"Enjoy the creative freedom available to you instead of dwelling on faultlessness.”
When looking at Emily Carmichall’s photography, I couldn’t help but be impressed. While creating stunning portraits, her creative touches and her superb ability to shoot beautiful, well-crafted photos. Each of her photos contain so much skill, taking creative techniques and proving her ability to have mastered each one. In addition to her photography, her insight into the photography business is wise beyond her years, and her understanding of the successes and struggles of running a business in High School were something that I, along with many others, can understand and learn from.
Emily is based in South Orange County CA, and having graduated High School in June of 2019, Emily was off to San Diego State University in the fall. Emily loves music, theater, and is a singer/songwriter her debut single, “Without You” by Em Rose, out on all platforms. Even with her many other ambitions, Emily has been running a photography business for almost five years now. “It’s a funny story actually. I used to be super into film, so one day I found my dad’s old Canon camera and decided to try it out. I soon realized that the camera only took pictures, so I started taking photos for fun. In seventh grade I had a few non-paid photoshoots, and in eighth grade I created my little business, Emily Carmichall Photography”.
Given that she had started her business so young, there definitely was a learning curve to be had. When it came to pricing her shoots, she would often keep the prices low in order to allow the age demographic that she was aiming towards to be able to afford her shoots. She later realized that it was more complex than this. “I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned on the business side of photography is to price your shoots according to the quality of your work and the competition in your area/within your audience. I didn’t raise my prices for years because I wanted to be affordable for high school kids and I didn’t realize that my work was worth way more than $20.”
She also described the importance of backing up your work. “I also learned that backing up files is very important. There was one shoot I did a few years back in which the SD card I was using gave out and a ton of pictures deleted. I had to reschedule the shoot and do it over again.” Despite this, Emily reiterated the importance of learning from your mistakes, and not to give up hope too quickly. “Moral of the story, mistakes will probably be made, technical difficulties will probably get in the way of a shoot at one point or another, but as long as you work hard to fix the issue and end up giving the client great pictures, you’ve done your job. Everything will work out. I promise.”
Emily talked a lot about the difficulties of balancing school with photography, and got real about some of the issues she’s had. When I asked about how balancing school with photography, she was honest about the struggles she’s had. “This has been a big challenge of mine. Photography, at least in my experience, varies in demand throughout the year. Winter is filled with family clients while Spring is overflowing with senior bookings. Over the years, it’s been very hard to keep up motivation with photography. Late nights editing, getting paid less than desired, booking more shoots than my schedule could handle.”
Despite these challenges, she continues to return to photography. “ I’ve always been drawn back to photography because of the freedom of expression the art form holds. It’s so incredible to be able to create images that others can relate to and be inspired by. Photography can be very difficult at times, but also very rewarding. I think the rewarding times are the moments when I remember why I do what I do. My photos make people happy. My photos are framed in people’s houses (crazy, right?!). Having the opportunity to create art that others will admire for years is insane. That’s the kind of thing that motivates me constantly.”
She also recognizes the importance of her photography for those she works with. “I also love seeing the excitement in my clients after they receive pictures from a shoot. Seniors, families, and models alike all seem to be amazed by the beauty created simply by putting them in front of a camera. People are beautiful, and my goal is to remind them of just how beautiful they are.”
As she has grown in her work, her attitude has also developed over the years, and she understands how pressure can be added through social media. “This argument is overused, but I really do believe it: social media puts way too much pressure on any photographer to be perfect. In the same way that girls feel pressure to look or act a certain way because of apps like Instagram, photographers and all artists alike feel a constant level of stress as a result of the fight to gain more followers and get more likes. Sometimes, that stress can turn into desperation and distract from the real magic of photography and freedom of expression. I never really cared about my follower amount, but I did feel like less of a photographer than people who had more followers than me. Don’t get me wrong, social media also has its benefits: inspiration at your fingertips, free exposure for your work, and more. My advice? Don’t take social media too seriously. Get inspired and inspire others!”
“More than anything, I’ve learned to take it easy. I used to be so stressed about getting photos edited the day of the shoot, making every picture perfect, and pleasing every person I shot with. Although I still aim to make every client more than happy, get pictures edited in a timely manner, and create great photos, I cut myself a little slack when it comes to perfection. No one is perfect, so no one should expect perfection. I’d say to set goals of getting better at what you do rather than set goals involving zero mistakes. Enjoy the creative freedom available to you instead of dwelling on faultlessness.”
You can check out more of Emily's work here: https://www.emilycarmichallphotography.com/
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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