Becoming a business owner/boss lady

Wednesday marked 2 months since I said goodbye to the Governor’s Office. If you follow along, you saw this post where I recapped my first year traveling and photographing Florida Governor Rick Scott and First Lady Ann Scott. It was a dream job! And I loved it very much. But after (almost) two years of traveling full time, I was ready to take on the next challenge.

I shot my first wedding as a sophomore in college (see below). I had a Canon rebel t1-i, two lenses, and maybe one extra camera battery with me? I don’t even think I had extra memory cards! Yikes! It’s embarrassing to think of now. But it was an incredible learning experience and really kicked off my business. Throughout college, I photographed weddings, engagements, families, and a whole lot of food! I blogged for fun, and I blogged often (my first blog was called “Life Through a Lens”).

First Wedding!

Post graduation, I continued my business on the side with the goal of someday being the owner and full time operator of Carolyn Allen Photography. Two years later, the Governor’s Office approached me, and I eagerly took the job! At the time, I didn’t realize how consuming it would be. I was still scheduling weddings and other shoots, as that was where I felt most creative and connected to my work. But, about a year into photographing the Governor, I stopped scheduling side work. It simply wasn’t all possible. We traveled 6 days a week, averaging 3 cities and 2 press events a day. I found myself slipping on my promised turnaround time for weddings and rescheduling with clients more than I was comfortable doing. So, I decided to put everything into being the Governor’s photographer, trying everyday to be creative and not comfortable. To not use the same angles and to test different approaches at every event. To not only shoot the safe photos, the ones I knew would get picked up by print or tv, but to shoot the moments- to capture history. As soon as I made that decision, I started seeing a difference in my work.

I loved my time with Governor and First Lady Scott. They are wonderful people who treated me like a daughter rather than an employee. I was sad to say goodbye to them, but so incredibly grateful for the time I spent on their team, learning and growing both professionally and emotionally (some of my favorite memories below!). 

October 14th, I made the jump. Packed up my office, filled with thank you notes, signed photos, and business plans from the Governor…and drove home. To my new office! And my new adventure as a boss lady herself. I officially filed my business, and am scheduling weddings, engagements, families, and I even had my first shoot for a food magazine! (more on that later) Starting my business has been equally thrilling and terrifying. I wake up every morning, eat breakfast, read a devotional, and make a to-do list. And every day, without fail, I have a brief moment of “Holy S#@% what did I do???” But, it’s those moments, that keep me going and make me work harder.

I love photography so much. I once told someone that it feels like a superpower – and I think that’s the best way I can describe it. A superpower, gifted to me by God, to capture time and share the human experience. I hope my photographs move you. Every single one of them. I hope they make you smile. I hope they make you cry. I hope you look at them and feel a connection to the people or the place pictured.

We live in a physical world. We can see things, and hear things, and touch things. But the emotions we feel are not tangible. My hope is to translate emotions to images. To make you SEE what you, or I, or someone else felt. That would be a job well done in my book. So, thanks for reading. Thanks for following along with me on this adventure. I’m grateful for every single one of you!