Meet Jeff Dose

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeff Dose. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeff below.

Jeff, 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?

In the past few years, I’ve found myself busier than I’ve ever been… With every passing year I feel like I get to know myself a little better- my strengths, weaknesses, habits, and tendencies. One thing I’ve found is I can get sidetracked easily if I don’t approach my day with a degree of discipline, and before you know it, I’m working on something that wasn’t even on my radar for that day. So, the self-discipline that I have comes out of necessity.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a wedding photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been photographing for about 10 years and I’m in love with it. To me, the most exciting thing about photographing weddings is the pace, the slight pressure of the day, and being a part of such a wide range of emotions within a few hours. Every wedding is different and I love that I can approach each couple and each wedding with fresh eyes. To me, photographing weddings is immensely satisfying and creatively fulfilling!

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

There are several skills or qualities that have been hugely impactful for me, in terms of creating, and I’m always trying to improve on them. For me, this starts with getting comfortable with failure. When working in a creative space, things don’t always go how you planned, and that’s not always a bad thing (sometimes it’s awesome!). But it’s important to not let it grind you to a halt when you don’t meet the expectations you had set for yourself. Be kind to yourself and keep moving forward. Fail quick and move on quick!
This leads me to another important skill- Identifying areas of weakness and focusing on intentionally knocking those out. It’s way more fun to create when you’re not stressing about not knowing how to use a piece of gear or how to achieve a specific look with your photos. I think it is important to remember that none of us are born masters of our craft… I like to pick just one thing I’d like to improve on and focus on that for a bit until it no longer is a source of stress but becomes an asset for me.
The third quality that’s had a massive impact on me is communication and the ability to put others at ease. What energy do you give off and how do you make others feel when you enter the room? Weddings are full of emotion and deeply personal. I fee most connected to photos that show true, undirected emotion, and the only way to get that is by fostering a space where other people feel at ease around you. If connecting with other people is hard for you, there are books and resources on the topic, but I think the best use of your time is to spend time with people who do it well. Take note of how they make you feel. What is their body language and demeanor reveal? What kind of energy do they give off? People forget what you say and do, but they’ll remember how you made them feel!

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

I think my biggest area of growth in the past 12 months has been implementing and maintaining strong systems. I love being creative. I love being curious and letting big ideas take over- and I think that’s a wonderful quality- but if it’s not harnessed, it can certainly make running a business an uphill battle. Years ago, it all blurred together- the photo shoots, the file management, vendor communication, finances, schedule-keeping, gear maintenance… Let me tell you, it’s hard to be creative when you’ve over-booked yourself, you’re up against a tax-deadline, and there’s a pile emails that are still waiting for a response.
These days, I like knowing that I have a strong system for all the different facets of my business. I like knowing that when it’s time for a photo-shoot or wedding, I’m in full-on creative mode and am confident that there’s nothing getting missed on the back-end.

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Image Credits

Jeff Dose Photography

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