Episode 12: Megan Kubasch Photography
Megan is a portrait and lifestyle brand photographer here on the South Shore. She takes an artistic approach to lifestyle photography by creating emotive portraits that tell the unique story of each project. She currently lives with her husband and two sons, capturing her experience in motherhood through self-portraiture and honest documentary images.
HER BACKGROUND
Megan talks about her background and being self taught as a photographer. She thought back to working with a photographer when she was pregnant with her son and seeing how her photographer was having so much fun during their sessions. She realized she wanted to have fun in her career and decided to pick up her own camera and start photographing subjects around her in order to get started. She reached out to family and friends and let them know that she wanted to pursue photography and asked if people would be willing to have their pictures taken. She speaks to being a serial entrepreneur and working as a copywriter, blogger and in a life-coaching business but when she got into photography she knew this was what brought her happiness.
ON STANDING OUT
Megan and I talk about how she differentiates herself in the market and she highlights that in any industry there will always be a comparison game and speaks to having the confidence to trust what you’re doing and to go with your artistic gut and keep exploring. She was drawn to portraiture and brand photography because she truly dislikes posed images. Going into lifestyle brand photography she wants to capture people in a way that feels authentic and approachable.
HER JOURNEY
Megan talks about how her husband’s recent post in the coast guard brought them to Boston and the South Shore. She was planning on going to school to become a certified aromatherapist but while taking her son’s one year old photos with another photographer by the end of the session she knew that she needed to shift her focus.
BUILDING HER PORTFOLIO
Megan speaks to having a great network of friends who were mothers that she leaned on to capture pictures that were lifestyle focused, family portraits. She built her portfolio up by offering her services for free and notes that everyone has to start somewhere. She stresses that looking back while it may not have been her best work, it was a great jumping off point. We speak about Megan’s first paid client and having that part of her that questioned, are you sure you’re in the right place but knowing she was on the right path and embracing the excitement of growth in her business.
ON GROWTH AND EQUIPMENT
Megan talks about most of her leads coming from word of mouth. She says it is amazing how much stock people put in having that referral and how far good client testimonials can go. Megan says that the best camera that you can shoot with is the one that you have already. She stresses that the biggest thing you can focus on when first starting out is competition and lighting. Being able to see where the light is coming from and how it is hitting your subject. She also suggests getting started with an entry level DSLR and to go to lensrentals.com and to try renting a system to see what they like or prefer to start. She also suggests that if you have a DSLR that you started with to scrap the lens that came with the camera and to try what is called a “nifty fifty”, a 50ml lens for $150 which she stresses is a great investment to get started. She says not to fall victim to shiny object syndrome and not needing all of the things to start but honing in on your craft.
HONING IN ON YOUR CRAFT
Megan talks about developing style and realizing that it is a little bit of trial and error and seeing what it is that you like. She recommends following different photographers on instagram and reaching out to them to see if they would speak with you in order to learn how they do what they do. She also talks about trying a lot of different types of things and seeing what you like. We talk about having that community support behind you and being a part of that community support. We talk about the importance of networking and how it makes your job so much easier if you can have a few friends in the business.
HER PROCESS
Megan talks about working with her clients and working together to make sure that they will be a good fit ahead of time. She then sends out a questionnaire to ensure that all of the images and brand highlights her clients are looking for are covered and that the energy of the brand is communicated through the imagery. We talk about thinking through all of the specific details of what you are looking for.
HER FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECTS
Megan talks about photographing births and how she hopes to switch exclusively to shooting birth and motherhood. She also talks about disliking shooting men which we both laugh about. She says that for the most part women are simply easier to photograph as they are generally just more aware of their image. Megan talks about easily being able to communicate with women.
PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS TOOLS
Megan recommends a gallery proofing service such as shootproof or pixieset. She explains that it is a place to store all of your high resolution images and jpegs to send to your clients. She stresses that the gallery proofing services that are designed for photographers make your life so much easier than maxing out your google drive gigabytes. She also talks about using a CRM system such as honeybook or 17 hats in order to keep track of all of your leads and gauge interest. She also speaks about tracking revenue and taxes which are important and helpful tools.
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