Meet Victoria England | Creative Photographer

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

Hi Victoria, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I jumped into photography with little to no experience. Originally, I was pursuing a career change from education into communication design due to my background in English and creative mindset. After several interviews, I signed up for some continuing education courses at Collin College that covered Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, photography courses, and a few Marketing courses. While taking the courses to gain the basics in some skills needed in the career I was pursuing, I fell in love with taking pictures of my son and funnel spiders at the park. I reached out to my family photographer for some advice and started to shadow him at his gigs. Then I began offering free shoots to friends and family to build my portfolio further. I thought it would take at least six months to get up and running, but now my family photographer and I are looking to create our own studio. My goal was create something sustainable that allowed me to be a mom, partner, and businesswoman and photography has aligned all those things. 25

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
If you had asked 12 year old Victoria what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have told you a Psychologist. I pursued that career path until midway through my first semester of my Counseling Psychology PhD program at the end of 2020. During Covid, my priorities changed a lot. My focus shifted from career to value the importance of my friends and family. I also wanted to pursue a career that tapped more into my creativity as a storyteller. I switched into an MFA program in Creative Writing and became a certified teacher for a year before finding photography as a career in 2023.

Ironically, it was my sixth grade students who encouraged me to pursue a career field that both merged my passions for creativity and engaging challenges. If you’re ever looking for career advice, find a twelve year old – they’ll tell it to you straight.

Since starting my career as a photographer, I’ve learned anyone can take pictures, but not everyone can tell a story or create a unique experience for the client with those photos. I think my own personal photography and creative preferences deeply influence my art. My own person family photos style include us cosplaying and interacting with each other and the environment. My photography preference is very much on the candid side, but I know that is not why people hire photographers.

Since most people would prefer to be the person behind the camera than in front of it, the challenge in being a photographer is building a trusting and lighthearted relationship with your client within a few minutes of meeting them. I’ll usually tell jokes about myself or create fun names for poses like “kiss tag” or “lost airplane” to lighten the mood. When it comes to portraits, I prefer more candid and authentic pictures, so I try to create a more “in movement” posing style for my clients to look more natural. I’ll sometimes ask couples to play tag, grad students to jump off benches or splash in fountains, siblings to play fight, or families to play Simon Says. The real challenge is bringing life into photography that is more posed, like capturing headshots that are professional but personable. It’s the breaths between the photo and the pose that speak to the emotions of the subject.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think a great place to start is Deep Ellum. I would time their visit during one of their art festivals. Downtown has so much to offer from the Dallas Art District to Klyde Warren Park just a few blocks away. Both the Dallas Arboretum and the Ft Worth Botanical Gardens would be a prime pick to visit, especially for a picnic in Fall or Spring. If they are looking for fun little experiences, I’d probably take them to do alpaca yoga at TX-ture Farms or a splatter paint war at Pipe and Palette.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think the people I’d have to thank and give credit to where I am now are my partner Kevin, my sister Karina, and my amazing in-Laws, the McConneys, who have all supported my career change in every aspect possible from finances to adjusting their schedules around my clients and odd hours to wonderful words of encouragement. I could not have built my portfolio without the time Kevin and the McConneys have invested into my business. I also have to give a huge shoutout to the DFW photographer, Ethan, from Ellicia Photos. Ethan originally began as my family photographer and offered to chat about cameras and photography over coffee when he found out I was taking classes at Collin College. His honesty, time, and mentorship helped get me started. I owe so much of my success to his patience and teachings, and I am so happy to be in the process of creating a studio with one of DFW’s top photographers.

Website: venglandcreative.com

Instagram: venglandphotos

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-england/