Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Campbell
Amanda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m not sure if my story starts as far back as the year 2000 when I would shoot on my mom’s various polaroid & DV tape cameras, or if it starts back in 2009 when I was begging my sister to snap a photo on her brand new shiny beautiful Nikon DSLR she had just gotten for Christmas. I guess regardless, all of these things lead up to my sophomore year of high school back in 2011, when I quit my varsity tennis team and picked up a photojournalism class, instead. Finally, full access to cameras, lenses, and knowledge! My little 15 year old heart was thrilled.
Well, a girl a few years older than me caught word that I was pretty good at taking photos on a ‘fancy’ camera (cough cough, a canon T2i LOL) and offered to pay me to shoot her senior portrait session. I obliged and asked for a whopping $70 in return for shooting and editing her photos.
Well, those photos circulated, and before I knew it, teachers were asking me to shoot THEIR WEDDINGS! I couldn’t believe someone was trusting me to do such a big and monumental task. I didn’t even know how to use a flash at the time! So, for $500, I shot my very first wedding at the age of 17. And then another one. And then another one… and then: college.
My mother wasn’t going to let me stay back in my hometown to pursue photography full-time, so off to University I went. I still shot (a ton) in between working a full-time job and going to full-time school from 2014-2018, and ended my college career with a double major in Filmmaking & Graphic Design, with a double minor in Photography & Ceramics. I had worked on many, many full length feature & short film sets, setting myself up for success to eventually land in Hollywood! Well, after working at the Cannes Film Festival with Deadline Hollywood, I quickly learned… this was NOT the space for me. But alas, I persisted my fake dream and went on to work for a reality TV show in Dallas after graduation. This job had its perks, of course, but I missed weddings deeply. My heart was yearning for something much more than anything this reality TV show could feed me; so, I left.
I picked up in 2018 right where I left off in 2014, shooting weddings all across Texas. It took me a little while to reestablish my name after having left DFW for 4 years, but my persistence paid off and I was a full-time photographer once again just a couple years later.
I had visited my sister countless times over her 10-year stint in Austin, knowing this was the city I had always desired to live in. I never thought it possible until a conversation with one of my mentors back in 2023… this conversation changed everything for me (like conversations with one of my many mentors always did). In April 2023, moving to Austin was a wild idea that I never thought feasible, and by July 2023, my golden retriever and I were driving down in my moving truck!
The photography and filmmaking folks in Austin quickly proved warm, welcoming, and SO inclusive. I found a home pretty quickly in the community down here. I had shot a handful of weddings in Austin over the years, so luckily I already had a bit of a foundation built under my feet.
Fast forward to present day, I find myself living in Southwest Austin on the outer edge of the Hill Country, shooting Weddings, Families, Seniors, Boudoir, Brands, and Architectural Photography full-time!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course there are always struggles along any path to greatness- that’s what makes the ‘greatness’! And I could sit here and go on and on about each individual hurdle that has been thrown at me over the years, but I think as artists, the obstacle we will always struggle with the most is our inner purpose and drive: the ‘why’ behind our work. It doesn’t happen at every single session, or every single wedding, but when we get that one client who says something deeply profound and moving to us about our work… it’s all worth it again (photographers and filmmakers will know exactly the feeling I’m referencing to if they’ve been doing this long enough).
At the end of the day, this is my job. This isn’t just some fun little side hobby I picked up. I take what I do very seriously- as anyone who is posed with capturing someone’s biggest, most monumental day of their lives. But any art taken too seriously typically makes it [or the artist] pretentious; so, making space to approach this job with a childlike view/mindset is just as important as the latter. Using a childlike mindset is key to making sure you avoid burnout, something that happens to SO many fantastic photogs and videographers in this industry.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I take a lot of pride in a certain aspect of my work that most others in my same field probably see as a weakness, and that is being a jack of all trades.
I’ve had many, many mentors throughout my career, all of which have preached the same thing: you’ve gotta find your niche. Find what you’re best at, and stick to it. My mind seems to translate that advice to: Find your corner and stay there. Don’t move. Get really good at that one thing and forget the rest.
I tried. I really tried. I tried only shooting weddings and turning down corporate/commercial work. I tried only shooting/advertising boudoir. I tried only pushing commercial work. And yet, I find myself happiest when I get to wear all different types of shoes. A great example: I shot 39 weddings in 2024, so I decided back in August that I wouldn’t take any December weddings, so as to enjoy my holidays for once. Instead, I took on some family sessions, a branding session for an Aesthetic Injector, a few real estate gigs, a branding session for a home designer, and a senior session, and of course, I secured 2 or 3 weddings for 2025. I did not ONCE feel like I wasn’t qualified for any of these shoots. I felt renewed, excited, and confident for each one. I was blissfully excited to break up my routine and shoot something outside of my normal schedule.
SO, if am artist has the ability to do ‘it all,’ and doesn’t feel like shooting a multitude of things hinders their ability to show up for their wide variety of clients 100%, then I say screw the niche. Do all the things. Get really really good at all of them, and then do the ones that make you feel fulfilled!
This year consisted of the following: Weddings, Boudoir, Seniors, Families/Newborns/Maternity, Brands, Real Estate, Corporate Events, and probably a few others I’m missing.
That’s the beautiful thing about what we do as artists: If someone likes what you’re selling, they’re gonna pay for it. So, as long as your bills are paid, and you’re not miserable doing the work you’re being handed, I would say you’ve got it pretty dang good.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was incredibly shy as a child. Being the youngest of 3 sisters, I clung to my mom’s leg in every social situation, never having to talk for myself when my sisters could just do it for me! Ha! I was wildly introspective, normally only able to keep about 1 or 2 friends in my circle at a time to not overwhelm my little system, I guess. My mom kept all of my report cards and teacher comments from the time I was in kindergarten, and they all lead to the same point: Amanda is not strong in math/science mainstream subjects besides literature, but excels in her art and computer science classes. I remember getting into small-trouble a lot growing up, mainly for being distracted by everything but the teacher’s lesson happening in front of me. But stick me in an art class or a computer technology class, and I was glued to the assignment in front of me.
I loved playing pretend/acting, making movies with my sisters on my mom’s old DV tape recorder, recording my made-up songs on my old apple laptops GarageBand App, using my hands to make origami, clay figures, and just about any other material I could get my hands on. I just wanted to create anything and everything I could!
Pricing:
- Weddings Range from $4600-$8900
- Portraits Range from $299-$825
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amandamichelle.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda.michelle.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandamichelle.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-campbell-0925b6147/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmandaMichelleCo
Image Credits
Rachel Meagan Photography
