We recently connected with Amanda Miller and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amanda, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience stems from a very young age. Growing up my younger brother and I didn’t have the best childhood. I had to keep my head up not only for myself but for him. I was practically the only thing we had that kept us going and taught what was right from wrong based on my experiences at a young age. With this being said, growing up wasn’t easy. I learned and realized a lot that most do when they’re younger, at a much older age. Because of this I’ve felt a bit set back from others that are my age or close to it. I’ve had to work harder and push myself further due to this. Nothing in my life has ever came or been easy – and that’s okay because had I not grown up the way I had I don’t think I would be as resilient as I am now.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a photographer (I’ll eventually take up videography as well) – I market myself as a multi-specialty photographer because I do a variety of different types of photography. I’m most experienced in concerts/live events, headshots, engagement photos, pets & landscape. I have done a few weddings, though I think that may be the one area that I might exempt going forward and I have the smallest bit of boudoir in the books. I’m open to any kind of session that someone is looking to have done because I not only know that I’m capable of it, but I don’t want to limit myself to a single area(s) – so I dabble into anything I get the opportunity to do.
Photography gives me life, it’s literally a serotonin booster for me. It’s the one thing I feel the utmost confident in. It’s also provided me with amazing and interesting experiences (like shooting popular EDM artist, Illenium’s Trilogy Colorado show – he’s one of my favorite artists and it’s the biggest concert I’ve ever shot *yet*). I travel for different events which allows me to visit places that I’ve never been before and explore different areas of the country. I really do what I do for fun, making a profit is just an added bonus.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I definitely think the first would be knowing the basics of photography – camera settings. Not knowing how to shoot manual is a set back. You need to be able to have control of your ISO, aperture, and shutter speed to produce a better and more accurate outcome than you would shooting on automatic (especially in concert photography).
After that would be knowledge of lenses – so many people take up photography not understanding or knowing there are different types of lenses (I was one of these people). The amount of money I spent and wasted on lenses when I didn’t take the time to learn anything about them was so unnecessary. If I would have known and then taken the time to learn what the differences were, I would have saved so much time and money and I probably would have improved the quality of my images much faster (and better).
The last I wouldn’t categorize as knowledge, but depending on what you want to do in photography, you have to keep pushing. What I mean by that is in this industry, there are moments when you get kicked down and it can lead to discouragement. There are so many photographers out there and from my experience and what I’m trying to achieve, it’s competitive. You have to build yourself up, make yourself a name and an image and then get out there and put a face to your brand. You have to be hard working and you have to have the mental and emotional strength to keep pushing yourself even when it gets rough and you feel like giving up.
To those that are just starting out, my advice would be to do your research. Start out with equipment that aligns with your main goal. If you don’t know what that is yet, start basic (a DSLR kit from Amazon for example) and once you figure it out then upgrade. Start small and then go big, get your basics down first and then dive in.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Oh I am ALWAYS looking for people to partner and collab with. As I mentioned earlier, I’m open to doing any type of session someone is looking to have done, that includes a vision that someone might have that I can help create and capture. I love meeting new people as well and I’m always looking to expand my circle. If you’re reading this and you’re interested in partnering/collabing with me you can reach me on Instagram (@amandamillermedia), email me through my website (amandamillermedia.com) or email me directly at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: amandamillermedia.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/amandamillermedia
Image Credits
Amanda Miller Media
