Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Carroll
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a mom of two, a boy and girl. I started off as an award winning travel photographer shooting landscape, architecture, and cultural elements around the globe. I started to grow a passion for family portrait photography as I slowed down my travels to start my own family. My business grew happily from there. I now shoot every type of portrait from engagement, wedding, maternity, newborn, family, milestone, senior, and graduation portraits. I also do real estate and aerial photography as well. I absolutely love getting to know the sweet dynamics of each individual family/person I shoot and capturing moments big and small to cherish for a lifetime. I love every aspect of my business from the initial client interaction, through the shoot, the editing and the exciting delivery of the gallery to the client. I have a variety of locations I use regularly and recommend but I’m always open to experiencing new locations a client has in mind, no matter how far I have to travel to get there. I’m an adventurer to my core, fun-loving and compassionate and those attributes show in my photography.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I am completely self taught so the road hasn’t always been smooth. I’ve learned by trial and error and have worked out many kinks. As my business has grown, my process has had to change and grow as well with more efficiency. The technical side of editing and working with storage capacities of massive amounts of photos I’d say has been the biggest struggle for me. I don’t think people often realize the amount of time that a photographer puts into a photo to take it from a raw image to the magical image they receive in the final gallery but it’s a lot. I love the creativity in post processing now but in the beginning it took me a while to gain the efficiency of applying those edits to a batch of say 800 photos, reducing them down to 100 perfect ones, and making those 100 a work of frame-able art. When all is said and done, I’m grateful for the struggles because they’ve provided opportunity for growth.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a portrait photographer. I shoot every type of portrait including proposals, engagements, wedding, maternity, newborn, family, milestone, senior, prom, graduation, and headshots. I also shoot real estate photography including Airbnb getaways, and VRBO. I do aerial shots as well with a very high quality drone. Depending on the season, I probably shoot weddings, proposals, and family reunions the most. I’m very comfortable working with and shooting large groups of people. Family reunions are my favorite type of photoshoot. I come from a large family and I value family as the most important thing in life so I know how priceless those photos are. I love getting the family in its entirety, and then I separate families into their own groupings, siblings, cousins, grandchildren with grandparents, etc. It’s a very special kind of photoshoot and I take it from what could be a stressful hectic experience to a fun sweet one. We always laugh in a photoshoot. I don’t believe a photoshoot should be stiff and boring. The experience of the photoshoot should be a positive one, an adventure of its own. I want my clients to think back on the photoshoot and say “that was such a fun day!” I always try to capture moments of genuine smiles so I mix in active posing into the photoshoot where my clients are actually doing something fun that gets them to laugh or look at each other sweetly. I’m not a strict by the book type of person and I don’t run my business that way so I’m always flexible with client needs/wants. If they want me to add something to the shoot, do it at a certain time or place, change outfits multiple times, whatever they want I’m okay with it. I figure it’s their photoshoot, their photos, I’m just along for the ride and doing what I do best which is capturing those perfect moments for them to cherish for a lifetime.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Do your work of art as much as possible until it’s second nature and don’t be afraid to try new things and fail. Be proud of what you accomplish and then go try, fail, and accomplish more.
Pricing:
- $350 for a one hour session
- $200 for a mini (30mins)
- $300/hour for wedding/event
- $250 for real estate
- $250 for aerial
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.VioletSkiesPhotography.com
- Instagram: Violetskiesphotograph
