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Meet Denise Benson of Denise Benson Photography in Rock Hill

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Benson.

Denise, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I discovered an appreciation for photography in 2001 during a summer internship in the beauty and fashion department of Essence Magazine. Assisting on photo shoots and seeing all of the behind the scenes action sparked something in me, but it wasn’t until 2011 that I decided to get behind the lens myself. After purchasing a DSLR camera and taking an introduction to photography course at the local tech college I decided to turn my hobby into a side hustle. Now after 6 years in this field I’ve niched down to shooting primarily portrait photography, focusing on branding, family and seniors, and intimate wedding photography.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road for me. By day I own an insurance agency alongside my dad and that freedom and flexibility allowed me to work on my side hustle while things were slow in the office. And having been a small business owner since 2002 I was able to use a lot of my business knowledge from my 9-5 in my photography journey. I didn’t realize how much business knowledge this actually required. I’ve spent a lot of time taking online courses, studying at YouTube University and figuring out marketing plans through trial and error. Business was not booming those first couple of years and it’s because I didn’t have a clear plan laid out for my business, but in the last couple of years I’ve taken this more seriously and work a little every single day to push my photography business forward.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
When I first started out in photography I was willing to shoot almost anything just for the practice. Now that I know what I enjoy shooting I’ve been able to niche down to mainly portraits and intimate weddings. Over the next few years I’d like to niche down even further to putting my main focus on branding images. I’m very passionate about helping other businesses to put their best face forward and to set themselves apart from the competition through their business images.

2017 has been a milestone year for me because not only has my photography business exceeded my expectations, but I’ve also ventured out into photography coaching and a stock photography site. Adding these two ventures into the Denise Benson Photography brand will allow me to reach not only clients looking for updated images, but it will help me reach other photographers (near and far) to bring their brands to their full potential and help other business owners with their marketing material needs by providing them with fresh stock images.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The photography field is a saturated market, but I think there’s room enough for everyone. No two photographers are exactly alike and shooting styles, as well as business models vary from business to business. Whether you’re in a small town like me, that borders a major city or if you live in the city itself if this is a dream you have I definitely encourage you to go for it.

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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.

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