Inspire.Capture.Create Photography: interview with the photographer

1. Where did your creative spark begin-can you trace the
path/timeline that got you to where you are today?

It wasn't until recently, the past couple of years, that I decided to pursue my photography career. I have come to realize that photography has been a huge part of my life, dating back to a young child. I can remember at just about every holiday or family function one of my grandma's having a camera and I would steal it from them. My cousin and I would have mini photo shoots of each other playing dress up and take pictures of us taking one of the little ones on ride around in the stroller. I blame my career/addiction to my grandmother's and I would not change a single thing about it!

2. What inspires your creativity?

Happiness. Being able to portray a person or a group's emotions in a photograph for many other people to see and feel, even if they have no idea who the subject is or what the event is of, is the greatest inspiration. The newly changed name Inspire.Capture.Create is my inspiration in its self.

3. Where do you live & how does it influence you?

I live around Kansas City, MO Metro Area. Technically, I live in a small town with less than 500 people, but its only about 20 minutes away from the North Kansas City area. I think having the small town and city style of life so close to each other helps me relate to just about anyone in the world. I am a stranger to no one and having a rather large family helps that.

4. How have you grown your business from an idea to
where it is now?

I first got the idea of having a photography business my senior year of high school. This led me to deciding to go to school and pursue my dreams. At first I decided I would go to school for Business Management and maybe go to an Art school after I got my Bachelors degree. Since I started school, things have changed, I plan to change my major to Fine Arts with an emphasis in Photography, possibly with a Minor in Business. I haven't quite decided yet. Also, I would like to do something with Design. I love designing different things like announcements, logos, advertisements, etc.

5. What do you create with & why?

I use a program called 5DFly Photo Design. I use this to design photo announcements, fliers, title pictures, etc. To edit pictures I use GIMP, a free simple version of PhotoShop. Also I have a program called PhotoScape, which is somewhat like PhotoShop. Sometimes, I use Picasa 3. Facebook, Blogger, and Yahoo e-mail are my means of communication.

6. Do you keep a journal or sketchbook? Can you show
me your workspace or a part of your process?

I don't have a journal or sketchbook, but I do have a blog and a blog gallery, where I post my thoughts, interesting things I find on the web, ideas, and of course pictures. Some are random, some have an actual purpose. I like to ramble on sometimes :)

7. What did you overcome to be here now?

Technical and financial difficulties.
Technical because it was hard to choose how to display my stuff, whether or not to get a professional website or to even get a blog. I have never blogged before I got my photography stuff started, so it was like entering a whole new arena of challenges.
Financial because I had to decide if I was going to be able to afford the name brand things, like a website, "professional" logo, brand information, etc. I had to find a way to make it affordable since I am still in school and can barely make it paycheck to paycheck (insert ridiculous gas price of the week!).

8. What have you learned so far about business/creativity
that you can share with others?

I have noticed that I am very very very picky and that I am a perfectionist! I tried too hard to make everything the best. Sometimes this is a bad thing because its time consuming, but also it's a good thing because I view my products and creations as if I were the customer and how I would like everything to be.
Advise: Think about your business the way you want your customers do, then you'll be sucessful.

9. Where are you headed?

I hope to graduate someday :)
I want to wake up everyday excited about work.
I want to make a difference in someone's life.
I want to have my own small business out of my basement, so I can be a stay at home mom, when the time comes for me to have children.
I want to be financially stable to have a job I love and a life better than I had growing up.
I want my creativity and artistic talent to always be challenged.

10. How can people connect with you?

Monday, October 17, 2011