We recently connected with Rachel Rose and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
For me my purpose has always been to create. I’ve always been an expressive person and creating has always helped me express myself. With photography I found that I not only get to express creatively and show my artistic side, but I also get to express who I am and my personality. I’m lucky enough to have clients who understand my personality and my zany side as well as appreciate my photography.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a photographer in the Reno, Sparks, Lake Tahoe area. I photograph pretty much anything that comes my way including families, weddings, boudoir, food, branding, etc…
i like what I do because it’s always changing. I may have one job where I’m photographing one specific thing and the next day what I’m working with can be completely different.
I recently started focusing more on High School Seniors. I really enjoy the one on one interaction with them and how into their sessions they can get. Personalities at that age can be fun and I enjoy the banter during my sessions and showing that personality in their images. I always have a lot of fun working with Seniors because I honestly feel like a big kid myself and feel like I can relate to them.
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. Thirst for knowledge
My photography business started by happenstance. I didn’t purchase my first camera with the intent of starting a business, I just wanted to create and have fun. It took me about a year before I started charging for sessions. In the beginning I was playing with my camera in different settings and lighting conditions, I Googled and Youtubed EV-ERY-THING and wanted to attempt to recreate things I saw on-line. I had a photography bucket list of things I wanted to photograph (and I still have it today) that I just went down the line attempting. I was so hungry to learn and experience photographing different things that I pretty much said yes to everything. It was a quick way to find out what I did and did not like photographing.
2. Drive
Drive kind of goes hand in hand with the thirst for knowledge. I was shooting everything that came my way. At one point I was photographing meetings for a Christian conservative political organization–just taking photos of their meetings and events so they could use them for their website and social media. They weren’t even good photos! I just wanted the experience of photographing those types of events and the experience of being a photographer in those types of environments. I believe shooting their meetings helped me make the jump to photographing weddings. It taught me how to be a fly on the wall and it taught me what looks good when people are speaking. I’m not afraid of work and I actually crave new work opportunities. Every connection made through the hours I’ve put in photographing something have ultimately led to something else.
3. Honesty
I don’t believe a business (or a relationship in general) can succeed if you’re not honest. Honesty covers a lot of things when you run a creative business. It not only encompasses the honesty behind the business–taking peoples money and delivering quality product in exchange, but also the honesty with yourself. When I started my business, despite the urge to say yes to everything, there were a few things I probably shouldn’t have said yes to. Either I wasn’t technically ready, or I didn’t have the right equipment needed to effectively shoot what was requested, or I didn’t have enough experience to know what to photograph at the appropriate time. I said yes when I probably shouldn’t have, but I also said ‘no’ a few times when I definitely should have. I learned quickly to be honest with myself. After a few times of saying yes when I probably shouldn’t have and recognizing how that made me feel, If I felt like I couldn’t do my best, then I turned it down.
I think new photographers should be honest with themselves and their abilities before jumping into everything because they want the paycheck. I’m a member on way too many wedding forums where I hear horror stories of photographers who’ve messed up a wedding day because they weren’t ready. I recommend shadowing a fellow wedding photographer before fully jumping in on your own.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My challenge is social media. I think I get too in my head about it and ultimately end up having paralysis and not posting anything because I’m too caught up in “should this be a reel or an image,” “what caption should I put?” “What hashtags should I use?” “Dang it! Who was the hair and makeup artist again? What’s their handle?” “What time do I post?” “Do I post individual images or a set?” “Do my images look all over the place?”
I just need to stop thinking so much and post. I doubt anyone else is even paying that much attention to what my captions are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rachelrosephoto.com
- Instagram: @rachelrosephoto and @renograds
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rachelrosephoto28
- Linkedin: n/a
- Twitter: n/a
- Youtube: n/a
- Yelp: n/a
- SoundCloud: n/a
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@rachelrose.photo
