We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ruby Jean a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ruby, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
When you make your artistic passion your career, it can be easy to get into a creative rut when you find yourself doing the same things over and over again. I keep my creativity alive by doing passion projects with friends and family, people who are really comfortable in front of the camera. When I am working with my clients there is so much more that goes into the shoot than just taking a nice photo. There is conversation that needs to be kept up, to keep them comfortable, lots of encouragement, and direction, and all of this is happening at the same time as I am trying to find the best lighting, framing up the shot, our next location etc. When I work with “models” I get to remove all of that “client relationship” stuff related to the fact that, this person is paying me to provide an experience, and I get to focus on just being creative, trying things that may or may not work, trying new locations, my creative mind gets to take center stage and just go wild! And then I get to bring these new creative ideas into my next sessions with my clients!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
When I started my full time entrepreneurial journey, I was solidly in the wedding photography field. I had built up my wedding photography business over the span of a few years, while I worked some part time content creation jobs. After I graduated with my photography degree I dabbled in so many areas of photography, and couldn’t seem to get a footing anywhere, and ultimately opted to go for weddings because I was SO eager to be my own boss, and it seemed like the best way to go about it, since you could make the most amount of money off the the smallest amount of clients. Unfortunately, I just never loved it. And no, it was not because of the brides, most brides that I encountered were total sweethearts. It’s just an extremely stressful avenue of photography, because the days are long, and the stakes are high. Right as spring of 2020 started to approach, and my calendar was officially full with 2020 weddings, I quit my content creation job, and officially went full time in my business five years after graduating from college. Pretty quickly, COVID came in and wiped out all of my weddings, and I was left basically “unemployed”. While weddings were on pause, I got to spend a lot of time working on passion projects, and found that I really enjoyed shooting creative concepts using costumes and props and hand making items to use at the shoots. I also realized that I felt relief every weekend when I didn’t have to go photograph a wedding.
One of the creative concepts I shot was a Goddess themed photoshoot with my sister. I made my first halo crown and we had this beautiful purple sunset, and I just felt SO energized and excited while were at the shoot. I even said “I wish I could do this every day”. After I posted the photos online, I got comment after comment from women saying that they would love to try something like this! And so, I hosted my first ever “Goddess Mini Session” day just a few weeks later.
I finally realized that what hadn’t felt right about all of the other avenues of photography I had tried, engagements, weddings, family photos etc, was that hiring me felt more like an obligation vs something that my clients really wanted to do. Every time I would meet a couple for an engagement session and I was told time and time again how one of them (usually a man) really didn’t want to be there, that it was practically torture for them, I just had to force a smile and carry on. I wanted to work with pole who were just as excited to be there as I was, and the Goddess photoshoots allowed that to happen. People didn’t need to be documenting a milestone in order to have their photo taken, they just had to want to do it, and that opened up the door for all kind of people to step in front of my camera! Goddess photoshoots have become a form of celebrating one self. Or celebrating someone you love. I have had Grandma’s and Granddaughter, moms and babies, people celebrating their divorce, or healing from a trauma, the photoshoots have brought such an amazing variety of people into my life, and not only do they get to see themselves in a beautiful way, but I also get to share their stories on my social media to inspire other as well!
Goddess photoshoots are my main focus, I provide costumes and props, and use Maine’s beautiful and plentiful natural landscapes to blend fantasy and nature, for a truly immersive photoshoot experience, and leave my clients feeling excited, and seen, and to offer a brief escape from reality.
I am available for bookings for 2024, for custom portraits, and I also have a few group events as well. I would really love to get into being a part of retreats of large events as well!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Having good people skills/conversation skills has helped me immensely when it comes to proving an experience for my clients. With something like a wedding, you can be more of a documentarian, but when you are one on one with someone who maybe hasn’t had their photo taken professionally in 30+ years, being able to make them feel comfortable and safe is crucial to how the shoot will play out.
My advice: Learn how to ask people questions! Making conversation with clients is easy because, it can be one sided, ask them questions and let them talk about themselves! And smile a lot!
Video editing skills have played a huge roll in the success of my business. I always loved making videos for fun in college and high school, of my vacations and parties etc, and then when I worked in content creation I got so much practice that I was really ready for reels and the success of TikTok.
My advice: Learn how to edit videos on a computer vs in an app. It will give you so much more control and make the process WAY easier and faster.
Shoot, A LOT. Though my jobs in content creation were not my dream jobs, once I started, I went from shooting here and there to shooting multiple times a week. It helped me improve my skills, in editing and shooting, rapidly, not to mention it built my portfolio up.
My advice: Shoot shoot shoot! If you want to be a photographer, get a job in content creation for a local business, all businesses need content, and they need it all the time. And if no once is hiring, just get out there and shoot as much as you can, even if you have to do it for free at first.
How would you describe your ideal client?
An ideal client for me is someone who enjoys beautiful things. Whether that be beautiful dresses, beautiful props or beautiful scenery. All of those things are a huge part of my sessions, and typically my client enjoys one or all of those things! Someone who is open, and willing to be vulnerable, so much of the experience is also connecting, whether it is with me one on one during a session, or with other women at a group session. Feeling connected makes the experience so much more meaningful and special. And when you feel connection, you are able to be at ease and be yourself, and that rally translates in the photos!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rubyjeanphotography.com
- Instagram: @rubyjeanphotography
- Other: TikTok @photo.goddess
Image Credits
all mine!
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
