Miss Lady Jane | Virtual Assistant for Photographers

Let me introduce you to,

LORI
MISS LADY JANE

Why did you become a photographer?

2010ish

Tell us your story? How you started until now?

I hope you have a minute! i actually went to college for graphic design, graduating with a BFA. I worked in the corporate world for about 5 years after graduating. In 2000, I got engaged. Being a DIYer and designer, I naturally wanted to design my own wedding invitations. During the process, I fell in love with stationery design. While working in the corporate world, I started a stationery company on the side. I built this up for about 4 years before I was able to quit my job and go full-time. It was a very successful company; I had my stationery sold at over 700 stores nationwide, as well as some overseas accounts.

Selling products to retailers meant having a catalog and website with images of my work. Again, being the DIYer and artist, I was convinced that I could figure out how to photograph my products myself. I had taken photography classes in both high school and college, so I wasn't going in completely blind. Looking back, I was pretty blind! I did a lot of internet learning and purchased my first real DSLR.

I'm not great at learning technical things, so in order to keep myself accountable, I committed to doing a photo of the day post on my blog every day. (yes, blogs were THE THING back in 2008ish) I slowly got better and people started to notice. A friend asked me to take some maternity photos of her down by the lake. So, I did. the rest is pretty much history! I loved the experience and slowly started taking on more photo sessions. Soon, it became too much to do both stationery and photography, so I transitioned over to being a full-time photographer in 2010. The past 14 years have been amazing, and I've learned so much. I could probably write a book about them, but this is the prelude!

Who is your ideal client?

My ideal client is someone who truly appreciates the art of photography and is willing to completely trust in my vision. My best sessions are ones where I'm free to create based off my style and skills.

What is your WHY... what keeps you going in business? And why are you passionate about it?

I think my WHY is truly that I HAVE to create. It's in my soul. I'd never be happy if I wasn't able to be creative and constantly come up with new ideas. I'm really passionate about capturing the essence of people. I'm a huge fan of a serious portrait where you can see into the subject's soul. Not everyone 'gets' that type of portrait so, of course, I do the more standard, portraits as well. But, when I get those shots that speak to me, I'm in my happy place.

Where do you see your business in the next few years?

I recently started a niche photography offering where I disassemble, design, and photograph people's special florals to create forever wall art. (ie. wedding bouquets, memorial flowers, special occasions) I've been pouring a huge amount of effort into it in hopes of eventually doing more and more of that. As I get older, I think about the practicality of doing something that takes less physical toll on my body.

Tell me about how you manage your work/life balance as a small business owner?

This is the question of all questions. The truthful answer is, I don't. I've gotten better over the years in finding a schedule that works for me, but I'm terrible at saying no, so I often don't adhere to my own 'rules'. I do try to stick to my 'no shooting on weekends' rule pretty firmly. Often times I use the weekends to catch up on computer work, editing, etc. so, it's not that I'm not working, but I'm not adding more to my workload by shooting. I think that being passionate about your business also means that it's really, really hard to turn it off. If you love what you're doing, working longer and harder doesn't seem so hard. so, long story short, I try my best.

Shooting or editing? Which one is your fav?

This is tough. I'd say my favorite part is coming home after a session where you know you rocked it, and going through and picking my favorites for sneak peeks. Editing those first 10-15 images is the best!

What do you listen to while you edit?

Podcast

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger photographer-self, what would it be?

So many things, but I think the most important goes back to the work-life balance question. 100% I would have set harder boundaries on when I made myself available to clients.

If you could give feedback to the photography community as a whole... what is one positive thing you'd say? And one constructive criticism?

Stop selling yourself short. Photography is art. Art is not cheap. You are worth every penny you charge, and then some. Get out of your own way!

If you had no obstacles (fear, money, mindset etc) - what would you do next?

I mean, no obstacles? Retire and travel the world! But, in reality, I know retirement would be very difficult for me. Like I said earlier, I'm happiest when I'm creating, so I don't see myself ever stopping.