Kari Bjorn

If you have access to any photography classes, I would highly recommend taking them just to get an intro into how camera options, the exposure triangle, for example, shutter speeds, all play a part in the final image. And in addition to that, the most important advice I would give to young aspiring photographers is to carry a camera with you at all times. It doesn't matter whether it's a professional camera or just a point and shoot camera that is an image-making device that is something other than your phone that you can use to record what you see. Because that enables you, as an image creator, to develop a unique vision and an understanding of how to create images, way, way faster than if you're just taking the camera out for the sole purpose of taking pictures. So when you stumble upon a scene, you always have that camera with you, for you to practice on to get pictures. Practice makes perfect. But in photography, nothing is perfect. So you always have to be carrying a camera around, you always have to be looking for the picture. And the only way to do that, in my experience, is to carry one with you at all times. A lot of young photographers do 365 projects. The focus of that project is to take at least one picture every single day. The goal with that project is that you're always taking pictures. The idea is that you have a body of work after 365 days that shows the kind of progression that you make as an artist or a photographer. I would highly recommend people to commit to something.

To create a great studio where you get people in for headshots and portraits and family pictures, create an experience. That means having a dedicated client section in your studio where there's a sofa, some chairs, a side table, water or sodas to drink, something to make people feel at ease, I think that's one of the most crucial elements of running a successful commercial studio, is that when people walk through your door, they immediately feel this sort of ease. They should feel like they can take their coat off, they can put their purse down, they can sit down with you because usually with portrait sessions, you don't just jump into it. It's like a 10 to 15-minute process, where I would sit down with people and ask them what they do, what they want out of the session, where they want the pictures to be shown, whether it's for social media if it's for a new LinkedIn bio, something like that. And this element, for me, is super important because it puts me in a position as an expert, but it also allows me to connect with my clients.