Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Vickery.
Hi Amber, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out in photography when I was 14 when my dad gave me a film camera for Christmas. The next day we took off on a road trip from Houston to San Francisco where I captured the sunrise of the new millennium on film in West Texas. That moment just sank into me as so profound and I knew pretty instantly that this was what I wanted to do forever. I started taking film photography courses at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and as an introvert, I found a lot of comfort in the darkroom.
I went on to go to art school in Maine and then Boston to study photography where I got my BFA in photography. From there, it took me a while to find my footing in what I wanted to do with this for a living. I loved portraiture and capturing raw documentary images but I had no idea how to make a living doing this – without having a big break with a magazine or gallery. I struggled for a few years after college to figure out what to do. I wound up working in sales jobs and was pretty unhappy. It wasn’t until a close friend from art school (who had already started a successful photography business) reached out to me telling me she broke her ankle and needed help shooting five weddings in two weeks that I even considered weddings and family portraiture as a route for me. My first reaction to her was “no, I have a job. I was just promoted to management. I can’t”. Then I got off the phone with her and sobbed on the floor in my living room because I absolutely hated my job. Then a magical moment happened, it just clicked. I called back, and said “F-it. Let’s do this. I’m quitting”. There was a gut instinct that I needed to make this move. I went to Maine and worked with her for those two weeks, absorbed her techniques and business style, spent time between shooting weddings with her making a logo for myself from scratch in photoshop. And then came back to Austin and hit the ground running with this. I put a Living Social deal out for portraits and brought in clients from there and then the referrals came.
That was August of 2011, so it’s been ten years and I’ve never looked back. My business has thrived on referrals from all of the support from clients and fellow vendors over the years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve always struggled with being both a business owner and a creative brain. I naturally just want to focus on being creative and interacting with my clients. That’s where I thrive and find my joy. I don’t find joy in the back-end work that is required as a business owner and that work has always overwhelmed me and dragged me down because I’ve never felt like I’m good at so much of the boring business side of things, though I’ve tried my best.
I’ve finally come to a place where I’ve realized the importance of allowing others to help take the burden off my plate when it comes to that back-end work so that I can focus on being creative and giving my clients and my own creative endeavors my full energy. This is actually a pretty recent discovery for me and that is one thing I would recommend for people starting out: you don’t have to conquer everything in your business on your own, put away funds to find help with the parts of the business that you don’t enjoy that are dragging you down. It’s completely worth it for your own sanity and creative energy.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a fine art documentary wedding, lifestyle and family photographer. I’ve always described my style as vibrantly soulful because I am such a lover of the fun, the silly, the natural giddiness of love and joy and all the nuanced emotions that make us humans. I also love a little moodiness in my imagery but also vibrant fun colors. I never have felt that I fall into a photography category, nor do I love labels – I want my imagery to transcend time and not look like it was taken in 2021. I want my imagery and editing style to always feel classic and not cliche or trendy. I just try to shoot from the heart.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Keep it real. Don’t pretend to be anything but yourself. It’s so important to connect with clients on a raw human level, that’s when the beauty happens.
Pricing:
- Lifestyle Family Pricing begins at $600
- Wedding Pricing begins at $4,500
- Fashion/Brand pricing begins at $600
- Elopements begin at $1,800
Contact Info:
- Email: avickeryphoto@gmail.com
- Website: www.ambervickery.com
/ www.ambervickeryphotography. com - Instagram: @
ambervickeryphotography - Facebook: www.facebook.com/
ambervickeryphotography
Image Credits
Portrait of Amber is by Jona Christina Photography https://jonachristina.com/
