Meet Andre Stepanov

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andre Stepanov a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andre, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?

My self discipline came from two things: Seeing other creative individuals around me succeed and the gym.

Growing up, I witnessed a lot of people become successful and even hyper successful musicians, photographers, artists, and business people.

Here I was, trying to achieve something myself, yet seemingly failing no matter what. Looking at these people pissed me off. Why them, not me? I kept trying to figure out how to partner up with them or be a part of their success. Easy to say, these were the wrong approaches and lead me to spiral. I lost passion, I focused on others success, and really didn’t focus on what made ME successful. Saying this now, I know it was a naive and horrible way to look at it, but I was jealous and bitter, wanting an easier route to success.

I realized I needed to take a deeper look at what other people were doing and apply it to myself, rather than trying to force my way into their success. I came to learn the common factor for all these people was discipline over time. They put their head down, worked on themselves and figured out how to keep going forward over an extended period of time. Seeing this sparked something in me, realizing that I can’t just be motivated every once in a while, I have to consistently put in the work. I finally saw what took me so long to realize, was all these individuals had discipline.

Once I understood this, I still had trouble applying it. I understood I was lacking discipline and that I couldn’t just start and stop all the time if I wanted to get somewhere. In comes the gym. Trying to not sound too much like a gym bro, but I finally had a place that showed me progress in a form where I could see it. I could see the results of discipline finally being applied to me. This shift in understanding now with a real result, allowed me to continue to push myself to not just be disciplined in one aspect of my life, but all of them.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I primarily focus on photography and capturing memories for people. I think there is something so special about taking good photos for people. I’ve come to realize that a lot of people live their lives without having a good photo of themselves and loved ones. There is nothing like giving photos back to people and seeing their eyes light up. I do a mixture of photography ranging from weddings to food and restaurant settings.

I just genuinely love all things photography. I worked in finance for two years and found it to be so boring. I wasnt helping anyone except making rich people more money. Having an impact on people and how they will remember their moments and how they were specifically in a moment of time is just way more meaningful to me.

I started my photography journey at around 13 years old when I would go to weddings with my dad. We didn’t have the ability to afford a nanny, so it was either I went with my mom to her piano lessons or with my dad as he would film weddings. I eventually started taking pictures on my ipod touch and realized that I really liked the things that I was doing. Eventually my dad let me use his cameras with me booking my first wedding at around the age of 15 for ~$350! I then continued with photography throughout high school and college, although not too much. I started my official wedding business under the name Seatownphoto at the age of 16. I would continue to do weddings here and there to pay for my college and other expenses. After quitting my finance job here in May, I have went full time and am going pedal to the metal rebranding from Seatownphoto to WeddingsbyAndre.

I post my creative work on my andre.stepanov13 page on instagram with my wedding work going to Weddingsbyandre

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Technical knowledge- Don’t be the fool who says “oh I dont know anything about my camera, I never had to learn I just started taking good photos”. You need to understand the fundamentals of how your camera works.

Why does low shutter cause blurry photos?
What else does a low shutter do (lets in more light for night photos)?
Do I want a high aperture or low for group photos?

Intimately know what each setting does at all of its different extremes. Learn about Raw files. Learn about flash and how different lighting affect pictures. Learn composition. You need to be a sponge and ACTIVELY look for new things to learn. Whether that be videos online or shooting photos yourself, it is up to you. Eventually you can get to a level where you can look at someone’s photos and intuitively know what their settings were (most likely).

People skills- You don’t have to be a good photographer to be a successful photographer. Sure it helps, but it is not everything. You need to build a community of photographers, artists, models, and clients, just like any job. It is all about your network. My biggest mistake/issue was not having a community of people to bounce ideas off of/learn from. I was surrounded by finance people (since thats what I was pursuing) and had to build that new network from scratch as an adult.

So at the end of the day, make sure you are likeable and fun to work with. Sure you can take good photos, but if you make people feel like shit, no one is gonna give a damn.

POST YOUR WORK- Stop hiding the work you do. Let the world see and be unashamed about it. If you are constantly hiding your work, you will never learn, grow, or see what does well. We all start somewhere and believe me, the feeling that something isnt good enough never really goes away. You need to start sharing to get used to showing your work and presenting it in a fashion where people want to hire you.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Building community. When you are an independent photographer, you dont have coworkers, its literally just you. You have to figure out how everything works, you have to find clients, you have to edit photos and manage any screw ups. Its hard because you dont have a path set out by a manager to help you succeed.

Building community keeps you encouraged, motivated, and disciplined. People push you and give you ideas, support you when you are down, and reward you for your hard work. It’s hard, because you have to actively put yourself out there, no matter how you are feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://weddingsbyandre.com
• Instagram: weddingsbyandre and andre.stepanov13

Image Credits

I am the photographer of all images