Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Brown.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Katie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always been interested in art. My great grandmother painted, and my grandmother is a self-taught tango dancer/sculptor/painter/pottery maker. Growing up in choir I always thought music was going to be the only art in my life, until I got into high school. My sophomore year I traded in choir for photojournalism and instantly fell in love. The smell of the chemicals in the dark room was exciting and it felt like home. I went onto the yearbook staff as photographer/editor in the years that followed and after graduation continued to keep up with it in a hobby aspect.
In about 2014 I began to think about branching into a business. I sucked, no really, I sucked! I thought I was good and was encouraged by my husband and my family and peers but seriously, were they blind? Being self-taught takes a lot of discipline if you want to move forward but in the past 3 years I feel like I’ve moved up into my own and really gotten a hold on what I want to do.
The first wedding I photographed I immediately said “no more!” I hated weddings! However, one sweet engagement client convinced me that I needed to shoot her wedding and I am so glad that she made me because that’s when things turned around and I fell in love with that market.
Weddings are hectic, and fast paced with so many moving parts and that thrill keeps me going. My heart though, it with those small, intimate weddings and elopements. I just can’t get enough of them!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think the biggest struggle I have had is myself. I am constantly comparing myself to other businesses that seem more successful. That and social media! I am a millennial so I grew up on the internet but it seems like if I want to stay in front of people I need to be constantly on my phone or computer posting on twitter, Instagram and Facebook and Pinterest. With two little kids that’s not something that’s feasible.
Please tell us about Velvet Sage Photography.
Velvet Sage Photography is a re brand from my first attempt. My name is Katie Brown, it doesn’t inspire much and is already the name of several photography businesses. So I came up with Velvet Sage because it hasn’t been used, and it incorporates my love for texture, color and nature. That’s basically how I want my photos to feel as well, full of texture and color and very natural.
I’m inspired by texture and movement. I don’t pose, I direct! This also gives each session a fun atmosphere and helps loosen everyone up. I specialize in weddings and I am hoping to niche it down even further soon into intimate weddings and elopements around the globe. Although I still love boudoir, families and maternity/birth too!
Of course, I am a photographer, but first and foremost I am a print artist. I am obsessed with the printed image and I am obsessed with the print movement and making sure that all of my clients get their photos printed in one way or another through me, Digital is great! It’s great to have something to share across the internet but a physical print is multi-generational. No one else is going to give you service like I can either.
Along with meeting in person for everything, which is rare these days, I make sure to walk each of my clients through the process at their own pace. We make it fun, meet for coffee (on me of course) or drinks, I bring wine and snacks to reveals and ordering sessions etc. … Plus I even make sure I set aside time to work, in person, with each of my wedding couples on writing and perfecting their timeline, if they don’t have a planner. “Under-promise, over- deliver!”
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
My first feature in a publication! Blogs and magazines get bombarded with submissions every day and for anyone to stop on something I submitted and say, “Yeah, let’s publish this”, is a really cool feeling. It is pretty much a tie though, between that my past clients sending me referrals, it’s hard not to feel the love.
Pricing:
- Weddings begin at $2500 and are all inclusive (time + product).
- Portraits begin at $349 and are also all inclusive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.velvetsagephotography.com
- Phone: 817 966 2861
- Email: katie@velvetsagephotography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/velvetsagephoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/velvetsage
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/velvetsagephoto
- Other: www.pinterest.com/velvetsagephoto
Image Credit:
Peronal Photo: Jessica Chappell Photography
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