We recently connected with Megan Morales and have shared our conversation below.
Megan, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Sometimes people fixate on things they don’t like about themselves but if you had to choose your favorite thing about yourself, what would it be? For me, it’s my creativity. I’ve always had an artistic side, ever since I was a kid. I loved drawing and specifically remember my grandpa coloring with me and teaching me how to ‘stay in the lines’ –which ironically, I don’t think you need to do in art but I guess that is a fundamental step when learning.
When it comes to my business (and life in general) I like to do things differently. I prefer to stand out rather than blend in and creativity really comes into play then. When photographing a wedding, I like to combine a healthy mix of traditional and candid images so my galleries are well-rounded. I also like to think, “how can I shoot this differently?” so it’s more creative and not necessarily the “norm”. A lot of times we can get burnt out on doing the same thing over and over (happens to me too) but to break that cycle I like to take on projects that are for ME and not a client. Periodically I will put together a styled shoot that consists of something I want to shoot and that will attract my ideal client. This is when I really channel my creativity and think outside of the box. I like to experiment and try new things that maybe I wouldn’t normally do on a wedding day. When doing this, the creative juices really start flowing and I develop new ideas that I can bring to future sessions for my clients.
These styled shoots do not have to be anything elaborate. Most of the time it’s as simple as finding a couple to model for me, choosing their outfits and a unique location –there’s no reason that anyone couldn’t do this themselves. Once a year, I go big and put together a more involved shoot but whether it’s a full-blown, mock wedding or a small shoot in an open field, this is a big way that I keep my creativity alive.
I also like to pull inspiration from Pinterest, tv/movies and others around me when staying creative. One thing that has stuck with me over the years when creating is a situation that occurred while I was in college with my Painting and Drawing professors. I was working on a series of drawings related to my grandpa (the same one who taught me to color in the lines) and I wanted to do a drawing of my eye with the reflection of my grandpa inside. One of my professors was against the idea with the argument that “it had been done before”. Another professor stood up for me and her response was, “But SHE hasn’t done it.” That was a really meaningful moment. Yes, something similar had probably already been done before by someone else but I hadn’t experienced it for myself. Clearly the intention behind that piece wasn’t to copy anyone’s art but to experience it myself and see what it could lead to. Even now, I love trying out new trends that I see in the photography world, not to copy others but to try it for myself and see how I can put a twist on it to make it mine.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Photography has been a part of my life for quite some time. I’ve always had some type of camera and I specifically remember getting a handheld videocamera for my birthday in 6th grade. Even though I don’t do anything with video now, I videoed everything as a kid. I loved creating little skits or dances with my friends and recording them and putting my friends into poses and photographing them. I was really into scrapbooking then so I would always take tons of photos to then print and display creatively into my scrapbooks.
In college, I majored in Art with an emphasis on Painting and Drawing. At the time there wasn’t a photography major so I just took a few elective classes. That’s when my parents bought my first DSLR camera. I photographed my first wedding shortly after that not knowing what I was doing AT ALL. A classmate of mine at the time was getting married and didn’t have a photographer so she invited anyone in our photography class who was interested to come photograph her wedding for the experience. I was the only one who showed up. I had a ridiculously long shot list printed from Pinterest and arrived at the venue literally before anyone else. It was a long 15 hour day and so many things went wrong. I hated it and told myself wedding photography was not for me. Sometime after that an old friend was having a small ceremony in her backyard and asked me to photograph it so I decided to give it another chance and had a much better experience so here I am today with 250+ weddings under my belt and loving every minute of it.
Photographs are so important to me because once we’re gone, that’s all that’s left for our children, their children and so on. My mom kept photo albums of our childhood and passed that along to me and I love to be able to reminisce on the memories. That is what is so special about it –being able to look back and relive the moment and that’s my goal with what I do. I want to create meaningful and beautiful imagery for my clients that they can enjoy, look back on and pass down for a lifetime. On a wedding day you are gathering with your closest family and friends –some that may be traveling from far or that you don’t get to see often and even some that might not be around much longer. There have been many times where the photos I took of a grandmother or grandfather on a wedding day were the last good photos taken of them. I do this to preserve the memories and because I get so much joy from it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Detail-Oriented – As a wedding photographer, attention to detail is so important in my opinion. Weddings take lots of planning and couples put a lot of work into their big day. I planned my own wedding and there were a lot of DIY aspects to the day since I have a background in art. For example, I created my own seating chart, handwriting every guests’ name on the chart as well as a place card on their table. I hand-painted all of my table numbers and multiple signs throughout my wedding decor. Those were just a handful of things that I spent a lot of time and effort on for some of them to not be photographed on my wedding day. Maybe a couple isn’t DIY-ing their wedding but they are still spending time planning and choosing different parts of their day and it’s important for those things to be captured.
Being Able to Adapt – Once a wedding date is set, there’s really no changing or rescheduling that day so being able to adapt to any situation is so important. I have experienced so many different situations and can confidently say that I am comfortable with whatever is thrown my way. Having backup gear is essential –backup cameras, lenses, flashes, batteries, everything because if something goes wrong, it’s not like you can just stop and reschedule to a different date or leave to get more gear. Outside ceremony with rain on a wedding day? Happens all the time so you have to be able to handle whatever lighting situation is occurring for a back-up indoor ceremony. Practice makes perfect so my advice is when starting out to constantly shoot in different scenarios, times of day and lighting conditions so you can handle what you walk into on a wedding day.
Organization – Being organized as a wedding photographer is significant. When I am hired to photograph a wedding, I send couples a questionnaire to get information from them regarding the wedding day (addresses, wedding party count, wedding colors, family photo list, ceremony time, etc). With this information I curate a timeline for their wedding day to keep everyone on track, I organize their family photo list to flow smoothly on the wedding day, I bring flat lay details that will compliment their wedding colors, etc. To me, having a plan and being ready is crucial. It saves so much time and can be really impressive to my clients. I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten on my hand-painted styling mats that match the couple’s wedding invitation/details or the amount of times a bride or groom’s parents have applauded me for getting through family photos so quickly by having an organized list. Being organized really makes a difference to everyone involved.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
The biggest area of growth in the last year or so is realizing and developing my brand. As I mentioned before, sometimes I reach the point of burnout where I overwork myself and feel like I’m constantly doing the same thing over and over. I begin to lose my creativity and things start to feel a bit robotic. At one point I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep photographing weddings or if I wanted to try something new but then I decided to invest in my brand development and I realized a lot about myself and where I wanted to go with my photography business.
I searched and searched for the perfect brand designer and hired Cember Studio to help me accurately depict my brand. With her process, I rediscovered my love for weddings and the type of clients I want to focus on. She helped me create a brand that truly reflects my creative and colorful personality and really brings out the vibrancy of my work. I dove headfirst into my new brand and it has completely paid off.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meganmoralesphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganmoralesphoto/
Image Credits
Megan Morales Photography
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