Check Out Ian Riley’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Riley.

Ian, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started out as a wedding photographer in 2010. Having finished film school and trying to land a job during the Great Recession, I was deciding whether to get a Master’s degree and teach photography or create my own business. After listening to my heart and the wise words from my supportive wife, I decided to go full-time into photography. Even though I was advertising for weddings, my first shoot was headshots of several doctors for a local hospital. Looking back, it was a sign of what was to come.

As I was shooting weddings and slowly building up my business, I began assisting for a Nashville food photographer. His attention to detail and lighting really helped me see better as a photographer. Over the course of several years assisting, Kyle taught me more than I ever learned in school. Not only on the creative side but how to run a business. I rented office space in his studio, assisted on shoots, and kept building my skills.

During this time, I kept working with local hospitals and healthcare companies doing headshots, events, and marketing campaigns. I wasn’t advertising or really actively selling to them. Most of my work came from word-of-mouth or as contacts moved in between companies. With healthcare being Nashville’s largest industry, I found myself always coming back to it. Both my parents are doctors, so growing up included lots of medical jargon and dinner table discussions on diseases, symptoms, or a pager going off when my dad was on call.

By the end of 2016, I had begun phasing out weddings. I was mainly concentrating on business and healthcare. The business was continuing to grow, and I was working on more complicated shoots: major conferences, an international healthcare marketing campaign, lots of regional healthcare campaigns. But Covid-19 forced a quick end to the steady growth. Most of my healthcare companies in Tennessee closed their doors to vendors by March 10, 2020. Conferences, events, and headshots rapidly dried up. But, by late fall things began to pick up again. I’m very grateful that I’m still working and my business survived the pandemic. And 2021 is on track to be the best year yet.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
At the beginning, I really did not understand what it took to run a business. I had knowledge of shooting and the technical side of photography, but I lacked the vision of an owner. Looking back, I would have invested so much more time in learning the different roles needed in being an entrepreneur. I also wish I had a taken at least a couple of business courses in college. My incredible wife, Michaela has supported me and has been the administrative backbone to the business. She has been there from the very beginning having 6:00 Monday morning meetings at Starbucks to help organize the business and get it off the ground.

Being able to flex and reprioritize as things shift has been a constant lesson. I feel confident as things move on a shoot to roll with it, but as the economy, technology, the marketing space change, I have to remind myself to look at it from a larger viewpoint. And Covid. Ask any business owner, that was a huge curveball.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I really enjoy the problem-solving aspects of my job. How do I light this particular face? What is the best angle to shoot in to highlight this particular space? How can better sell to potential clients?

Each day brings different things. From planning out the small details of a shoot, editing non-existent grass into an architectural image of a new office building, to rushing to move lighting equipment out of the way while shooting in an ER as paramedics are wheeling someone in doing CPR. I got the nickname MacGyver in high school, and being able to think quickly on my feet is invaluable in photography.

I love working with people and capturing their personalities. Especially as I’m doing portraits. I want the viewer to see the other human in front of them, not a character. I’m rarely working with models, so I try and show real people at their best, even if that nurses after a 12-hour shift, cancer patients in treatment, or doctors in the middle of a spine surgery. Being mindful and working to connect with someone before I take their photo is so important to get a genuine image of them. I want the subject when they look at themselves to say, “Oh yeah, that’s totally me.”

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
If you’re in a creative field: practice, practice, practice. I wish I had proactively set aside more time to practice my craft earlier on.

As a business owner, try and learn as much as possible. You’ll never know enough. There are so many people ahead of you, just ask for advice or help. Don’t try to go it alone, you won’t go nearly as far. Be humble and learn as much as possible from your mistakes. The mistakes can be doorways to greater understanding and success.

Never underestimate the power of compound interest and habits. Just a little bit each day is far more powerful that occasional, large pushes.

Contact Info:

• Email: ian@ianriley.com
• Website: www.ianriley.com