Level Up Your Photography
Running a business as a photographer isn’t easy. It takes a lot of organization, time and effort to make a living.
Hey, I’m Kellie, a photographer in Orlando. I spend a lot of time working with various clients to make their image dreams come true. Which I love doing. My job is the best. I’ve been doing it the better part of the last 18 years and still not bored. Starting out in the photojournalistic world and then moving toward corporate photography for brands.
In the beginning of January 2024 I had a bit of an epiphany. I was spending so much time making other people’s ideas come true I forgot why I started taking images in the first place. I get to take an idea and make it real. The process of taking an idea that’s in your head and seeing it happen in front of your eyes is the part I love the most.
Enter the villain, time and money. When you own your own business, you’re constantly answering emails, organizing shoots, making contracts, overseeing contractors and making phone calls. It’s a lot sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, you have to make time for your own personal adventures in life. Maybe it’s that trip you’ve always wanted to take to see a remote part of the world, or maybe it’s just that idea you’ve had in your head for awhile and it’s time to make it a reality. Whatever it is, go do it. Make the time. It always seems difficult and “How can I carve out time? I have so much to do” - but if you just do it, it becomes easier and easier. You’ll wonder why didn’t I just do this years ago?
I decided that I would shoot one creative project a month, just because. You don’t have to have a reason to do a creative project other than you just want to. Sometimes my projects involve something I find funny, something I just think might look cool, or just because the project tells a great story. It’s June now and I’ve done concepts involving everything from dogs to drag queens. And I’ve gotten a lot out of it. I’ve met new people, I’ve learned new skills, and I’ve had a lot of fun. There are a lot of people out there willing to help you create something.
You’ve got to have an idea. Once you have that idea, you’ve got to coordinate all the things that go with it.
Not only do I take photos, but I’ve always enjoyed drawing from the time I won my first blue ribbon. I was 5. The creative energy has morphed over the years to different mediums, but photography is where I landed. My original idea was to combine my illustration skills with my photography skills and have a well dressed man holding an umbrella. Then I would draw on the rain drops. More of a portrait concept.
When I was scouring the internet resources to help me find models, I was in a Facebook group and came across Danielle Christine Blasingame, who trains dogs to participate in photo sessions and movies. I really love dogs so I thought, how can I work dogs into the shoot? Then the shoot became “It’s raining dogs”. I told Danielle the concept and sent her a couple of my sketches and she was in. She told me she had 3 doggies that were able to help! I also found 2 models that were on board as well. They each brought something different to the mix and were lovely to work with. It was all coming together quite quickly.
You can’t exactly just drop dogs from the ceiling, so I knew I’d have to do some photoshop work to composite everything together. I searched on Peerspace.com to find a studio to rent in the area and found the perfect one right downtown. It had a white cyclorama wall so we could light it and cut out each model and dog perfectly in Photoshop.
After the shoot came the fun part, combining everything we’d shot into a series of images. Then take them to the iPad to start drawing in all the extra pieces I wanted to add to the final images. I ended up using only black and white for the illustrations so it would keep the focus on the subjects.
When I started this project, there was no intention of getting it published. Our company, Dynamite Studio is part of the Professional Photographers of America and a magazine came in the mail. I thought, why not reach to them to see if they’d be interested in it for any upcoming issues. Pretty much everyone loves a good dog photo, right? To my surprise, they wrote me back asking if they could feature it in the upcoming June issue. Of course, I said yes and they interviewed me with a few questions. They titled it, “Forecast for Dogs” - check it out here.
It just goes to show you that if you do something that you really love, people take notice. In the end, I ended up with more than I initially even planned on. Take the time, it’s always worth it.
