Today we’d like to introduce you to Britt Short.
Hi Britt, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I first picked up a DSLR in high school through a photojournalism class and immediately fell in love with taking photos, telling stories and creating art. I had always been artistic taking every level of art class that this felt natural for my brain. I went to Texas A&M University and never even thought about getting photography as an option for a career as it didn’t seem like the ‘smartest move’ but I always had a camera at every event snapping photos of my friends and taking some of those most cringe-worthy first paid shoots of engagements (sorry and thank you friends for trusting me)! After graduating from A&M, I immediately went to The University of North Texas and got into the photo program in the arts school and decided to get a degree in photography. I took darkroom classes, video classes, history of photography and learned more than I ever had about the art of photography. After I graduated, I decided I needed to get out of Texas for a bit and so on a whim, I made a book with my portfolio in it flew to San Francisco and walked into the doors of Brit + Co- a female-founded women’s creative agency dropped it off and hoped for the best-and luckily landed an interview that day with their Co-Founder and Creative Director. I got the job and moved to San Francisco three months later. I worked at Brit + Co for 4+ years as one of their photographers making my way up to Senior Photographer + Editor and worked with dozens of brands from Adidas, Google, Nike, Target, Sephora, Disney and countless others. I transitioned out to try my hand at freelance photography in the Bay Area and was able to build up my repertoire there and worked with some incredible small businesses and big name tech startups. After my husband and I got married, we moved to Austin, where I am now and I immediately started freelancing with Tribeza and have gotten a crash course in Austin and its creative scene. I still work with brands from all over the U.S. and Austin-based brands and creatives doing studio shoots, lifestyle and editorial.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After Brit + Co, I was lucky to find work after working with such big name brands but it’s not always a constant flow of work coming in. There are countless emails sent, connections being made and no responses but that’s the game of any freelance career. Moving to Austin was an interesting challenge because I saw it as almost starting over in my career and leaving behind some great clients in San Francisco but work picked up quickly and I still see it moving forward and I am so excited about the future and the creative scene I get to work with here in Austin. Of course with any freelance career, there are months that are slow and some are crazy-when it rains it pours! I’m thankful to have a husband that supports me to be all over the place and create art and call photography a career.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
From the beginning, I thought I wanted to be a photojournalist or a fine artist. My degree from UNT is in the fine arts department and along with photography, I also studied watercolor so I didn’t know how (still unsure) but I wanted to find a way to incorporate the two. I often paint my images and am able to still use my degree in watercolor as well. But in my photo classes, we were writing artist proposals and coming up with series and explaining the lighting choice and composition choice and why we photographed what we did-I loved it and it was daunting and wonderful. I had a professor talk to me about going to grad school and played with the idea of going the fine art direction and possibly becoming a professor because I do love to mentor and teach what I’ve learned but decided to see what the world of photography had to offer outside of the classroom. I’m extremely proud of my degree, proud of my time at Brit + Co and proud to go off on my own because it can be scary but the reward is so worthwhile. I also love mentoring people and talking to them about my experience and trying to help them get into this field and honestly, I love to talk to more seasoned photographers and get their input on my work-I was extremely lucky that my first boss was a well-established photographer and really guided the way for me (thanks Chris)! I’m proud of where I’m at and sometimes you aren’t stoked on a shoot and I remember that I get to do this for a living and immediately, I’m excited and so blessed.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
For a while, I thought the video was going to completely take over photo. It seemed that people wanted a photographer but they wanted that photographer to also specialize in video. I don’t think that’s the case now, I think they work together nicely and if done right can really create and tell a story. There are definitely trends in types of photography i.e., food photography is leaning away from clean and even lighting to shadows and a little bit more edgy and I think those changes are so fun to work with. It’s cool to see something I loved doing and didn’t think would make it out of school except for a hobby, film and darkroom photography, now become something people seek out for their photo needs. I think this field is going to change and old becomes new and the cycle will continue as people explore it more.
Contact Info:
- Email: britt@brittanydawnphotography.com
- Website: www.brittanydawnphotography.com
- Instagram: @brittanydawn
