Today we’d like to introduce you to Meghan Stramara.
Hi Meghan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I always had this interest and natural draw to photography for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t something that was taught to me from a young age or something I shared with a grandparent or anything (other than my Grammy always had a disposable camera in her hand til the day she passed – even after digital became main stream), but I was always drawn to it. In high school, I took 3 years of photography classes (2 film and 1 digital). During that time I won a county level award and had one of my pieces featured in the Board of Ed’s building for a year. In college, I minored in photography and worked at the local Picture People. Never had real plans for photography post college, I just didn’t know what to minor in so just did it. After I graduated with hopes of becoming a wedding planner, but shortly after graduation I had no real drive to make that happen and felt like something was missing. A coworker knew I knew “how to work a camera” and asked me to grab a few pictures of her kids for their christmas card. I walked away from that short in home session knowing exactly what I was missing – photography. So on a whim, I started a facebook page to see if people would pay me for this and now 13 years later after a lot of grace, blessing, hard work, luck and a really supportive husband, this whim of a photography business has grown to my full time career since 2017. Despite the fact that I have no degree in business or photography, it has sustained through Covid, becoming a mom to two and continues to help provide for my family. I have learned more in my business shooting weddings, portraits and branding sessions than I could’ve ever learned in the classroom – business and photography.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! But what business owner can genuinely say it has been a smooth road. Being a small business owner is HARD WORK! The hardest part, feeling alone in the process. But the drive and passion behind it helps push me through the doubts, hard parts and questions. There’s been a few tough clients that I’ve had to work through the best course of action to manage (even had to involve a lawyer in one situation), Covid was hard in managing the shut down and also the transfer of weddings and being without income for most of the year. But honestly the hardest part throughout for me, has always been the doubt and imposter syndrome. It’s something that I push through by connecting with other creatives and small business owners and praying over my business and the path God has for it.
We’ve been impressed with Meghan Elizabeth Photography, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’ve been a wedding and portrait photographer for the past 13 years. I specialize in capturing and telling stories – whether that’s from your wedding day or capturing your family. My goal during both sessions is that the client is present and focused on their wedding day and their family and enjoying the time we have together. I believe after 13 years, most of my clients would say that I’m most known for my detail focused attention to their timeline, and helping them be able to relax on their wedding day knowing that I have it and will capture their day in a way that honors the truth of the moments. Honestly though I’m at a cross roads in my business, I’m seeking some new avenues as my children grow older and I continue to strive to make this business work for my family – not my family work for the business. So I’m exploring adding commercial photography (branding, food and product photography) as my main focus with some weddings and portraits on the side for now.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I’ll be honest, this is a TOUGH one! I have so many. I genuinely had a wonderful childhood. Blessed with incredible parents who encouraged me to go after my dreams and never made anything I saw a possibility as small or silly. To narrow it down I guess, one of my favorite ones that makes sense with this interview and connects to my business is my senior year in high school. My dad was driving me home from somewhere and on the side of the road we saw a group of ducklings. He pulled over so I could take a quick picture of them but my current digital camera was in horrible condition. It was super slow and really struggled to turn on and take a picture. I was lamenting to my dad about the frustrations of it and he just sat there listening and agreed with me. Then just a week later at my big graduation party, my entire family gifted me with a brand new Nikon D700 digital camera. Everyone had pitched in, my mom did the research and found the right one for me. It was the camera I used years later to start this business until I was able to afford a full frame camera. Little did they all know what support that gift would provide.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meghanelizabethphotography.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghanelizabethphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanephotography
