Meet Saray Taylor-Roman of Taylor-Roman Modern Portrait Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Saray Taylor-Roman.

Saray, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was 13 when I got my first camera. I loved taking pictures of friends, cats, and the landscape around me. Fast-forward to college years: I took a couple of courses in photography and learned what makes a good photo, as well as how to develop my own film. In class I practiced landscape photography, architectural photography, and photojournalism. Those genres were interesting, but none of them truly captured my interest.

Portrait, however, was different. Through portraits, I could build a significant connection with another person. I really enjoyed listening to what people had to say, and then crafting images to retell their story. I knew that portrait was the genre for me.

However, taking portraits didn’t become my profession right away. At the time, I had other priorities. I was a double major in Education and International Studies at Maryville College in Tennessee. Before graduating, I studied abroad in Japan, and when I came back, I received a job offer to teach Spanish. I got swept up in work and didn’t touch my camera for about six years. 

I picked it back up soon after my daughter was born. While on sabbatical, I decided to try out my new digital camera. I wanted to know it like the back of my hand, so every other weekend I asked friends and family to give me a couple of hours to practice on them.

By the following summer, my skills were so much better. Suddenly, I felt that photography might be more than a hobby for me.

That was thanks in part to a mentor. She taught me that it isn’t a person’s responsibility to be photogenic—it is the photographer’s job to create an atmosphere where people feel seen and heard. In such a setting, their beauty shines through on its own. A skilled photographer can then use lighting and angles to capture it. This shift in mindset helped me approach photo shoots in a new and more service-oriented way.

At that point, I felt ready to start taking photos professionally, but my sabbatical was almost over. Full-time photography would have to wait, but I thought I could start part-time. 

One month before I was scheduled to go back to work, I made a website and business cards, set pricing, sourced products and started social media accounts. I went back to work in August, but continued working on my portfolio one Saturday a month.

On December 31^st, 2014 I had my first paying client. I went to their home with a full wardrobe in my car, and we designed their photoshoot together. She was a talented young dancer. I was over the moon. Her images were the best work I had done to date—and her mom loved every single one of them. That’s when I decided I was going to take portraits for the rest of my life.

In January 2015 I went downtown to get my business license, then came home and drew up a 5-year business plan. I thought I would be able to quit my teaching job by the summer of 2020. 

However, God had other plans! By May 2015, the business was doing so well that I knew I could do it full-time. I put in my resignation letter on June 1^st. On June 2^nd, I signed the lease to my new commercial studio.

There have been plenty of bumps in the road since then, but the journey has been absolutely worth it. Just last month I was awarded first place in the Teen & Senior category at The Portrait Masters Awards in Los Angeles, California. I was ecstatic. 

Then they called my name for second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place in the same category. I didn’t come down from cloud nine for days. 

I received ten silver awards in total. Only 2% of the 8609 entries had received a silver award. I was floored! My clients love our portrait sessions and their images, but I never thought that eleven international judges would also love them so much. 

I’m so, so thankful to be in the place I am right now. I could not have dreamed this up. I truly believe that we all have been created in God’s image, and I’m beyond thankful to be able to see that beauty in everyone, and to reflect it back to them in photographs.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all. I had just become a mom when I decided to become a full-time photographer. As much as I wanted the business to succeed—and as much as I knew I wanted to take portraits for the rest of my life—I struggled to find balance. It still is a daily struggle. 

I also had to find talented people to join my team—and that isn’t easy. A few hair and makeup artists I hired didn’t show up to client appointments. Others arrived thirty to sixty minutes late. Some of the companies I contracted to create heirloom products did not produce products I felt were the quality my clients deserved. I had to reorder them multiple times.

However, with time I’ve found vendors I trust to do excellent work. I use a wonderful local lab for most of my prints and canvases, for example, and a fabulous Italian company makes my boxes and mats by hand—I saw their work with my own eyes when I visited their castle in Northern Italy in May of 2018. On top of that, I met a Los Angeles-based framer who makes exquisite gold-leaf frames, also by hand. I’m lucky to have met them all.

Aside from finding reliable partners, I also had to learn to market my services. Before I started taking photographs professionally, I thought that the majority of my time would be spent taking pictures. The truth is that only ten percent of my time is spent with a camera in hand—the other ninety percent is doing marketing, sales, post-production, and networking. I also mentor new photographers and artists who are working to become profitable and sustainable.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Taylor-Roman Modern Portrait Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
I am photographer specializing in fine art portraits and magazine-style headshots. 

I’m not just concerned with the final product, however. My job starts from the very first moment of contact. We start with a phone or in-person consultation. Together we uncover the type of images that will best serve a prospective client’s personal brand or liven up the walls of their family room. 

We talk about hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling. We also talk about the vision for the photoshoot. Once I understand the message a client wants their images to convey, most of my fine art portrait clients give me carte blanche to craft their style. I love being able to create wardrobe pieces exclusively for their photoshoot!

With my professional clients, the process of discovering what kind of image will suit their needs is a little different. We talk about the book cover they want me to create, the next series of billboards they’ll put up around town, or an image they need for a magazine feature. 

Once I have a clear sense of what purpose the images will serve, I turn to my team. I’m a professional photographer who loves to dream with my clients, but my professional hair and makeup teams help make those dreams a reality. The talented Kristen “KC” Colemon is the lead hair and makeup artist for eighty percent of my shoots. I have also worked with talented makeup artists around the world to ensure my clients get the celebrity treatment. 

That’s because they are celebrities to me. In fact, without them, I wouldn’t have a photography degree. I’m most proud of the fact that I have earned my Photography Associate’s degree (2017), my Master’s (2018) and recently my Grand Masters title (2019) submitting actual client work. 

While some of my colleagues use professional models for their certifications (and there’s nothing wrong with that), I like to create art with my personal clients. After all, it’s what we do together every day. I consider it my job to style, pose, and photograph clients in a way they may have never seen themselves—as works of art. 

The effort seems to be paying off. Here is a testimonial from a client that brought me to tears:

“After going through a divorce, menopause, bankruptcy, I felt wiped out, haggard. I help other people every day but a part of me felt old and used up. The day of the shoot with Saray I felt like a princess: pretty clothes, hair, and makeup. It was a fairytale day of pampering. But the images! When I saw what Saray pulled out of me. I wept. I was still there. I was still alive! Thank you, Saray for restoring my inside belief that I am pretty! If pictures can heal, yours did.” 

This is what keeps me going. This is what gets me fired up every morning.

My professional clients are satisfied as well. One left this review: 

“I was needing just a new headshot for business purposes. A mutual friend recommended Saray, so I set an appointment. Her professional cosmetologist fixed my hair and makeup. The photo session itself was fun and varied, with several different poses, lighting arrangements, and outfits, leaving me with a lot of great shots from which to choose. It definitely wasn’t your run-of-the-mill headshot experience! A business image is too important to be satisfied with average results. What I ended up with was extraordinary.” 

Whether a client comes to me for a personal or professional purpose, I do my best to give them an extraordinary experience—and images they love at the end of it.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe that trends come and go. When we as artists stay true to our values, our clients will continue to come to us. 

I also see that clients want more than just images—they want an experience. They want to be the stars of their own show. A photographer who can orchestrate that show will be in demand. I start by watching, listening, and trying to understand. Only once I’ve done that do I touch the shutter. 

When a client sees their photos, the look on their face tells me that I’ve done my job.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.taylorroman.com
• Phone: 865-643-2883 or 865-243-6463
• Email: saray@taylorroman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorromanportraits/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRomanPhotography/
• Other: Google Taylor-Roman Photography to see testimonials left by my clients.

Image Credit:
For my personal image, the photographer is Nikki Closser of Nikki Closser Photography and Bri Oro was hair stylist and Caitlin Timmins was makeup artist.. The rest of the images I created them. MUA Kristen KC Colemon was the MUAH.

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.