#Shutterbug photography magazine how to#
#Shutterbug photography magazine full#

#Shutterbug photography magazine full#

I retire from my 10-year nannying/babysitting career in August to give full focus to Shutterbug Studios.

It has provided steady income which allows for my photography to be not-so-steady at times, which is to be expected in the beginning. Nannying has played a pivotal role in my growth as a small business owner. So for the past seven years, I have had to rely on another source of income in order to allow my photography business to continue its slow growth. A small business loan wasn’t within the realm of possibility for me. Basically, what I’m getting at here is, you either have to be okay with not earning that much at first, or you need to be prepared to take out a small business loan. Programs, subscriptions, workshops and equipment are expensive, you have to continue upgrading and investing in those things in order to better serve your clients. It’s true that keeping overhead costs as low as possible will allow for a bigger take home salary but it is absolutely necessary to invest back into your business in order for it to grow. Photography is an expensive hobby and it’s even more expensive to maintain as a business. I think the other main struggle I have faced along the way, which I’m sure any photographer can say the same, is the cost of getting started.

That is a motto I believe in to the nth degree. If I constantly compared myself to the fast learners and spent my time dwelling on the fact that my technical skills didn’t develop more quickly, there would be no room for me to continue growing and dreaming. It’s just part of the way that I learn and grow as an artist. For me things have always taken a little more time and I’m okay with that. Some people jump into photography and learn the ropes right away. This process took time for me and time is such a valuable thing.

#Shutterbug photography magazine how to#

Once, I figured out how to meter light and manipulate my manual settings I was good to go. It took me about five to seven years before I was comfortable shooting in full manual mode and even then, I didn’t understand what a light meter was or that one even existed in my camera. The internet also wasn’t what it is today, so finding information and tutorials wasn’t as easy as looking something up on a smart phone (smart phones didn’t even exist yet.) For a long time, I shot on automatic mode and worked mainly on strengthening my compositions, subject matter and editing. This made reading the camera manual for my first crop sensor DSLR camera a near impossible task. I have struggled with an attention deficit for as long as I can remember, so reading has never been enjoyable or easy for me. Although my eye for color, composition and line have always been strong, when I really started getting interested in photography around age 13, I had absolutely no strength in the technical skill category. I don’t think anything in life worth doing comes easy, so no, it has been anything but a smooth road. To be honest, I never really knew what I wanted to “be”. At age five, I could have never imagined that I would grow up to be a photographer. It was there in the small town of Americus, Georgia where this whole thing began. When the shopping was done and we went to pick the images up I would flip through and analyze each one and I loved looking at all the images the photo counter chose to display at the pick up desk. (Don’t worry, I won’t do that during your photo session!) We would then drop the camera off to be developed the next time we went grocery shopping at Winn Dixie. When the film was full, I would insist she keep clicking so I could pretend we were still taking photos. I would dress up in my best outfit, march outside to the backyard of our country home with my little bare feet and make my Mom take pictures of me until all the slides were full. In 1997, the only cameras my family had access to were the disposable KODAK cameras. Every time I would go visit her at the office, I would go straight for the camera and take at least three instant print photos. At the time, my grandmother was working in the home and auto insurance business, so photographing homes with an instant print Polaroid was part of her job keeping files up to date. The arts have always appealed to me and the camera in particular intrigued me from the time I was a small child. Madison, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Hernandez.