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Dog Photographer Erin Vey bio picture

Meet Erin Vey

I am a dog lover first.

A photographer second.

By some random chance of fate, I was able to combine the two loves into the coolest job ever: A Dog Photographer

I grew up in a family where dogs were always an integral part of our lives and most importantly, members of the family. Most of my childhood was spent with various Basset Hounds of the lovable but extremely stubborn variety. We never had less than 2 at any given time, sometimes 3, and the occasional stray that one of us would bring home for a visit.

After a short stint doing portrait work, which I still love, I realized my true calling is capturing the essence and personality of dogs. Upon reflection, I feel that my time doing portrait work was not wasted. Because of it, my experience with portrait work flows beautifully into working with people and their dogs.

My husband and I are owned by the fabulous Miss Gracie, a 5 year old Great Dane who brings energy and life into our house. You’ll see her around here a lot, she loves having her portrait taken (at least I like to think so).  She is a complete Diva and if you stick around long enough, you'll know what I'm talking about!

What an amazing adventure this has been so far. I’m so glad you are here experiencing it with me.

A letter

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dear Erin,

I just wanted to send an email off. I don’t know why.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been trying to find my way with the camera and all along the way getting frustrated at myself for not knowing exactly where I want to go. The truth is I want to do animal photography and for the past year have had countless people telling me what they think I should do.

None of them listen to me. I’m just learning. But everyone tells me “get a job at the paper, maybe I’ll end up at National Geographic” when I don’t WANT to work for a paper. People asking me to do weddings when I don’t see myself doing weddings. I even had someone tell me I needed to get in to the “insect photography business” …where I might take photo’s of cockroaches on bikes and doing tricks.

Hmmm.

Anyway I just read your real words post and I’ve been following your blog for some time now and I’ve always enjoyed your work. So I guess what I really wanted to do was say thank you for your honesty. After reading that, I’m going to just say “pfft” to everyone and tell them what *I* want to do…instead of having them bully ME into doing what THEY think I should do.

Thank you.

Boo

. . . . .

Dear Boo,

I really liked your email so I decided to take some extra time out of my day to write back and share what I have learned over the years. I’m hoping it helps you (and others) on your own photographic journey.

First, take comfort in knowing you are not alone. There are many others that share your frustration and sometimes it’s just nice to know that you are not alone.

Photography is not easy, especially in this fast paced, ever-changing, high technology world. If you are just starting out, learning the intricate ways in which a camera works is overwhelming enough. Words such as Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO and how they all work together to create a single image is something that takes time and practice to fully wrap your head around. If you aren’t fully confident in the fundamentals of how an image is made, then take some time to explore it. Shoot a lot and find what speaks to you. Don’t rush it. Savor it.

(I’m going to leave the beast that is known as Photoshop alone for this email but know that it is another big, very important piece of digital photography)

Once you find what speaks to you, then and only then decide if opening a business is really, truly, deeply what you want to do. It is very easy for someone else to say that “you should open a business” because they don’t have to do all the work! Dig deep within and decide if it is for you.

How do you know if it is for you? Let me tell you a little bit about what it includes and maybe that will help.

If photography isn’t hard enough, running a successful business is four times as hard and five times as much work. It is something you need to be completely passionate about and believe in fully. Are you willing to make the sacrifices that come with it including time away from your friends and family, becoming educated about state qualifications for opening a business and paying the appropriate license fees, taxes, taxes, taxes, insurance, working with clients (some easy, some difficult) and making them happy, figuring out what to charge, etc.

Even writing it stresses me out!

On top of all that (which is a lot), there is another really important aspect to a photography business and that is developing and crafting your style. Style can also be interpreted as a particular voice. What do you want to say? I firmly believe that to have your own own voice through a camera, you really need to know who you are as a person. What do you want to say as an individual? If you know what you want to say as a person, then it becomes infinitely easier to know what you want to say through your camera.

If you decide this is truly what you want to do, along with the hard work, make sure you leave room to live life. Spend time with friends, get outside, breathe, have fun, drink a beer. Don’t allow it to consume you.

If you decide maybe this isn’t really something you want to do, then that is perfectly ok. You don’t have to run a business to get something amazing out of holding a camera in your hands and creating meaningful images.

Warmly,
Erin

Posted in learning

by Erin

16 comments

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Sandy Keys - Thank you, Erin, for reminding me to "leave room to live life". Somewhere along the way, I've forgotten to do that. My little business has all but gobbled me up, because I let it. It's time for me to take back some control and schedule some me time again. Thanks again for the reminder. Sandy :)

Fenne - great post, very nice to hear some experiences. i constantly hear that i must be crazy to run my own business.especially now in difficult times. sometimes it drives me crazy, everyone knows what i should do with my life. But I lov my job, I like working hard and I have tons of passion, so most of the times I don't care about all the negative comments.

Tina - Just wanted to tell you, I've been following your stream on flickr and blog for years. And you are truly one of my lifetime heroes. A major inspiration in my life. Thank you for your words and for always sharing with us!

Emily Abril - Well said! And yes it is important to do what you want.. esp take pictures of what you want! You don't ever not want to have "fun" taking pictures. Really.

Julie Branyan - Erin - thank you for this post. I truly felt you were speaking directly to me. In my first year of business I've learned so much. I could probably write a whole book of what not to do. It is so important to develop your style and learn how to say no (something I've been horrible at). I've accepted every job, burnt myself out, and lost a lot of passion. You are so right about listening to yourself (not the voices of those around you) and finding time with your camera. Thank you so much for this beautiful post.

Sheona - Spot on! Great post Erin :)

Deb Schwedhelm Photo - how crazy that i kind of wrote something along the same lines, to what you wrote here. http://www.debsphotographs.com/photoblog/?p=227 well it kind of just supports what you say!! always love what you share, dear friend. and so very, very proud of you and all you have accomplished. many hugs, deb

Margaret - Wonderful, thoughtful advice, even for us non-photographers. Thanks Erin!

Jim Benson - Other than the excellent photography it is posts like these that keep me reading this blog. I have always loved photography and animals. I lost my high paying job about three years ago and found work at the shelter. Over the last several months I have been volunteering about 10 hours a week to photograph our animals. I have been getting a lot of feed back lately about how much people like my "style". I am starting to get requests to shoot privately for pay, but I lack the confidence in my abilities to take on paying jobs. Maybe someday I will be able to do it, but Im not going to rush it and continue to love working with the animals and my camera.

Becky - Well, this hit home. I love it when people tell me what type of photography I *should* do. (I've had friends--w/o pets--suggest I do children/family photography instead of pets, and a family member suggest I dress my husband in an Easter Bunny costume for pet pics. - No lie!) Boo, stick with your heart, you are not alone on this one!

Erin - Jules I think that is the perfect solution. It allows you to shoot what you want, when you want!

Jules - Thank you Erin! It's so hard to follow your heart sometimes . . that is why I got a day job (that I happen to love!) I love taking photos, but I need time develop my style and decide who I want to be :) Thanks for sharing this!!

ami - thank you. big decisions in my future as well... terrifying!

Kath - Gracious and thoughtful words and very true - I am figuring it all out now and realizing that my four kids are going to come first and that is okay!

Brianne - Erin and Boo... how could you possibly have known what has been in my heart for the past months/year? I left my job, at my well-earning husband's urging, to "start a photography business" before I was really ready. Almost immediately, it seems the whole world has come out of the woodwork to tell me what I should do. Before I even got started, I got stuck... and I got scared. I'm still both, and in becoming both have all but lost my original love of the camera. Thank you infinitely for this post. It couldn't have come at a better moment. A heaping helping of gratitude to both of you.

johnwaire | photo - "...leave room to live life. Spend time with friends, get outside, breathe, have fun, drink a beer . Don’t allow it to consume you." SOUND ADVICE!!!!

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