Inside the Photography Business Interview:
Photographer: Brandy Roels
PhotoMerchant: Tell me about yourself and your photography business.
I started my career in photography in 2004. I met Jason, the owner of JS Photography, when we worked together in the automotive mechanical design field and we became great friends. He was into wedding photography and thought I would be good at it with my design and photo background. I caught on quickly and before I knew it I left engineering and was shooting weddings full time.
In 2011, I started my own small business Life Time Images by Brandy to focus on Weddings, Engagement, HS Seniors, College Grads, Child, and Family Portraits. I wanted to work with my wedding clients again. It has truly been a blessing to work with my clients year after year and offering family sessions watching their children grow. They have become more than clients, they are my good friends.
My Family and I - September of 2024
Why do you think your customers like working with you?
The biggest and most consistent compliment I hear is that my photos look like they’re out of a magazine. They’re unique.
People have also said they love that I’m professional but still fun to work with. In the photography business, it’s important to be a good people person. Social skills and how you relate to people are so important in my business. I’m easy going, approachable, and I try to create a relaxed and fun environment for my clients.
When people are relaxed they take better photos. I’m not working with professional models, I’m working with everyday people who worry about how they look in front of the camera. It’s part of the job to tell them how great they look and how well they’re doing.
What do you do in your spare time?
I love enjoying time with my family and friends. I don’t have a lot of spare time to be honest, work consumes me. Like most working moms I spend most of my off days carting my kids to school, making meals, and enjoying my daughters volleyball games. It's the little things in life like taking walks with my 2 fur babies or date nights with my husband that make me really happy.
What do you do to stay competitive with other photographers in your market?
There’s a ton of competition in my market. I think my success comes from a combination of the quality of my work and the way I am with people. I set very high standards for myself and expect the same from those who work for me. I am a photographer. I only do photography. I am not a Walmart type company that offers everything under the sun in wedding vending. Those type of company's lack in quality, style, experience, and personable approach. I meet with my clients, I check in with my clients, I shoot their weddings, I edited their weddings, and I deliver their perfect photos. Most photography companies offer cookie cutter weddings. Every wedding is treated and looks the same. I shoot weddings based on my creative eye and the environment I am shooting in. I want my clients to have one of a kind photos. There is only me to deal with when I am committing to shoot my clients wedding or portraits. Not a whole lot of cooks in the kitchen which gives me a huge competitive edge when a lot less mistakes are being made.
I have lots of repetitive clients that are friends and or family of each other. It is extremely important to them and me that each wedding is unique in its own way. I shoot in a blended style of photojournalism, traditional, and magazine style photography. I take in the personality of my clients along with their location in my style as well.
Also I compete against a lot of men and I think being a woman is an advantage. I see photography from a different point of view and have a keen eye for detail. Having been in place of a bride before, and now having had children, I can relate to my clients.
I take so much to heart. I have a great love for what I do. A wedding is one day you can’t bring back and it means everything for me to do a perfect job.
How do you manage your workflows and calculate the costs of running your business?
Running my own business as opposed to contracting is definitely more stressful. I like to do everything perfectly, and I question myself constantly. Am I showing the right pictures? Am I advertising and marketing correctly? With contracting all that stuff is done for me. Weddings are brought to me; I meet with the client and book the date. On my own, the business side is a challenge.
With costs, I don’t have high overheads because I work out of my home. I’m a careful saver; I budget and set my earnings aside to buy great quality equipment. My only advertising so far is word of mouth and social media. So far I haven’t had to do any formal advertising at all. This saves a lot on overhead cost so I can keep my prices reasonable. With all my experience, the style I shoot, fast delivery, and everything I included, I feel My prices and packages are unbeatable in Michigan.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about running a business?
It’s extremely time consuming, and so time management is important. I’m a perfectionist and am constantly thinking about how to make things better, or new, or unique. Sometimes I don’t sleep much, especially since I’m also the mother of two. Luckily my husband is very supportive, but it’s still hard to manage my time.
I’ve also learned it’s important to be firm with my pricing, particularly with weddings. I don’t negotiate the quality of work I deliver, so I won’t negotiate my prices and what I know I deserve for my work.
In my portrait work, I find pricing challenging. There are a lot of franchise and amateur companies in my area that do low quality photographs for low prices. My service is more expensive, but my clients are paying for excellent quality, high end equipment, and all the time and experience I spend editing to make things perfect for delivery.
Want to see more of my work? Great, I have tons more to show you!
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