This week we are featuring Carrie Steffe of EMA Photography! She has amazing pictures! Check her out! 🙂
Hi! I’m Carrie. I am a newborn, baby and child photographer from New Jersey.  And No, nothing like the people on the “Jersey Shore”. I enjoy shopping online in my jammies rather then going to the store (even grocery shopping!) and watching reality shows with the kids (yes I’ve even been hooked on watching Dance Moms with my 12 year old).
When did you first realize you wanted to be a photographer?  Ever since I was little but just never realized it until it became my second career.  I always knew I wanted to be one but never realized at the time you could make a living at it.
When and how did you start out in photography? I have a degree in teaching, but I worked part-time in a pharmaceutical company. I was dabbling in photography on the side because I enjoyed it. I started out because I was buying custom boutique clothing for my daughter.  I took a picture of her in it, sent it to the designer and she used it in her next listing for the outfit.  The outfit ended up selling for 3x the amount and thus a relationship was born in which they would send me clothing for my daughter, I’d photographer her in it and then keep the outfit in exchange. Â
It was then that I began to get critical of the images I was taking which only pushed me to figure out what I was doing and how to work a camera. I quickly learned its not the camera but the user in which takes the picture 😉  Soon my own children got tired of always “posing” so I would take pictures of the neighbors’ kids. It got to the point that my photography started looking like portraits, so a neighbor suggested that I start my own business. So I walked into my job one day, which I hated, and told my boss I was quitting. And I never looked back. That day, I registered my business with the state. My neighbors started referring me, and by the second week, I already had a booked schedule for the holidays!
How would you describe your style? I would say my style is contemporary and fun but very client focused.  I like props but it never overshadows the subject.  I love close ups and smiles aren’t always the most important thing. I love capturing big wide eyes and innocent expressions.
What’s in your gear bag? Canon Mark ii, 50mm 1.2L lens which I use pretty much exclusively.  I also own the 85mm, 70-200L, 100mm.
One lens you can’t live without? 50mm 1.2L
How did know when the right time to start charging was? I pretty much charged from the start except my close friends and family.
How much did you charge for your first session and how much are you charging for the same type of session now? $25 sitting fee then,  now $175-$225.
How did you market yourself when you started out? I didn’t do any marketing, I was and pretty much still am mostly all word of mouth. My friends would refer me to their work friends and because I was so cheap at the time most were booking sessions.
We are going to play a game… name the first person that comes to mind when you think of…
·Newborn photographer: Anne Geddes
·Most inspiration person: Joey Lawrence.  Style is so different then mine but I’m fascinated at his talent for his age.
Did you go to school for photography or were you self- taught?  Self Taught. I would take a shot, look at it and realize how horrible it was. It pushed me to learn what I was doing.  I read articles online, visited online forums and most importantly read my camera manual 🙂
What has been some of the hardest things to overcome in your business? Balancing work and family.  Somedays I don’t think I have figured it out! It’s a day-by-day thing. I try to be very structured. If you run a business, you can’t also have your kids home during the day. My 3 girls are in school, and my 2 year-old son goes to my babysitter. You have to treat it like a profession.
I know that when I drop the kids off, it’s time to go to work. I don’t allow myself to get distracted or be unfocused. I want to be that parent who picks my child up from the bus. I love that I can volunteer at my daughters’ school; I want to be involved in my kids’ lives. And if that means that I work from 7 PM until midnight every day, then that’s what I do, because I found a way to make a living doing something that I truly love.
Do you have any tips for photographers just starting out? Practice, practice, practice. Don’t think that if you get a great camera, that’s all you need. Get a lower-model camera, and just work it until you know it. Practice on your kids until they’re sick of you. Don’t charge a dime until you know everything technically that you need to know. And remember to register your business with the state, and get a tax ID number. You owe it to your potential client. It’s not just your time but your clients, too.
If for some reason you couldn’t be a photographer what do you think you would be? Teacher
What’s the best lesson in photography (business or shooting) that you’ve learned so far? To value my time,  if you don’t nobody else will.  Also know how to run a business. There are a lot of good photographers out there, but you have to be able to run a business. You can have pretty subjects and be technically great, but if you can’t work with people, forget it. And if you’re not a people person, you’re going to run your business into the ground. I’m so blessed because I have clients who came to me 8 years ago who are still with me today — that’s through 20 price increases!Â
What are your thoughts on pricing? I wish people would price themselves more appropriately and not under cut the market so bad.  I did the same thing myself when I started. I wasn’t confident in my skills and I didn’t have a client base. I based my prices on what the local Portrait People chain was charging. After awhile, I burned out, because I was exhausted from so much shooting. And when I calculated the costs, I wasn’t even making minimum wage. I realized that I was really busy and my prices were really low, so I raised my prices to get higher-paying clients. Now, I have a schedule that suits my life much better.