Meet Ember Claire | Wedding Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ember Claire and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ember, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had been doing photography as a hobby for about five years starting when I was a teenager. I was self-employed already, doing multiple “side hustles” to bring in what I needed. I saw a friend of mine start her photography business and watched it grow over a year. After that, I decided that maybe I could give it a try and see what happens. I love the work, so doing it wouldn’t feel much like work. It was worth a shot and so I dove in. I felt at peace with it and I felt like it was the path God was leading me on to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The biggest things I try to achieve with my work is being true documentation and creating artful images that evoke a feeling or story. I feel most proud when I can stitch ten or less images together and each one adds to the overall scene to communicate a story. What excites me too is when one image looks like it could be a painting!

Film is my biggest inspiration when it comes to my editing style. I try to emulate the greens, grain, and warmth that film tends to have. This gives it a nostalgic and tangible feel that’s central to my brand. Black and white is also a way I edit to bring something totally new out of an image that sometimes is hidden by all the colors. Shooting actual 35mm is super important to me and my clients love it too! It may be a trend now, but to me it’s much more than that. It’s really something special the entire process of it all. It’s a completely different approach than digital photography and definitely not for everyone.

I wouldn’t say it was easy to get where I am today. It’s a lot of work to have your own business. It’s a constant process of learning and growing. Being the best you can be for your clients. That takes a lot of time and focus. The work itself I don’t find to be hard because it’s something I love doing, but the determination to keep going even when you aren’t where you want to be is what you have to beat. If you hold out long enough and keep putting yourself out there, eventually someone will find you and happily hire you.

I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far is that you shouldn’t undervalue yourself. I still struggle with this when it comes to deciding on what rates to charge and things of that nature. Your work will speak for itself when it comes to its value. You’re not only providing a service, you are being hired as an artist. People are willing to pay a lot for your talent because only you can do it the way you do. So you shouldn’t be afraid to charge more if you see that demand and see your work getting better and better. It goes beyond the work though. You want to be able to offer a great experience, and that experience can be worth more to the client than the photos sometimes!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s actually so much to do around Dallas it would be hard to decide knowing you can’t do everything! There are a few places I personally love. I’m big into vintage and antiques so I love going around Historic Waxahachie and exploring the antique stores. I’m also really into movies so I’d probably take them to the theater if something promising was running. I also enjoy the Fort Worth stockyards just because I feel like that’s “real” Texas haha! Most friends from out of town I think would like some good Mexican food. There’s a place called El Mexicano Grill that I’d probably take them to. Nothing too crazy really. I’m still discovering places myself, since I haven’t lived here my whole life and only recently have gotten to explore it more deeply.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There have been so many people who have supported me and who I can point back to and thank for where I am now in my photography journey! Most of all I have to thank my friend Justace from JustaceFaithPhoto for being a huge source of inspiration for me, and Hector from Hector Carmona Photography for his mentorship during my first year in business.

Website: https://www.emberclairephoto.com

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