Step into the dynamic world of fashion and product advertising photography with our latest spotlight interview. Discover the secrets behind creating impressive shots that exceed expectations and learn how this talented photographer balances parenthood while thriving in a competitive field.
Website: katebenson.com
Instagram: @katebensonphotography
Can you describe a moment in your career when you felt particularly proud of your work?
I strive for this feeling every shoot. It’s not always possible but by making the goal to feel proud about each shoot I’ll always be getting better at what I do. If the opposite of this is compliance, then creating becomes mundane and about going through the rehearsed motions. It’s hard to imagine many photographers chasing this dream to create in that space. I set intentions before each shoot, usually it’s to create something that exceeds both my and my clients expectations. I also like to set the intention that we spend the day in joy. It’s a small thing but I feel like it’s made a big difference in my work.
Any shoot where someone hires me but there are complicated elements to the project, and we complete it and even exceed what they wanted, I get that feeling. I also feel particularly proud of the relationships that have been built working with clients for many, many years. All that trust makes me feel so proud.
In the realm of commercial photography, what do you find most rewarding and fulfilling about your work?
I love helping clients. That’s what drives me in all of this. When a client contacts you, an opportunity is created to connect with them and assist in getting a need met. I love learning the why of what we are doing and then being able to fill in that space. There are moments of surprise that happen when we know the reason an image is needed and that gives us room to be creative and “surprise and delight” them. Seeing my images successfully operating in ads and other spaces with high ROI and getting the repeat business from them that goes along with it is awesome.
What have you learned from past mistakes or failures in your career that have helped you grow as a photographer?
When you aren’t proud of what you are creating to keep going. Keep tackling that subject until you become proud of it. I was early in my career and photographing jewelry and the feedback wasn’t as good as I’d have liked it to be. That critique gave me some fuel to go on and dive in and really learn the technique to work with the nuances of that subject.
I suppose to summarize that the lesson is when things don’t go as well as you’d like, keep going until you are impressing yourself and have learned enough to know that history won’t repeat itself.
As a mom, how do you balance your career with parenthood?
This was a complicated balance at first. I was hesitant to tell clients who called me about being a mother when my first was a baby. I didn’t want to have someone not hire me because they worried I would be subjected to my job as a mom and it would bring unpredictable elements to our shoot. I had to release that! No one was thinking about it but me. Today I keep balance by maintaining boundaries. I am not for hire on nights and weekends, and when I go offline for the weekend, I stay offline. No emails, no phone calls, the exception being some regular clients who have really bonded with me and know I’m with my family. If they reach out, I know it’s an emergency and they don’t ask lightly of that time from me so I’ll help if I can. It’s hard to look at 2 extra billable days a week and to let jobs go because you won’t squeeze them in on those days but by holding true to my rule, my kids and family always know that they get mom time too. It was never going to be one or the other. I’m grateful for how my whole family supports me and when I travel for work, which usually has me away for 5-7 days at a time, I know everyone is awesome at taking care of themselves and each other. I’m sure as the kids get older that’ll be even more true (they are 9 and 4 right now).
How do you stay organized and manage your time effectively when juggling multiple aspects of running a business?
I wish I could say that I do this! It took me over a year and hiring multiple consultants to just get an updated website. By the time the edit was done I already had (and have) a lot of new work that I’d love to see up there. My hours are precious and I try to leave a couple Friday’s a month open to get up to speed on accounting and admin work. I keep spreadsheets, google docs galore, and all kinds of folders to stay on top of it all. Where I can give something to someone trusted, I do. That is everything from social media posting to accounting.
If you had to live on an island, and could only take one thing, what would it be?
My family (easy question) but that’s also assuming the island had basic survival needs met and they wanted to come with me!
Here at MDRN Creative, we believe in creating a community over competition so, if you enjoyed this interview, please leave a comment below or share this post. Thank you!
Interested in be featured on our blog? Hop on over to this form. If we feel you are a good fit, we’ll be in touch.