Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Bibb.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I bought my first camera in 2016 after coming back from a weeklong trip in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. I had brought my mom’s camera with me and quickly realized how much I enjoyed taking pictures. Over the next two years, I began taking portraits for graduating seniors and student organizations at Texas A&M, where I was still attending. However, after graduating, I decided to pursue graduate school, and my photography career all but vanished. Fast forward to the spring of 2022, when my life and my “5-year plan” were derailed. My original career path was still very much attainable, but now there was a big gap of time that I would need to fill before anything would come to fruition, and I was so frustrated, lost, and discouraged that I didn’t see how important and beneficial this gap would actually be. I grew up a music kid, always involved in some sort of performing arts extracurricular or listening and searching for new music. Music had always been a safe space for me, which is why I wasn’t surprised at all when I decided to try and start photographing concerts. I began reaching out to press reps, live music venues, and local artists in Dallas to see if I could photograph anything, and slowly things started to stick. I shot my first live performance in the middle of May for a local performer in Dallas. It was small, very small, but it was a start, and I loved every second of it. A little over 3 months later and I now shoot for a variety of media publications and have had the opportunity to shoot shows for artists like The Head and the Heart and Ben Rector. Photographing live music is where my heart really lies, but I have also continued with portrait photography as well.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There is a lot of rejection that comes with being a photographer. In the beginning, and still now, I am constantly sending emails to potential clients, and oftentimes I either get said ‘no,’ or I just don’t receive a reply at all. It can be very discouraging in the beginning, and I found that any time I did get to shoot something, I would try and ride the high and excitement for as long as I could because I never knew when my next shoot would be. Concert photography is a really tricky business to get into. You don’t have as many opportunities to shoot big shows if you aren’t with a media outlet, but you typically can’t get with a media outlet until you have a portfolio built up, but you can’t build a portfolio unless you find clients willing to take a chance on you.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a freelance photographer specializing in live music and portrait photography. I have had some incredible opportunities come my way over the last several months, and I grow to be very proud of my ability to tell stories through my photos. I try and do more than just take pictures. I strive to capture emotion and movement, and life in every photo that I take, whether it is of a performer on a stage or a client in a studio.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think there is a fair amount of luck that has helped me get to where I currently am. Obviously, I had to put myself out into the industry and advocate for myself, but some of the opportunities that I have been given come down to the right place and the right time. I Happened to get added to a discord server full of creatives, and I just happened to see a message from someone who runs a media outlet; they just happened to be looking for a new photographer to shoot concerts for them. There’s definitely plenty of bad luck working in this industry as well. Sometimes you don’t get told something about where you’ll be shooting from until the very last minute, and then you show up with the wrong equipment. Sometimes the people you’re working with are rude and discouraging, or perhaps they just ignore you. Luck, good or bad, is unavoidable in this industry, and I’m slowly learning to take everything in strides and do my best to learn and grow from every experience.
Pricing:
- 2-hour portrait sessions – $250
- 1-hour portrait sessions – $125
- Live Shows – starting at $175 for individual shows
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahbibbphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sbibbphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahbibbphotography
Image Credits
Sarah Bibb
