Lessons I learned the hard way

When I first started my photography business, I had no idea what I was doing.

I loved the idea of making a living working for myself doing something I loved, but entrepreneurship was a totally foreign concept to me. Register my business? How? Why?? It felt like a lot of unnecessary hoops at the time.

As I fumbled my way through running a business, I made many mistakes—cringe-worthy mistakes like forgetting my spare batteries at home and running out of battery life in the middle of an elaborately planned family photo shoot when I was impossibly far from anywhere.

Oof, that one was embarrassing, to say the least.

Then there were the times I let bridezillas bully me into drastically photoshopping their wedding photos because they were unhappy with their bodies. I feel such sadness and shame for not having the words or the courage to say “no” to that. It pains me to think of these women out there somewhere with albums full of pictures that aren’t an honest representation of who they were back then. That was nearly 20 years ago, and it still bothers me.

More recently, I found myself in an awkward situation with a stressed-out client. She was on a tight budget and opted to cast her brand film from a pool of personal friends and family rather than hiring professional talent. Sadly, the lovely couple who volunteered to be in the film had an emergency the morning of the shoot and had to cancel at the last minute. I was literally in my car, full of props and gear, headed to our shoot location when I got the call.

Understandably, my client was not happy. It was an unfortunate situation that could have been mitigated by hiring from an agency instead of relying on friends. However, she made a budgetary decision, and there wasn’t anything to do at that point but to reschedule.

Sadly, the client stopped responding to my communication efforts, and the project was eventually shelved.

Six months of planning went out the window.

All the nights I had spent scriptwriting, designing, and storyboarding for this person’s unique brand story felt wasted—the results would never see the light of day.

I was incredibly sad to see this project come crashing to a stop like this. Devastated at the idea that I had somehow failed my client, even though what happened was beyond my control.

I felt shame.

But over time, I’ve come to realize that sometimes you can do your very best, and people can still be unhappy. I learned that nothing is guaranteed to us and that you can make all the detailed plans you want, and it is still possible for the wheels to come off. I learned to qualify my clients more thoroughly to ensure we were on the same page and equally committed to seeing the project through.

I also learned that entrepreneurship is incredibly hard, no matter how many years you’ve been doing it. While things like registering your business or having contingency clauses in your contract may seem like unnecessary hoop-jumping, they are, in fact, essential foundations for building a business you can thrive in rather than just fumble through.

In the end, these experiences have not only made me a better photographer but have also opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that come with resilience and growth in this ever-evolving industry.