Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Rausa.
Lisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well, honestly, my love for photography started as a teenager capturing the beautiful sunsets in Okinawa, Japan as they’d set on the Pacific Ocean. I had a 110 film camera to start with which I ended up with a 35mm camera for Christmas when I turned 15. From there, my love grew deeper for photography in the emotional side of capturing images of people in general. Specifically friends with their little siblings or my friend’s parents being silly with the kids at the local pool etc. I am military raised, therefore my father traveled a lot, he was TDY more times that I can count & we didn’t take a lot of family photos. Ever. I think if I recall correctly, we only ever had professional family photos done once & I was 4 or 5 years old. So, with having kids of my own, I decided I would make it a point to have family pictures done at least twice a year & capture as many memories as I can of my own. I believe in the investment of professional images.
Now, I was definitely just a hobbyist & not a professional by any means, until I really started putting the time, money & focus into Mentoring & really learning the camera, settings, lighting, genres, & what I wanted my main focus to be. I made it a business around 2010.
I got where I am today because of drive & determination, but also faith. My husband & I do my photography business together for the most part. He has been my biggest support in this field & really kept me going. Constantly encouraging me & pushing me to do even better. I’ve incorporated a lot of areas of my passion/beliefs into my business as well, such as offering free or discounted services to all First Responders, Military & even terminally ill clients. As it’s never been about the money to me… but always about the passion to be able to provide a service & memories for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to have them.
Through the years, I’ve expanded into offering Destination Photography for Family Vacations & Destination Weddings, as well as opening my own studio on the Mckinney Square in Mckinney Tx. This has helped my business grow even more.
The support of other local photographers who have become dear friends is also amazing & beyond helpful, in an industry that can be very cut throat, you learn who is of the “community over competition” group & they always support each other! I just love them!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A smooth road… umm.. honestly, not at all. You learn a lot as time passes in any business or goal. When I started photography, I (like many others) thought it was going to be all fun! I quickly learned that there was so much more to it. That no matter how hard you worked, where you started at, how much you charged or what you gave your clients, there would always be some others in the industry who would be negative & try to make you rethink if you were “good enough”.
These situations in the first few years really made me contemplate “giving up”, but as time went on, I learned that we all start somewhere. We all have to learn on our own timing the way that we will run our business. I knew that Photography was a passion of mine, regardless of how good I was, or how much improvement I needed, it fed my soul. It gave me purpose, & even when I would do a session that I wasn’t the proudest of, the clients would always say the words that would lift me right back up to do even better on the next session. Usually being “Oh my gosh Lisa, you captured us exactly as I wanted, you got our true selves, our emotion, not super posey stuff”. THAT is what kept my booking.
I think one of my biggest struggles has always been wanting to give away so much. My CPA told me a couple years ago, “You can give away the farm, but they won’t pay you for the milk”. I didn’t understand what he meant until he broke it down to me that I needed to charge what I was worth & that after taxes, my time away from my family, & all other expenses, I actually ended up paying about $3.19 / session to do the session because I was not charging enough. That was a hard lesson for me. I thought I was doing so good but learned I didn’t make a dime that year! Lol!
Another struggle was learning when to find time to Edit. I own a local Preschool also, so I would try to edit during nap time, or after hours when my own kids & husband were in bed, leading to very late nights. So, I had to learn how to be betterath time management.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As the Owner & main Photographer of Lisa Renee’ Photography, 204 Boudoir & Studio 204, I specialize in Lifestyle Family & Children Photography, while still offering services such as Studio Rental, Boudoir Sessions under the Boudoir business, & even Weddings.
I chose to separate my businesses in 2017 & it has been the best decision I ever made. It allows me to keep them completely separate for Photographers & Mentoring, as well as Studio Rental, & then also my websites for each.
We are mainly known in our area for Family Lifestyle Photography & capturing true emotion during sessions. I have been honored to capture many, many families who have had never had family photos done before or hadn’t had them done in years, & then for them to continue to book on a regular basis. I love when a family contacts me & we have a strong connection right off the bat, just from being able to understand exactly what that mom has envisioned for her session.
I think what really makes us set apart is that we offer a full service experience, we offer the pre-consultation to make sure we all have the same vision, we offer the wardrobe consult to help with outfits for the session, how to make a color pop etc, we offer in home consultations to even make sure that your attire will match your interior decor colors so that you can choose to hang a beautiful 30×40 canvas above your fireplace. We also offer a full line of Premium Signature Items such as Albums, Canvas, Wall Galleries & so much more.
Our focus is to build lasting relationships with our clients, so we strive for excellence in earning their trust in our business, while seeing the true value in exactly what we offer.
What were you like growing up?
I was very much a free spirit child. Didn’t know a stranger, loved to make people laugh, loved the ocean, sunsets, & poetry. I went to bed with a pen & notebook on my pillow every night & wrote poems & lyrics all through middle & high school. I hated sitting still. I disliked TV or anything that didn’t involve doing something physical.
Music, & Photography were my life honestly. I listened to any genre I could relate to & concerts & MTV (actual music videos) were some of my favorite things to spend my time on.
I grew up pretty quickly being the oldest in my family & my dad always being TDY, so I was a full time nanny at the age of 14 & helped my mom out around the house a lot. My friends would jokingly ask if Cinderella could play when they’d come over. To this day, I prefer to be cleaning or up doing something, rather than just sitting & watching TV.
Pricing:
- Lifestyle Family Sessions start at $400
- In Home Documentary Sessions start at $450
- Weddings start at $1800
Contact Info:
- Address: 101 Louisiana Street Suite 204 McKinney, TX 75069
- Website: www.lreneephotography.com
- Phone: 940-453-7384
- Email: lisarphotos@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisareneephotography1
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lisareneephotography1
Image Credit of Lisa’s photo under headline: @Stephanie+Kevin Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
