Meet Anna VanDerMerwe

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Anna VanDerMerwe.

Hi Anna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My first start in the photography industry was in the Fall of 2020, right when everything with COVID-19 started to open up. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a creative as well, and she got me connected with a few photographers in the Nashville area after I said that I might be interested in starting a career in the photography field. I was working two other jobs at the time, so why not add on one more?

I began working as a studio assistant to a product and branding photographer in the fall of 2020 and most of 2021. In the summer of 2021, I started to pick up my client base, doing mostly families and portraits. I started taking pictures with the camera that I was gifted at sixteen years old and used what money I had to buy a slightly better lens. So all together, I was working four separate jobs if you add on my own clients. One side of photography that I said I would never get into was Wedding Photography. However, May of 2022 rolled around, and I saw online that a Nashville wedding photographer needed a second shooter at the last minute, so I reached out with no wedding experience and got the job.

Turns out that would be a pivotal moment in my career as I have now helped assist on and booked many weddings since! In the Fall of 2022, right before I got married, I decided it was time to let all my part-time jobs go and become full-time. Once the beginning of 2023 rolled around, I officially registered as an LLC and insured my business. Since then, I have gotten to upgrade to industry standard equipment, work with and meet so many amazing photographers, photograph so many amazing weddings + clients, and overall watch my dream career flourish each year!

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Looking back on how I got here, I can definitely say that there were more hard days than easy days.

Something that surprises me most is when I tell them Photography was actually never intended to be my career. I went to Belmont University for four years to get my degree in Audio Engineering and Music Business. I successfully graduated with my degree in August of 2019.

I worked hard after to get myself opportunities in the industry, landing myself an assistant position with a recording engineer for a Bonnaroo radio show, assisting a producer, and having lined up for several amazing interviews. When March of 2020 came and everything shut down, all of those positions went away. It felt like the rug was pulled from under me, and everything came crashing down. I hit Rock bottom when I lost my job in July of 2020, but I also got a back injury that made me have to slow down even more, all within the same week.

Once I healed and got my head back on straight, that’s when the move over to photography happened. There were a lot of days while building my business that I questioned if this was the right move, but also many days where I never felt happier. Many of the struggles that got me where I am, like shooting on cheap equipment, networking for clients, and financially not being able to provide much for the business at first, really grew me as a photographer and business owner.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a now Full-Time Photographer for the second full year, I consider myself a Wedding + Portrait photographer. Half of what I shoot in the year are weddings. I love having a mix of classic + timeless poses as well as more artistic + candid images. I shoot everything from larger production weddings to small, intimate backyard weddings.

When it comes to portraits, I do branding sessions, family sessions, individual sessions, and maternity+baby. I truly love keeping a mix of many types of sessions as I feel it keeps my mind sharp and full of new ideas! I am most proud of how my editing and shooting style has improved. I love to keep my editing style true-to-color with a touch of warmth.

I feel like what when my clients compliment me most on is how easy I make the sessions feel and my combination skills from inquiry to final delivery of images. So, I would say these are the things that make me stand out as well as what keeps my clients coming back!

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
If I were to go back, I would tell myself not to limit what I thought I could do or wanted to do. I never thought I would be a wedding photographer, yet here I am, photographing weddings and assisting some of the high-end industry photographers, putting 36 weddings on my calendar in 2024 year.

So my advice for others is to let go of what expectations you have and just take the opportunities as they come, even the ones that you may not think are for you!

Pricing:

• Standard Sessions- $275.00
• Gold Wedding Package- $3000.00
• Silver Wedding Package- $2750.00
• Bronze Wedding Package- $2,200.00

Contact Info:

• Website: annamariecreative.com
• Instagram: @annamariecreative_