:14:19
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm. Ouch.
00:14:21
Erin
Yeah. And so that's, that's something have have to keep in mind when no one knows you and you're not getting hired, you're not making any money and you just kind of have to float through it.
00:14:27
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:14:32
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:14:32
Erin
So yeah.
00:14:34
The Jobs Podcast
The dive ventures job that you had, if I could go back to that for just a second.
00:14:39
Erin
Yeah.
00:14:41
The Jobs Podcast
Are you try I don't quite understand I know you're underwater obviously taking pictures but are you just in a pool or you out in like Table Rock Lake or Lake of the Ozarks or are you traveling the globe or what what's that job actually like of an underwater photographer for that.
00:14:56
Erin
Well, so I was hired to do their marketing, but whenever I was shooting, it was in their pool and they had a, I think a 12 foot deep pool and I would be in scuba gear and then whoever I was shooting the first time around was my friends and their bathing suits with like
00:15:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:15:13
Erin
giant pieces of fabric that would float around them.
00:15:18
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:15:19
Erin
And so they would jump in and then strike a pose and float up.
00:15:22
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:15:22
Erin
Then I did a project where it was like a trash the wedding dress kind of shoe and learned very quickly that you can't jump in with a wedding dress because it will fly over your head and then it will trap you whenever you try to like swim back up.
00:15:28
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:15:37
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:15:38
Erin
And so that one we had to do float belts and have them like dip, dip under and pose and float right back up.
00:15:42
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:15:46
Erin
have shot in the ocean with my underwater camera only a couple of times. Um, of them was in grand Cayman. So shallow water, but it was steam race city.
00:15:54
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:15:56
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, wow.
00:15:57
Erin
So it was a bride and a groom, like in a skirt and in pants and everything else with steam race coming around him. I haven't done anything locally in the lakes because there's not very much visibility.
00:16:05
The Jobs Podcast
Cool.
00:16:11
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:16:12
Erin
Yeah, so it's like pool or ocean only.
00:16:15
The Jobs Podcast
Do you still use your scuba diving just recreationally to travel?
00:16:19
Erin
Every once in a while, my husband's not scuba certified or interested in in it at all.
00:16:21
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:16:25
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. All right.
00:16:26
Erin
And so it's funny because everyone I travel with, they can barely snorkel. So I haven't really been able to, but we can like touch on my bucket list a little bit.
00:16:38
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:16:38
Erin
I travel quite a bit and I have this running bucket list. And so last year I went dog sledding in Alaska. I went skydiving in Vegas.
00:16:49
The Jobs Podcast
Cool.
00:16:53
Erin
What else have I done? I've been surfing in Hawaii. And so I try to do something different and cool everywhere I go, but lately it hasn't been scuba diving.
00:17:01
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:04
The Jobs Podcast
That's the dog sled up in Alaska. That sounds like that would be very interesting.
00:17:09
Erin
Oh, it was a blast.
00:17:11
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:12
Erin
I was up there on a girl's trip with a friend, my high school best friend actually, and she fell off the sled. And I was, yeah, it was a great time.
00:17:22
Erin
I was having a blast.
00:17:24
The Jobs Podcast
I bet.
00:17:25
Erin
I don't think she was as happy with it, but I had a great time.
00:17:29
The Jobs Podcast
Well, that's all that matters, right?
00:17:30
Erin
Yeah.
00:17:32
The Jobs Podcast
So. You're you're starting to take pictures. You did the dive into your thing. Then you found out you were pregnant. You realized, OK, I need to get myself a job.
00:17:43
The Jobs Podcast
So you started networking, marketing, building websites, doing that kind of thing. Walk me through what was the next step in your life during the.
00:17:53
Erin
So it was just a grind. I went from making 12,000 that first year to, I think, 25,000 the next year to 40 grand the
00:17:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
Business Growth and Specialization
00:18:03
Erin
next year.
00:18:04
Erin
And it was just a constant grind of, hey, I'm here. I take pictures. I build websites. What do you need? And meeting the people and growing the network and creating that name for yourself.
00:18:17
Erin
So now that will be 13 years ago this coming June.
00:18:23
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:18:23
Erin
Yeah, so I've been established for a while and I don't have to work nearly as hard. And in that beginning stage, you're also shooting everything that's offered. Like, can you do this?
00:18:34
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:18:34
Erin
I'm like, absolutely, I can do anything. And now it's a much more selective of, hey, no, that's not, I don't shoot real estate. No one's talking to me. It's not creative, I don't want to.
00:18:46
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:18:47
Erin
or product photography is also very like specific and a perfectionist should shoot product photography. Not me. Like I want to talk to people.
00:18:58
Erin
I want to be creative. And so now I get to be a lot more selective on what I'm doing and who I'm working with too. If there's a, not a good fit with someone, I'm able to duck and leave and bob away, I guess.
00:19:14
Erin
Yeah.
00:19:15
The Jobs Podcast
Well, your name got out there, your reputation got out there for quality work and it it it grew. And so now, you know, people know you, you probably don't have to grind it out as much as far as the looking for work it's coming to you.
00:19:27
The Jobs Podcast
But that's something that does not happen overnight, pretty much in any job.
00:19:27
Erin
Exactly. No, not at all.
00:19:31
The Jobs Podcast
So the two areas that you mentioned there, the real estate photography and the product photography, those are there many other areas of specialization when you're a photographer?
00:19:45
Erin
Oh my gosh. So I specialize in weddings and portraiture.
00:19:49
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:19:49
Erin
within that it's families and seniors and newborns and eternity. And there's a lot of like aspects within that.
00:19:57
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:19:58
Erin
And, um, there's, there's this mindset whenever you're first beginning that you should niche. And that is the opposite of what I did.
00:20:07
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:20:08
Erin
And so I don't know which way is better to go. I guess if you niche, you get really good at newborn photos or whatever you decide to do and become the expert and then you can expand out.
00:20:17
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm Oh, yeah Why do you think that is?
00:20:20
Erin
But with my way, I was able to learn everything quickly. and not turn anything down. Okay, so outside of portraiture and weddings, you've got sports photography, you've got, you know, product and real estate. You've got, some people are still shooting film. It's having a resurgence right now, which is nice. Landscape. I don't know. It's this younger generation has this nostalgic feel to them. They love like super eight films.
00:20:54
Erin
is coming back.
00:20:54
The Jobs Podcast
Huh. Really.
00:20:55
Erin
And so that is, yeah, those old time video cameras and it's grainy and it's like, it is not very, very, very vintage.
00:21:04
The Jobs Podcast
Vintage. Yeah.
00:21:06
Erin
Like it is not the quality that everyone is used to.
00:21:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:21:10
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:21:11
Erin
And it's just Instagram and TikTok famous right now. Like it's the big trend.
00:21:16
The Jobs Podcast
It seems like there's a big over the last few years, you've seen vinyl records have become popular again.
00:21:23
The Jobs Podcast
And when I was a kid, I'm 50. And, you know, there were little 45 records and full size records. But when you get to digital music or even CDs, there's no skips and hiss and pops and stuff.
00:21:36
The Jobs Podcast
It's crystal clear.
00:21:37
Erin
Mm hmm.
00:21:37
The Jobs Podcast
But some people really like that rougher sound that you get from vinyl. So I can see why someone would want to go back to a less than perfect image.
00:21:46
Erin
Yeah, that grain and that blur and yeah.
00:21:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, the imperfection is what makes it gives it character, I guess.
00:21:53
Erin
Exactly.
00:21:55
The Jobs Podcast
I kind of interrupted you.
00:21:56
Erin
Oh, you're good.
00:21:56
The Jobs Podcast
You were talking about the specialization stuff. Yeah, sorry.
00:21:59
Erin
The only other ones I thought of is like landscape and wildlife. Those are out there, too.
00:22:02
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, wildlife. Sure.
00:22:03
Erin
Yeah.
00:22:04
The Jobs Podcast
My my wife follows a guy. I'm not going to remember his name, but he lives up near Yellowstone and he takes pictures of I mean, it's just amazing what that guy can do with a camera.
00:22:16
The Jobs Podcast
And, you know, he's got the perfect location to take nature photos.
00:22:19
Erin
Yeah,
00:22:21
The Jobs Podcast
But.
00:22:21
Erin
exactly.
00:22:23
The Jobs Podcast
You talked a little bit about the earnings there when you were Paying your dues grinding it out twelve thousand twenty four thousand forty thousand kind of a thing Is there a typical if someone was new are you typically paid?
Understanding Photography Pricing Models
00:22:37
The Jobs Podcast
If you're just taking pictures, not for an employer, but you're on your own, I'm assuming it's a package price. Like I'll take a picture of a senior graduating and I'll give you, I don't know, 40 pictures or however you package that for a set dollar amount.
00:22:53
The Jobs Podcast
Is that how that typically would go?
00:22:55
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:22:58
Erin
there is a flat fee, here's the digital's kind of way. So like a family session will cost you $600 and you're gonna get 20 digital images.
00:23:10
Erin
And you can buy more if you'd like, you can buy products if you'd like, or there's the mentality of, hey, it's a $50 sitting fee, that's to pay for my gas to get wherever you're going.
00:23:11
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:23:21
Erin
And then you need to come in and buy exactly what you want. And those digital's are, $50 a piece. And this is how much an album costs. It's $1,000. And it's like, it's a very, very low upfront, I'll get you in with this low price of a session fee. But then it's they make their money selling the images and selling the products.
00:23:48
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:23:49
Erin
Yeah. So there's kind of two ways of doing it. I do the, the higher fee on the front end that comes with this, and then you can add on if you want to.
00:23:59
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:23:59
Erin
So I'm not a huge in-person sales kind of person just because I don't know. I haven't had the practice and it feels, it doesn't feel, it it feels high stress.
00:24:15
The Jobs Podcast
ah
00:24:16
Erin
It's, it's a, high stress sales kind of situation. And that's not really my jam.
00:24:24
The Jobs Podcast
Well, you got to do what works for you and it seems like you have options so
00:24:24
Erin
Yeah.
00:24:28
Erin
Exactly.
00:24:30
The Jobs Podcast
When you're taking somebody's picture, I can see an area that would take some time to get good at, it and and that is kind of drawing people out.
00:24:40
The Jobs Podcast
Some folks do not do well when you say, all right, stand here and smile and look over there. always can come across as kind of awkward. Some people are just natural.
00:24:49
Erin
Mm hmm.
00:24:51
The Jobs Podcast
You know, they're it's just disgusting how their smile is perfect, you know, on call. And do you ever have folks where you really have to struggle to draw them out to really get a good picture?
00:25:02
Erin
Yes, most definitely.
00:25:04
The Jobs Podcast
OK, yeah.
00:25:05
Erin
I feel like one of my superpowers is making people feel comfortable.
00:25:10
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:25:11
Erin
And so it's a constant conversation. And then another way to have someone feel less awkward is to give them something to do. And so let's take the example of engagement photos.
00:25:25
Erin
And it's usually man that doesn't want to be there.
00:25:25
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:25:29
Erin
Yeah, he doesn't know how to pose. He doesn't want to be there. He's getting forced. And so if you give them prompts like, hey, walk towards me, and you're cracking bad jokes the whole time, and all right, bear hug her and swing her around, it's a lot more natural.
00:25:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:25:46
Erin
And if you have something to do with your hands, you're going to look less awkward.
00:25:50
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:25:51
Erin
And if you're telling bad stories and bad jokes throughout it, like they're going to feel closer to you as you go.
00:25:51
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:25:56
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:25:57
Erin
Yeah.
00:25:58
The Jobs Podcast
That makes sense. And, you know, I don't speak for all men, but I've had to do pictures like
Making Subjects Comfortable in Sessions
00:26:02
The Jobs Podcast
that before. And it wasn't awful. I mean, I didn't hate it, but I certainly would have rather been somewhere else.
00:26:08
The Jobs Podcast
But if you have a good photographer like you, then, you know, you can certainly make it more pleasurable, I guess so.
00:26:15
Erin
Yeah. So I had a viewing today where a grandmother wanted family pictures. And so it's grandma, grandpa, her son, and his two kids. And her son did not want to be there and told me so. And he's like, you've got three minutes. And I'm like, well, this session's an hour long. So we're definitely taking longer than three minutes.
00:26:37
Erin
And so we started with a couple portraits. He's not happy, but they had a farm. And so the next set of photos is him helping his kids ride horses. And then we got their dogs out.
00:26:48
Erin
And so he helped his kids get the dogs involved. And so the moment I gave him a task and it was something that he loves and he wants his children to love as well, I got great smiles out of him.
00:27:02
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:02
Erin
And he was, yeah, so pleasant by the end, but that first couple of minutes were rough. And so, yeah, it's all about getting into their interests.
00:27:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, do you find sometimes if you can get them distracted by doing something that they're into, it's almost like they forget you're there for a split second. And that's when you can snap a good one.
00:27:24
Erin
Exactly.
00:27:25
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. I think I'm learning some stuff on this chat of ours. So how what's, what's the most common type of picture that you find yourself taking. And I can see it being somewhat seasonal with graduation pictures. You know, those would only be certain times of the year, I suppose. But what do you spend most of your day doing?
00:27:55
Erin
So do you want to hear like what my typical day is?
00:27:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be great.
00:27:59
Erin
Okay. So my typical day these days, I've got, so the best thing about owning your own business is setting your own schedule.
A Day in the Life of a Photographer
00:28:10
Erin
And so I have really slow mornings where I take the boys to school, I'll grab a coffee and I head to the gym and I do like dance classes. And then by like,
00:28:23
Erin
10 o'clock is whenever I will either go to, so like today I do some marketing videos for a local auto mechanic shop.
00:28:34
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:28:35
Erin
And so I stopped by there today with my camera to get all of their employees saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that I'm gonna montage together.
00:28:43
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:28:44
Erin
Yeah, and then I had to go to the post office to mail Christmas cards and ornaments. I make ornaments for all of my brides and grooms and couples over the year.
00:28:52
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:28:55
Erin
And so mailed those out, came back here, had the viewing with the grandma that has the farm, and then I'll probably edit. I'm gonna try to get two or three different photo shoots done today so I can deliver them before Christmas.
00:29:14
Erin
photo shoots are typically in like golden hour.
00:29:19
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:29:19
Erin
So normally sunset time. So whenever it's the summer, that's eight o'clock at night.
00:29:24
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:29:24
Erin
Whenever it's winter, it's four o'clock.
00:29:26
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:29:26
Erin
And so winter is nice in that aspect that everything's a lot earlier and I get to be home at night with the boys, but, Yeah. So it really just depends or like yesterday or the day before I had, I had a commercial photo shoot at a business where we doing headshots in their office and that was at noon and then ran to another social media clients and shot their like Christmas video.
00:29:56
Erin
And I think I mentioned tomorrow I'm shooting a proposal. So every day is different.
00:30:00
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:01
Erin
It's hard to set a routine because you just don't know what's going to happen.
00:30:07
The Jobs Podcast
You probably have some weekends tied up with weddings as well.
00:30:10
Erin
I have very few weekends to myself.
00:30:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:15
Erin
This year, I think I had 28 weddings.
00:30:19
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:30:19
Erin
And then if I'm not shooting a wedding, like usually family sessions or senior sessions, they want to be in that weekend time slot.
00:30:27
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:27
Erin
And I try my best to pitch like weekday evenings, like it'll be less busy wherever we're going, it's great.
00:30:35
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:35
Erin
And honestly, I try to pitch some sunrise sessions too, but almost no one takes me up on it.
00:30:41
The Jobs Podcast
Nobody wants to get up early to go get photographed.
00:30:44
Erin
They do not.
00:30:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. So I can kind of I can kind of guess the answer to this. I was going to ask you what you like most about your job. And you do have complete control over your day.
00:30:58
The Jobs Podcast
But of course, you have all the responsibility to make your business successful. So you're coming and going, but you kind of get to be in control of everything. Is that what's besides just the photography itself and the creative aspect? Would you say that's probably what you like about your job?
00:31:15
Erin
That's definitely one aspect. And then I am such a like people person.
00:31:21
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:31:21
Erin
I love getting to know people and I love talking to people.
00:31:25
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:31:26
Erin
And so during the shoots when I'm getting really close to someone and we're doing something amazing and we're making magic, that is my all-time favorite moment in my business.
00:31:38
The Jobs Podcast
you yeah You really need to be an extrovert to be in your line of work, don't you?
00:31:38
Erin
freedom is is great.
00:31:43
The Jobs Podcast
Or it greatly helps.
00:31:45
Erin
It greatly helps. I know a couple of good photographers that are introverted and they're just softer spoken and they do great with newborn sessions because they're naturally very quiet I'm trying to think of they're very good whenever you need someone to be calming rather than I'm very much like very excitable hype girl.
00:31:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:31:58
The Jobs Podcast
oh
00:32:07
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm. Right.
00:32:12
Erin
And so I guess it just depends on what you're needing, but I would, yeah, I would definitely think you need to be able to be an extrovert.
00:32:14
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:32:20
Erin
You need to be a people person. My husband every once in a great while will go second shoot a wedding with me. And he is very shy, very introverted.
00:32:30
Erin
And he will stand in the corner of a wedding reception and just shoot the room. And I'm like, honey, I will never use that. Like there's not a subject. You see no one here.
00:32:42
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:32:42
Erin
And so you have to be able to enter, like enter those little circles and little groups of people and capture them laughing and smiling and not feel awkward about it.
00:32:53
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Did you meet your husband? Was photography the bond or?
00:33:00
Erin
No, we met online. We met on good old Facebook dating.
00:33:02
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Oh, there you go.
00:33:06
Erin
But we had all of these connections and things in common.
00:33:11
Erin
And one of them was his aunt and uncle are photographers. And I had met them at a wedding expo.
00:33:17
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:33:18
Erin
And then his sister and my sister know each other. He had worked with my aunt. Like there were so many weird connections. It's kind of crazy that we've met online.
00:33:26
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:33:28
The Jobs Podcast
Huh.
00:33:28
Erin
But so he has an appreciation for photography and a little bit of an understanding for it.
00:33:34
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:33:35
Erin
And then he just likes to travel. And so he, when we started dating, he's like, teach me the second shoot and I will go to all of these weddings with you.
00:33:37
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:33:43
Erin
And now he'd rather play disc golf than go to a wedding. But you know, if it's a wedding in Tennessee, then he's all for it.
00:33:51
The Jobs Podcast
Right, right.
00:33:52
Erin
Yeah.
00:33:53
The Jobs Podcast
The technical side of your job, I would imagine in the time that you've been doing it, cameras seem to have just advanced by leaps and bounds.
Embracing Technology in Photography
00:34:04
The Jobs Podcast
Is mirrorless still the most cutting edge thing now? Or what's what's on the forefront for cameras?
00:34:10
Erin
Yeah, it's it's mirrorless.
00:34:13
The Jobs Podcast
Is it
00:34:13
Erin
I actually just updated my second. So I have three or four cameras. I always take two cameras to a wedding and one of my main shooters, a mirrorless.
00:34:24
Erin
And then my second camera was a Nikon D800. And I realized I recently decided that it should be mirrorless as well. So I've updated everything that I use at weddings or at shoots to be mirrorless just because they work so well.
00:34:40
Erin
The low light capabilities are outstanding. They're so much lighter. They're so much crisper. Like I just like those photos so much more than the D800 or the D750 or any of the others that I've had.
00:34:56
The Jobs Podcast
Are you loyal to a specific brand? Or ah have you found one that I mean, it's probably like a Chevy Ford conversation where everybody has what they like.
00:35:05
Erin
Exactly.
00:35:05
The Jobs Podcast
But what what is your what's your brand of choice and why?
00:35:10
Erin
I'm a Nikon girl and I think it's because I got a Nikon camera as my first expensive DSLR camera.
00:35:11
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:35:18
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:35:18
Erin
And so I've never even considered going to Sony or Canon. There are people out there that have done the research and they, they feel like one of them's better than the other, but I feel like it's whatever you were raised on.
00:35:32
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:35:32
Erin
Yep. So I'm Nikon through and through.
00:35:35
The Jobs Podcast
What's the you know, I think about my phone. and I don't even know what the megapixel is. For my unpracticed eye, take a picture of something, it looks fine. But that's just for my consumption or sharing like with my buddies that I saw a cool car or something. Yours is a whole different level up, multiple levels up probably. But what do you get when you go from just using a phone to take a picture, the megapixel, I don't know, 16, 18.
00:36:06
The Jobs Podcast
What's the megapixel of the cameras that you use?
00:36:08
Erin
Oh my gosh. I don't even know.
00:36:10
The Jobs Podcast
Like 48, 50 on, okay.
00:36:11
Erin
Let's Google it.
00:36:28
Erin
Hmm.
00:36:29
The Jobs Podcast
You have that experience to fine tune it quickly to know this is gonna be a great shot because of nine different things that I don't have the time to explain to you right now. I'm just gonna take a great picture.
00:36:39
Erin
Absolutely. So megapixel question, it is 24 and a half. So that doesn't sound like a lot, but the image quality, the bokeh, everything's so much better than a phone.
00:36:53
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:54
Erin
But yeah, there's so much more to it than your camera as well.
00:36:58
Erin
Like knowing lighting, knowing your settings, and then knowing what to do. So whenever I do have a proposal at 11 o'clock when it's very, very sunny day,
00:37:10
Erin
I know where to position them to where it's not going to be blinding. It's not going to be weird shadowing. There's ways to play with the light, the background, the timing that you can only get from experience.
00:37:24
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, the environment that you're in is half of it, isn't it?
00:37:27
Erin
Mm-hmm.
00:37:29
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. What?
00:37:30
Erin
And so being able to plan it out and have an idea of the sun's going to set over here, that means the best light's going to be at this time from this angle.
00:37:41
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:37:42
Erin
Yeah.
00:37:43
The Jobs Podcast
Do you you know I see these guys on the sidelines you mentioned earlier a specialization was sports photography and you'll see the guys that they'd be at the end zone of the football game and they've got lens that's you know 18 inches long and they're filming the stitching on a guy's uniform from across the football field.
00:37:57
Erin
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:38:03
The Jobs Podcast
Do you you probably don't dive or have a need for that in your line of work do you
00:38:08
Erin
I have one telephoto lens for an older for my Nikon D750 and I keep it for weddings only. And it's so during a ceremony, I don't have to be on top of them to get like really close up images of the brides or of the grooms. And it has this amazing compression. Like it is just, I keep that specific lens and that specific camera and I will keep them forever more.
00:38:39
Erin
And it's just for ceremonies. And yeah, those telephone lenses are incredible.
00:38:43
The Jobs Podcast
The digital cameras, most of them, because you're not having to develop film anymore, your it's really limited by your storage capacity or do you just have them now to where you automatically download them download them onto a tablet or something like that while you're taking pictures or can you take thousands off of one memory card.
00:39:03
Erin
I can take thousands off of one memory card. And then to be safe, all of my cameras have dual slots.
00:39:06
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:39:09
Erin
So they take two memory cards in case something happens to one of them.
00:39:14
The Jobs Podcast
Oh.
00:39:14
Erin
And then, yeah, because you have to think about like worst case scenario, what if this happens?
00:39:18
The Jobs Podcast
Yes.
00:39:21
Erin
And so I have two cameras for me alone. And then if I have a second shooter, they also have a camera. And then each camera has two card slots. And so there's six memory cards being used in a typical wedding.
00:39:35
Erin
And then I get home, I download them to my computer and I put them on an external hard drive and I keep the SD cards that they're on. And then once the photos are done, they go to two different externals and then to the client as well.
00:39:50
Erin
So they're always in three places at one time, just in case.
00:39:54
The Jobs Podcast
That's smart. That's smart with the redundancy because if you're doing something like a wedding, it's a once in a lifetime thing.
00:39:55
Erin
Yeah.
00:39:59
The Jobs Podcast
You can't have them. Everybody needs to come back and stand over here. That doesn't work.
00:40:04
Erin
Exactly.
00:40:04
The Jobs Podcast
So yeah, that's smart to do it that way.
00:40:07
Erin
Yeah, you have to think about that worst case scenario because you never want to have that conversation with someone.
00:40:12
The Jobs Podcast
No, I wouldn't imagine that would be fun at all. What the technology we talked about the cameras.
00:40:16
Erin
No.
00:40:21
The Jobs Podcast
But what other areas have you seen in your career as far as the technology or the equipment that has made a big impact or what's a significant change that you've seen?
00:40:33
Erin
So they're now like AI editors and colors.
00:40:38
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:40:39
Erin
And so like software wise, I use Adobe bridge for calling and calling is whenever you take 3000 wedding photos and turn it into 1000 and you're deleting them blinking and them talking in the duplicates.
00:40:55
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:40:55
Erin
So now there's aftershoot. An aftershoot will go through and it will mark, here's everyone that's blinking. Here's every picture that's blurry. And it's not perfect.
00:41:06
Erin
You have to go through and like, yeah, their eyes are closed because they're laughing. I want to keep that shot.
00:41:11
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:41:11
Erin
But it takes a little bit of time, especially for weddings when there's 3000 photos. And then I use Photoshop for my detail edits. And so before I would cold them myself, edit them through bridge, send them to Photoshop, soften skin, brighten teeth and do all these things.
00:41:32
Erin
And for every hour of shooting, it was about two hours of editing. And now there's a software I use Evoto. And what used to take me two hours will now take 10 minutes.
00:41:45
Erin
because I can point to a person and be like, that person has acne here, here, and here, clear it up on every single photo. Soften this skin, here's a bruise, take it out.
00:41:45
The Jobs Podcast
Nice.
00:41:56
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:41:56
Erin
And so, oh my gosh, it's been a game changer, especially as I get busier and I'm shooting more and more. I used to i probably work 60 hours a week.
00:42:08
Erin
And now I'm down to probably 30 or 40 on a busy time of year, like October or Christmas. And then starting January through March, I'll work maybe 20 hours a week.
00:42:22
Erin
And it's all very seasonal, but it's cut so, so much time off of my, yeah, off of my plate.
00:42:28
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:42:30
Erin
It saved me so much time and so much money.
00:42:33
The Jobs Podcast
Right, I can see that being pretty tedious to just sitting there in front of a computer over and over and over for thousands of pictures.
00:42:41
Erin
Yes, that is my least favorite part of my job is the amount of computer time and laptop time. And I mean, there's nights where like I'm so behind in editing, I'll wake up in the middle of the night feeling stressed. And so I'll just go in the living room and I'll edit for three or four hours in the middle of the night.
00:43:01
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:43:02
Erin
Yeah. And so there's a lot of pressure, especially like as an example, Christmas, I had, I think four different December weddings and you get a ah buzz buzz.
00:43:13
Erin
It's almost Christmas. Where are my pictures? And I'm like, honey, your wedding was two weeks ago. Like I, I had four weddings in November and eight weddings in October and I'm working on those still.
00:43:24
The Jobs Podcast
Man.
00:43:24
Erin
And yeah. And so you get, you get those little touches.
00:43:30
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:31
Erin
Yeah.
00:43:32
The Jobs Podcast
What if someone wanted to get into your line of work?
00:43:35
The Jobs Podcast
We talked earlier about an extrovert is a good personality trait to have if you're dealing with people and and taking their photographs. But are there any other soft skills or those little intangible things that can help someone be successful when they're looking to become a photographer like yourself?
00:43:56
Erin
It's a lot of people skills.
00:43:57
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:43:58
Erin
It's a lot of time management. it's a lot of being able to like learn the technical side and creativity.
00:44:08
Erin
Creativity is huge. let's see, being able to sell is very helpful. Being able to sell yourself is extremely helpful.
00:44:19
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:44:20
Erin
Yeah.
00:44:21
The Jobs Podcast
Your website, it does a good job of selling your work. I looked at it and the variety of what you do, it stands out. and That's one of the things I thought of first when I saw it, you had kind of a banner below that had different examples of your work. And it seems like you can take a picture of just about everything. So that really helps to sell yourself. And while we're on that, what is your your, your website?
00:44:47
Erin
It is gamblesphotography.com. So gamble like you're going to Vegas.
00:44:52
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:44:52
Erin
And then yeah, that's why I tell everybody for my last name, it's gamble when you're going to Vegas.
00:44:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Hmm.
00:44:58
Erin
named that business whenever I was a senior in high school.
00:45:03
The Jobs Podcast
though.
00:45:03
Erin
And so yeah, that was back in 2007.
00:45:07
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:45:07
Erin
So technically the business has been around for that many years and then full time going on 13 years.
00:45:14
The Jobs Podcast
Well, you've had a lot of success. Have you not have you I know that we all make mistakes, we all fail from time to time. What is your advice for someone in your line of work when they make a mistake? And you have to have that unpleasant conversation with a client?
00:45:32
Erin
I think being as open as you can be in the line of mistakes, I feel like I haven't had any like major failures. It's all things that you can learn from, but every once in a while you have to have those really, really hard conversations with someone
Handling Challenging Clients
00:45:50
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:45:50
Erin
and you just do your best to learn from it and not do anything like that again.
00:45:56
Erin
I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I've had people that didn't like their photos and we had to do a reshoot. One hard conversation I remember having, it was an engagement session and they showed up, it was gonna be a sunset session and they were 45 minutes late. And I'm sitting there waiting. It was downtown, I was sitting on the square for 45 minutes with my camera just waiting.
00:46:22
Erin
And they finally get there and they parked really far away and hey, she's still doing her makeup in the car. I'm like, dude, we've got 10 minutes of sunlight, like get over here.
00:46:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah right.
00:46:36
Erin
So they finally get there and I'm like, let's go. And I'm just like snapping. And I don't want to say barking orders, but I'm obviously we're in a hurry. Like it's getting dark.
00:46:44
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:46:46
Erin
Let's go. And she wouldn't look at me. And I'm like, Hey, like, look at the camera smile. And she was looking everywhere. But and so I finally just set everything down. I'm like, what is going on? And she's like, I'm having a full blown anxiety attack. Like our clothes aren't what I expected. My makeup's not done correctly. We're late and I feel really bad. And I'm just in a panic mode right now.
00:47:13
Erin
And I was like, okay, well, let's talk through this. Let's do the photo shoot a different day. And she's like, we have to send save the dates. Like we're past the time of sending save the dates. I'm like, okay, I'm going to walk you to your car and we will take one or two pictures on the way.
00:47:29
Erin
And you'll use that for save the dates and we will do engagement photos another time. And so it was just like having that confronting moment of like, why are you not looking at me?
00:47:37
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm. Yeah.
00:47:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, it's kind of important when I'm taking your picture.
00:47:43
Erin
Wait, exactly. And then problem solving and making them feel okay.
00:47:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:47:48
Erin
Like it's okay that everything went wrong today. Let's do the thing you have to do and then let's have fun later. And they are one of my best clients.
00:47:56
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:47:57
Erin
I see them. We did engagement, wedding, maternity, newborn, maternity, newborn, and then family every, every year. And so it was just that one hard conversation that'll build that trust for a lifetime.
00:48:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, keeping the lines of communication open is huge in so many areas of life and something that you just said there, it popped a question into my head. You followed this couple through their engagement, their wedding, the maternity. Do you develop a lot of relationships with clients like that where you almost watch their life as they grow up, get married, maybe have kids, get older, retire, you know, you just kind of follow people's lives through the lens.
00:48:43
Erin
I get really close to people. And actually, so Tyler and I got married in 2021. And I got a picture of all of my past brides that I invited to the wedding.
00:48:53
Erin
And there was about 25 of them.
00:48:56
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:48:56
Erin
Like I get, yeah, like this business is about building friendships.
00:49:01
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:49:02
Erin
And so especially when someone comes back year after year, like we get really close. And I consider a lot of my clients really good friends of mine.
00:49:11
The Jobs Podcast
That's neat.
00:49:12
Erin
Yeah. But then on the other side, you still have to have those boundaries of like, Hey, we're friends. You're still paying for photo shoots.
00:49:20
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, there's no friends discount or anything here. This is a business buddy.
00:49:24
Erin
Exactly. You gotta keep the doors open. You're still paying that fee.
00:49:27
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, it's pretty obvious that you love what you do.
00:49:28
Erin
Yeah.
00:49:31
The Jobs Podcast
And it's right in your in your wheelhouse. But if if there was another career, that if you look back when you were younger, you thought, well, and maybe I want to do this.
00:49:41
The Jobs Podcast
Is there another career that you thought you might want to want to explore? Or maybe you would have if you wouldn't end up doing photography?
00:49:48
Erin
So here's a funny little story. In fourth grade, my dad had copiers and printers and all the things. And in fourth grade, I designed business cards.
00:50:00
Erin
And it was for me to be an actress slash singer slash model slash dancer.
00:50:07
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:50:07
Erin
And I could do none of those things. That's what's so funny. And then I printed them out and I copied them and I ah cut them all out and I gave them to my dad to pass out because he was a salesman at a TV station.
00:50:21
Erin
And I was like, he will get me all the gigs.
00:50:21
The Jobs Podcast
Oh.
00:50:25
Erin
And no, none of those would have panned out ever.
00:50:28
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:50:30
Erin
I always daydream if I was doing something else, I would probably be a florist or maybe have a bridal boutique shop.
00:50:35
The Jobs Podcast
Oh.
00:50:39
Erin
I don't know. I love the wedding industry and I love being creative. And so I think being a florist, like I'd be creating with my hands. I'd be talking to people. Yeah.
00:50:49
The Jobs Podcast
What is it you like about the bridal business? Because I hear mixed reviews on on that. i i I'm sure for every one bridezilla, for lack of a better term, you have 100 that are, you know, it's fine.
00:51:02
Erin
Yeah, I've actually, I haven't had any true bridezillas. It's usually a mother or a mother-in-law. They are, they're the stressors.
00:51:10
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:51:13
Erin
And yeah, but it's something about being there for one of the biggest days of someone's life. And being that person, like I am a ah ah brides or a groom's advocate.
00:51:21
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:51:26
Erin
And so there have been times where like one in particular, where they had this, it was a COVID wedding. So there was a whole 10 people and we their wedding was in Herman on a cliff side and it rained. And so the bride's like, I just want to get married outside. And I'm looking at the radar. I'm like, it's going away. And she's like, well, they want to get married inside. They're worried about wet chairs. I'm like, I will go dry off the chairs. Like this is not a big deal. It's 10 people. Like let's push it back 30 minutes.
00:52:00
Erin
And so I had to go talk to the groom and the wedding planner and I helped wipe everything down and they had the most beautiful sunset cliffside wedding, like absolutely incredible.
00:52:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:52:12
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:52:13
Erin
And it was because that's what the bride wanted and I'm going to make it happen.
00:52:17
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:52:18
Erin
Yeah, it within my power.
00:52:20
The Jobs Podcast
Well, yeah, I'm sure there's certain requests that you can't, you know, you can't make happen.
00:52:20
Erin
Like, yeah.
00:52:24
The Jobs Podcast
But if it's within your ability, I'm sure you would. So.
00:52:28
Erin
Exactly. And to add on to like the ah ah personality traits or different things that you should have, you should be really good at logistics and problem solving.
00:52:38
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:52:41
Erin
And so, yeah, like Lorraine's a problem, but it doesn't have to be. And so coming up, yeah, coming up with backup plans all the time, like, hey, we're going to do this.
00:52:53
Erin
And if this happens, we'll do this. And being that great communicator and making people feel at ease is so important in this line of work.
00:53:03
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Yeah, I can see, I mean, the pictures are the result, but if you don't have the ability to interact with people effectively
Key Skills for Photography Success
00:53:12
The Jobs Podcast
and pivot whenever things aren't quite going right and calm down anxiety and pull people out, like it's an ebb and flow kind of thing constantly, the picture taking probably turns into the easier part with some customers.
00:53:26
Erin
Exactly. It's dealing personalities on the front end. That's the work.
00:53:29
The Jobs Podcast
Right. So tell everybody one more time what your website is and how they can get ahold of you if they would like to use your photography services.
00:53:38
Erin
Yeah, so I'm Aaron Gamble. Aaron Gamble Northrop now. The business is Gamble's Photography. I'm on Facebook and Instagram and all the places. And then the website is gamblesphotography.com.
00:53:52
The Jobs Podcast
Awesome. Thanks so much, Aaron, for taking the time to talk with us today. You you did great.
00:53:56
Erin
Thank you.
00:53:57
The Jobs Podcast
All right.
00:53:58
Erin
You too.
00:53:58
The Jobs Podcast
Have a good day.