Janeé Smith

Describe your journey with photography.

Organic.

My profession through photography has been organic. My subjects I’ve captured have been people that I’ve met first and through referrals of people I’ve met.

What have you learned along the way that you wish you knew earlier?

The business of photography is just as important as creating the image. Your price is part of your banding. You don’t question why luxury brands charge their prices. Cheap prices yield cheap results. Therefore, charging your worth will attract the clients that are willing to pay for your service.

How do you balance creating art with others and treating it like a business?

I’m still learning this lesson. On the business side, some advice I received was get an LLC, get an entertainment lawyer on retainer, and read “Best Business Practices for Photographers”.

I try to speak with the subject prior to shoot day. Just a quick touch base to go through the initial greetings. If not, during day of shooting, I start asking the subject’s questions. E.g. — what do you like? What do you feel comfortable doing? Anything that is tailored to the subject that will make them comfortable. I treat it as a normal conversation that I'd have when meeting someone new.