A Photographer on Starting a Shop, Overcoming Fear, & Finding Beauty

I’m so happy to introduce you to another beautiful handmade artist today.  Kelly of ekovisions is a photographer.  She has such an incredible ability to soften the colors of her work and really make everything pop in such a unique way.  I really like introducing you to new artists and small business women.  Not only is Kelly both of those, but she’s just now launching the two together.  (Huge cheers to you, Miss Kelly!)

It takes great courage, and I know a lot of you often ask me, “Weren’t you scared to start an online shop?”  Well Kelly’s got some really great insight on that and how we can all improve our photography.  I hope you enjoy her thoughts.  And don’t forget to check out the giveaway she’s offering at the end of this post!

Now here’s Kelly…

1. Tell us a little about yourself. I understand your passion for photography began at my favorite National Park, Yellowstone!

I started really getting into photography when I took the camera my parents got for their wedding to Yellowstone when I was 16. This continued through travels in college and grad school, including an uber-awesome backpacking trip through Thailand. I just wanted to bring home those places so I could always be standing next to that palm tree or on top of that mountain.

A few years back I had a stressful day job and started shooting flower bouquets at night to blow off steam, and did so while kinda dancing around. You can see some of those in the abstract section of my gallery. That started my abstract obsession, and I merged the love of nature and abstract together a couple years ago once I figured out how to do the same technique outside in brighter light.

2. How did you learn to take such stunning photographs?

Mostly practice and experimentation. I’ve bought and soaked up a ton of books on photography, and took a couple of fantastic photography workshops with some famous photographers, David Muench and Jack Dykinga. But mostly I just shoot a LOT of pixels these days, and thank the universe that I don’t have to pay for film anymore. I love the instant feedback you can get from digital cameras—so you take a photo, see if it works, and if not redo it right then and there.

3. What has photography taught you about creating a simpler life?

Photography gets me out into nature by myself a lot, at quiet times usually. I’m the one walking on the beach in a down coat and snow boots trying to get a shot of a wintry sunset. Just getting out there helps me know that these moments are the ones that count, and what I want to be doing with my time. It helps me appreciate the stillness and quiet and beauty of each moment.

4. You just started an Etsy shop. What was the scariest thing about starting, and how did you overcome it?

Is there only one scary thing? I think it’s all pretty scary. I know I went through lots of questions over and over, particularly with regards to pricing and what sizes to offer. One of the biggest things that helps me get past the scary is to realize that everything will evolve. So if I want to change anything later, I totally can. Nobody’s out there waiting for you to make a mistake. Just like any business, my etsy shop will evolve and change over time.

5. What’s a favorite piece in your shop right now?

Oh, that’s so tough! One of my favorites is a new photo, Equinox, that I took just this month in New Hampshire. I’ve been working for a while to get some abstracts of a variety of nature subjects, and I fell in love this beauty.

6. Can you offer any tips on how we could all improve our photography?

Study the light. It’s all about the light, not about the subject. An average tree will look spectacular in great light, and a spectacular flower will look blah in mediocre light. Generally most things look better around sunrise (I am so not a morning person) or sunset, when everything gets that warm glow. Rainy days are your best friend, and a great time to go shoot flowers or leaves—next time it rains, notice how all the greens just pop.

7. And finally, what tip would you give to someone who’s interested in launching a small business to sell her creations?

Just start. And keep going. You’ll probably do some stuff in the beginning that you realize later wasn’t the best decision, but it’s totally better than doing nothing, and you can always change it later. So start… and you never know where your next sale will come from. I’ve done shows that everyone said were great for sales, and sold nothing. But then you turn around and sell to someone completely out of the blue. It’s all about the ride.

Oh wow!  Thank you so much, Kelly.  What do you all think of what she has to say?  There’s some great wisdom in her words, isn’t there?  And now she has something more to give:

Prize: winner’s choice of any image in my gallery, printed 5×7 inches. $45 value.
Specs: choose any image in my ekovisions gallery or etsy shop. Will be printed to 5 x 7 inches with a white border (5 x 5 for square images), signed & titled. If going to USA will be matted to 8 x10 inches using archival materials and a gallery-style white mat.
Entries: One entry per email address and per household please. Leave a response in the comments section below with your answer:

What is something you’ve felt nervous or unsure about… and then took the leap to overcome?

Ships to: anywhere!! Outside the USA the photo will be shipped without a mat to save on shipping and so you can mat the photo to locally-available frame sizes
Contest ends: Monday, November 1, 2010 at midnight in the Rocky Mountains. Winner announced here on Tuesday.