We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erick Donoghue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Erick, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
In this day and age, everyone is a photographer. The cameras in our pockets are getting better and better, not to mention high-end camera gear becoming more and more affordable. For these reasons saying the market is saturated would be an understatement. It can be very difficult to develop confidence and self-esteem when so many people are doing what you are doing, and technology is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The best example I can give for myself is wedding photography…
I was reluctant to photograph weddings because you only have ONE chance to get it right. There are no second takes or re-dos. It’s people’s biggest day in their lives and it all comes down to you for the memories. Why would anyone choose a portfolio-less wanna-be photographer, when there are SO many professionals out there killing the game?
Ironically for me, my confidence, self-esteem, and success as a professional freelance photographer really took off when I put down the bottle and got out of my own way. No, I didn’t have a huge problem nor was my life in the gutter. I was the same driven, athletic, and multiple career-seeking individual that I am now. I just never really took chances on myself, only taking the gigs that would handed to me.
In 2022 I shot my first big wedding on a golf course resort in Cape Cod and I was HOOKED. Not only for the rush and the thrill, but so many kind people pulled me aside to comment on how impressive I was. Saying things like “I’ve never seen a photographer move like you!” and “You must have shot a thousand weddings, you know exactly where to be at the right time!”
From there I haven’t stopped, shooting all kinds of photography and being a part of people’s most important milestones. I love what I do, it’s a little different from everyone out there, my confidence is sky-high and I’m just getting started!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Erick Donoghue, I’m a professional freelance photographer & content creator here in the greater Boston area. My love for the art of photography started in 2016 on a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. It completely laid the foundation for who I am as a person. I’m a nature-loving, down-to-earth adventure seeker who is always looking to be outside. My happy place is in the mountains and overlanding my vehicle to pursue more time in the great outdoors.
This can be shown in my work, shooting outside year-round whether it’s families, portraits, landscapes or astrophotography. Nature and earth tones are always present in my work.
Professionally freelancing photography I get to shoot a little bit of everything and I’m always working on my craft.
I am extremely lucky in my work-life balance in that being behind the camera is my passion, my creative expression and as of late…a large chunk of extra change. My work varies with the beautiful seasons we are graced with here in New England but professionally I am focusing on engagements, weddings, lifestyle and families.
2023 was my busiest year to date and I’m on track to nearly triple my business in 2024. I’m most excited about my wedding couples, long-lasting connections between families, and traveling to the globe to shoot landscape
I am literally living my dream and I’m so thankful to have found my niche. I stopped drinking and found myself when I was 35 years old. Anything is possible and everyone is on their own journey. You don’t have to know what you want to do with your life before you leave high school. Anything is possible, you can change course, change careers, and more. You don’t have to be stuck. Believe in yourself, follow your passions, and everything else will fall into place.
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?
1. Be the best and most authentic version of yourself. 2. Work harder than everyone around you.
3. Believe in yourself and never peak
As a self-employed business owner, your personality is everything. Sometimes people will just want to work with you regardless of your skill level, knowledge, or portfolio. People gravitate towards certain people and being genuine, authentic, and true will take you so far. People can feel your passion and will want to work with you.
If you’re early into your journey, whatever it may be, it will probably mean you have to work a little harder than everyone else to get your chops up. Embrace this, love what you do, over-deliver, and have fun doing it. I’ve shot weddings that evolved into shooting their newborns, that evolved into shooting their families and so on. Working hard you can become apart of people’s lives, its truly empowering.
Never peak, try new things and believe in yourself. Innovation and developing skills that others cannot bring to the table takes time. You will have periods where you love it, you will have times when you hate it. Enjoy every step.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Since I love what I do, and I do it almost every day, the question has to come up…. “Do you ever get burn out or defeated’
The answer is yes! The challenge I’m currently facing is taking something (photography) that was originally just for me, something I enjoyed because it made me happy….and turning it into a career. A job I have to get up every day and do. When you become a photographer in this day and age you are not just taking pictures.
It’s a full-time job of a web designer, social media manager, social media trend researcher, accountant, tax person, algorithm researcher, promoter, scheduler, coordinator and the list goes on and on and on.
At the end of the day this passion project has to be for me. I need to be happy and I need to enjoy what I’m shooting. I’m in a very good place currently but any creative goes through their ups and downs. It’s a part of being an artist.
I remind myself every day that I’m lucky,fortunate, and I’m doing something that I truly believe in. It’s just funny that the thing I believe in is myself. So when I’m feeling down or burnt out…I load the car up, plan an epic hike, and do what I originally started with. Shooting nature and landscapes. It zens me out, brings me back to center and I call it “recharging my social battery.”
Everyone at some point will ask themselves, “Am I doing the right thing?” Believe in yourself and trust that you are always in the right place, at the right time…or so my mother says.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.edonproductions.com
- Instagram: edon_productions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erick.donoghue
Image Credits
Arlan Fonseca Molly Greely
