Interview With Juliet McKee. Sugar And Spice Photography

1.     Will you start by telling us where you work and live and the type of photography you do?

I live and work in Camberley, Surrey, but often travel to neighbouring counties as well as further a field.  I am mainly a family lifestyle and wedding photographer and I work with natural light and always on location. I find the ever changing light, environment and my subjects interaction with their surroundings, produce the most dynamic images.

2.     What inspires you as a photographer?

Everything! Even when I don’t have a camera in my hand I am constantly  seeing the world around me in terms of colour, composition,  expression , form and the ‘colour’ of the light, it‘s hard not to. I am fascinated by the uniqueness of each subject and strive to capture the very best of someone. Like many photographers, despite being a keen on photography for years, it wasn’t until I started to photograph my own babies that I really developed the emotional connection in my photography.

3.     How long have been a photographer?

I received my a Haminex 110 complete with a box of flash cubes for my 8^th birthday, but I guess what you are asking is when did I become a professional photographer and that would be 2007.

4.     When you’re not photographing, where can we find you?

When I’m not photographing, I have a very busy life being mum to 4 children, which is a full time job in itself, and wife to my lovely husband  Shane. I am also a huge social networking enthusiast, and love how I am able to dip in and out of Facebook and Twitter throughout the day.

5.     Any books that inspired you {or helped you} in your business?

If I’m honest I don’t tend to read that many books although I did found Damien Lovegrove’s  ‘The Complete Guide To Professional Wedding Photography’ provided me with loads of brilliant information when I first started wedding photography. Generally speaking I find the internet to be the biggest source of information and inspiration.

6.     Best marketing idea? 

My best marketing idea I would say is to define your style and brand. There are thousands of photographers out there so make sure that your website truly reflects your style. You may only have a few seconds to draw a visitor in, so make sure you sock it to them and leave them in no doubt what your style is and what you are all about.

7.     Worst marketing idea?

Special offers, giving discounts, entering into bartering and ’mate rates’. We’ve all done it, ’if I just slash my prices by £x I’ll get that job, they’ll buy more prints. It doesn’t work that way. Work out your worth(time, expenses,  outgoings), and stick to it. Don’t devalue yourself or your brand. If you are starting out and need to build your portfolio, offer your services for free, then when you consider yourself ready, work out your fees and stick to them. Believe me, if you don’t things can get quite awkward!

8.     Do you have a studio and if not do you feel having a studio would help your business grow?

As a natural light photographer I prefer to shoot on location and don’t have a studio. I do however have a room for viewings and pre wedding consultations though I mostly visit people in the home and have online galleries for viewing images.

9.     What do you think makes a photographer successful?

I measure my success in terms of client satisfaction, not financial gain. Yes it does sound like an old cliché, but if a client loves the way they look in an image and the image draws an emotional response then my job is done.  You can have the most technically brilliant photograph, with the most stunning aesthetics, but if your clients don’t feel emotionally drawn to it then you have failed.

10.  What’s your weakness in this business?

My biggest weakness is  also a strength I guess. I’m a perfectionist and can be terribly self critical. I could do with a little voice saying ‘that’s fine, move on’! Being a perfectionist can be a bit of a handicap and can slow down your work flow, so you have to find a way of dealing with the need to fuss over an image, accept it and present it with pride.

11.  Are you a Nikon or Canon?

I’m a Nikon girl.

12.  and Lens?

My 2 main lenses are a Nikkor 50mm 1.4f and my 24-70m 2.8f. My favourite is definitely the 24-70, I love it’s versatility and it always produces great results. Of course, like all photographers, I have a long list of lenses on my wish list too!

13.  If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?

I’m not sure really, I created my photography business after a 20 year career in nursing and midwifery. I guess a job that combined my artistic desires with the people skills I’ve gained along the way could be a winner! Having said that, I have my dream job and have no desire to change it.

14.  Can you give the readers your best piece of advice for starting or running a photography business.

You need to live and breath photography, the more you do the better you will get, I use my camera every single day, working or not, and I‘m still learning. I also feel that networking with your peers is essential for support, knowledge and professional growth, so much so that next Spring I will be bringing together more than 40 professional photographers for a mass ‘shoot out‘ and social day. What’s more it’s obvious that other photographers find it’s important to them too, the day was fully booked within 48 hours!

15.   Tell us your proudest moment of your career?

t’s hard to pick just one, I think by nature photographers love and flourish on positive feedback, so lovely testimonials from Bride and Grooms and other satisfied clients create immense pride. However I was recently ‘booked’ by a fellow photographer whose work I really admire, to cover a family event abroad. For me that was a moment of huge pride.


You can find Juliet here:

http://www.sugarandspicephotography.co.uk/