Check Out Tabitha Nelson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tabitha Nelson.

Hi Tabitha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m so happy to be here, thank you for your time! I have always been interested in people, connection, and the science behind relationships and how it relates with photography. I can remember all the way back to elementary school I had a 110 camera and I brought it with me everywhere. This interest followed me through middle and high school, where I was always the one with a camera, eagerly waiting for the film to get developed to see what kinds of photos turned out! I got my first digital camera in college and this growth (and technology) continued to when I decided that I wanted to hone in on my skills and I created a food blog. I cooked all the food and I had a little mini studio in my tiny 600 square foot apartment where I photographed all of the dishes. I learned to compose the image, edit, and make it look good enough to eat! As I began getting more involved with my food blog I really loved all of the ways this helped with my creativity and growth. Fast forward several months I wanted to translate this knowledge and photograph people. I asked everyone I knew that had had kids if they would like their photos taken. I watched all of the tutorials, I read all of the blogs and it actually didn’t take long to realize what kinds of images of people I was drawn to. It was always about connection, and a true-to-life style. I loved the “in the moment” feeling of photos and wanted to find ways to create this myself. This feeling of connection and emotion is instilled in my why to this day, and you can see this reflected in my family and newborn work.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
With anything, it takes time to learn, practice, try, tweak, modify, until you really feel like you’ve gotten it right. I practiced and photographed babies, families, events and birthday parties, and even would bring my camera and do some street photography if that’s what I was feeling that day. I began purchasing education because I was so motivated to make my photos look the way I saw them online. I started learning that I can be the one with the artistic eye and creative direction and it wasn’t just the camera equipment. But I did learn the camera and lenses did play a part! I got more skilled preparing the client, setting up the session, directing the family, and editing. All of these things take time to really find what you love and continue to improve. To this day I still invest in photography education as well as mentorships and these things really help me to be a better photographer and business owner.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a family and newborn photographer in the Washington, DC area. I’m based in Montgomery county and I offer sessions around here, Washington DC and Northern Virginia. My sessions are is laid back and I use a lifestyle approach during my sessions. I find that the families I work with tend to be laid back and they trust me, which is such an honor. I offer family, maternity, and newborn sessions with families either in the comfort of their home or outdoors in parks and gardens in our area. I also offer Branding photography and I help business owners communicate with their audience with beautiful images filled with personality and professionalism. As you can see both the family and branding work involve people, connection, communication, and preserving the important details. I’m known for making sessions fun and enjoyable, and I often hear that clients appreciate the communication from start to finish, they appreciate how comfortable I made them throughout the process, and the happiness once they receive their images. I’m so proud that I have such a great relationship with clients that they come back multiple times in a year, and often end up becoming friends. What sets me apart form others is that I don’t try to fit my business or my clients into a box or a temporary trend. I share and show what I want to attract and what I can create, and this has really helped me find my people.

How do you think about luck?
I think every experience whether good or bad helps you grow, improve, and perhaps do things different in the future if needed. When I first started exploring DSLR photography, I was lucky enough that my dad gifted me a starter camera and taught me the differences between entry level and professional cameras, lenses, and flash. This really helped to take the overwhelm down a notch and I was able to get a jump start because I had some of the tools to start exploring. But as I learned how differently each camera & lens worked, it wasn’t long before I started making more purchases to create the types of indoor images I was motivated to create. I also have a great online community of photographers that I can connect with, so much that we all meet up in real life when possible! I don’t know that finding this community was as much luck as really figuring out that I wanted to connect with other people that were in the same position as me so I had to put in the effort to learn about how to find these people and create & maintain relationships.

Pricing:

• Family Sessions starting at $1125
• Headshots & Branding Sessions starting at $375

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tabithamaeganphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabithamaeganphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tabithamaeganphoto