Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Plenger.
Hi Haley, I’m so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Where to begin? My story in Austin started in 2016 when I moved to college at the University of Texas from Plano, Texas. I chose the business school because it seemed like a safe degree, but I didn’t know what career I wanted. During those 4 years, I majored in Marketing and minored in Management Information Systems. I also dabbled in photography classes (because it was already a hobby), shadowed local wedding photographers, and interned in various marketing roles. 2020 came along, I was still directionless, and jobs were hard to come by. I got a fully virtual account management/website building position at a local startup that was so awful it could’ve become a case study on how not to value or trust your employees. During that time, I continued second shooting while offering portraits for other UT grads. By Spring 2021, I figured having no “real” job was better than staying at my current company, so I quit and relied that whole spring and summer on saved money and grad portraits to pay the bills.
By the end of the summer, in search of something slightly more stable but flexible, I got a job at a local Austin clothing brand I loved, Outdoor Voices, working in their flagship and running their events. I did this while pressing increasingly into photography and shot my first 4 weddings as a lead. The amazing clients I worked for shared my name with anyone and everyone they could, and by the time Spring 2022 came along, the demand I was seeing for my photography and future bookings created an amount of work that I couldn’t do outside of full-time at OV. Both jobs demanded my attention, and I had to choose to go all in for one of them – after much encouragement from those closest to me, I chose to pursue photography. It was scary making the jump, again, away from a stable job in pursuit of something wild, less predictable, and more fulfilling. It was one of those things that took a lot of convincing, but once I did it, I wondered why it had taken me so long.
Over the next few weeks, I used all the newfound time to craft my brand and decide how I wanted this business to come about. Until then, it was just me, Haley, a girl with talent and quite a few cameras. But all those years in McCombs didn’t go useless – I knew successful brands needed a specific direction that potential clients easily understood. So, I leaned into what made me giddy when taking photos and prioritized strong natural light, true-to-color tones, and authenticity in what was captured. I named my company “Color and Beam,” color for my effort to preserve tones as they are in real life, and beam calling to both my love of the sun and rich light and clients when their smiles beam.
By May 16, 2022, Color and Beam was an official LLC in the great state of Texas, and in the first year, May 2022 to May 2023, I shot 25 weddings as lead. But it wasn’t because of overnight success. I wouldn’t be here without the guidance and undeserved mentoring from a few dear friends who are also photographers. One of them, Sarah, is the person I credit all my knowledge of shooting on film cameras, too – and it’s become such a cornerstone of my style. I’m lucky to be a part of an industry where “competitors” are willing to help and work alongside you. In addition to going to them with questions, it was a year full of googling a ton and trusting my gut on the rest. It was a dance of initially investing a lot of time to get on the ground running but also stepping away to be a person apart from my job. I use the word dance and not balance because it wasn’t even – there was a lot of uneven distribution of myself to my work versus my personal life. I sacrificed a lot, and I did some of those ways. I missed friend’s weddings due to being booked for a client’s, occasionally put work over relationships, and sometimes fell victim to shooting for unsaid expectations rather than trusting my artistic eye. But on the flip, I also learned more about my style, which is so valuable. There are about a thousand talented wedding photographers in Austin, so differentiation is the key. I learned I’m more drawn to celebrations that emphasize the marriage and gathering of people over production-heavy weddings or doing something just for the shot. The photos that grow in value over time are the ones that capture real moments, moments that weren’t on the timeline, can’t be replicated, and make me feel so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. It makes them so rich in worth. My role on a wedding day is not as a writer but as a storyteller of the day, that unfolds. I genuinely believe the “magic” of a vintage candid photo lies in the subject’s lack of concern for the camera’s presence and their lack of concern for how they look in said photograph. I want to shoot the unprompted, the real emotions, the perfectly imperfect.
In this second year of business, while keeping that in mind, I’ve also tried to take on more out-of-state and international weddings. Travel and time in the outdoors have always been big parts of my personal life, so to get to fuse them with work is a dream. While continuing to serve the Austin community that built me up (because it will always be home), I’m also welcoming wedding celebrations that take me to new places, which come with new challenges. It’s this year’s version of leaving stability in pursuit of growth. I’ve learned how to travel well with gear, view new places as a new opportunity to get creative rather than craving what is familiar, and tell the unique story in each place. Because of this new goal, I’ve called to shoot in New Mexico, California, Colorado, South Carolina, Italy, and Jamaica; no place is off-limits!
It’s humbling to reflect on everything that’s changed in the last few years. I’ve taken on more than the role of just a wedding photographer (if there even is such a thing)- I work in admin, client acquisition, bookkeeping, editing, social media, payroll, vendor relations, creative styling, HR (someone’s gotta approve all my days off), and much, much more. But I’d be remiss if I credited myself for everything – it’s taken a crazy big team of mentors, encouragers, second shooters, friends, and clients that collectively contributed to where I am now. I would not be here without this fantastic Austin community, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I mentioned this in the previous answer, but jumping to go full-time was a big risk. Although I studied business in college, I knew nothing about starting and running a small business. By quitting my other job, I put myself in a position where I had to figure it out as I went and didn’t have a fallback option. Being under enough pressure pushes me to get scrappy and figure it out. Maybe it wasn’t a struggle and more of an expanded expectation, but I felt I was rapidly learning more than I anticipated. All small business owners can relate to wearing multiple hats. Launching a business takes a lot of attention, and I quickly fell into that being my whole life. I was pretty consumed by making this business successful, and unfortunately, I gave up a lot of personal time, which affected some relationships. Since then, I’ve worked to channel work into a work day as much as possible (with the apparent exception of working weddings on weekends) to be fair to myself. This means taking a Monday off after working the weekend rather than diving into editing immediately, shutting my computer at the end of the day even if I’m in a groove, or leaving my big camera at home on trips so I can be more in the moment. I’m the healthiest and most productive employee at Color and Beam when I have those clear work/life boundaries, but shifting to that direction was an adjustment.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us more about your work. next
I’m a wedding and portrait photographer who shoots on film and digital while prioritizing authenticity in the colors and moments captured. While figuring out my style in the first year of shooting, I noticed I was more drawn to photos that stirred up a feeling and captured a moment that happened naturally and wasn’t prompted by me. I think the photos that grow in value over time are the ones that capture real moments, moments that weren’t on the timeline, can’t be replicated, and make me feel so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. It makes them so rich in worth. My role on a wedding day is not as a writer but as a storyteller of the day, that unfolds. The “magic” you feel when looking at a vintage candid photo lies in the subject’s lack of concern for the camera’s presence and, better yet, their lack of concern for how they look in said photograph. A photographer I admire, John Dolan, was a catalyst in normalizing this style (or lack thereof), not only to me but to many other photographers. His work focuses on delivering the real, the “imperfect image” because along with imperfection comes character. My clients are real people having a wedding day; they’re not models playing dress up or advertising a dream wedding, so it makes sense that their photos will look and feel different from every other day I shoot. I can’t make up some of the things I capture on a wedding day, so I don’t. I choose to document and have learned to anticipate moments. I holistically document the day through thoughtful imagery. I’m not the one writing the script of a wedding day because that’s not my place. Ultimately, I’m shooting for my clients and not for me. I can do this by getting to know them and their families well before the wedding day because knowing the characters allows for more honest documentation. I feel most proud of my work when it prompts the person looking at the images to be pulled right back into the moment as it was. I’m not the only photographer who shoots this way, but it’s enough of a strong stance to allow me to attract clients who share this sentiment.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
There is no place like Austin. I’ve noticed from many recent travels that in Austin, on any given day, at any given time, you’ll find people enjoying themselves. Barton Springs on a sunny Wednesday at 2 pm? Full of sunbathers. The Greenbelt at any time of day? Crawling with climbers, hikers, and joggers. Austin does not abide by the M-F 9-5, and it just gives the city a new level of feeling alive because that’s not how things roll everywhere else. Also, the constant proximity to an incredible taco ain’t too bad either. Looking at what I don’t like as much, I’ve only been in Austin for 7 years, but even in that time, I’ve noticed its rapid expansion and loss of some character. I have difficulty accepting and embracing change, though I know resisting change is a stubborn illusion.
Contact Info:
- Website: colorandbeam.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colorandbeam/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colorandbeam
Image Credits
Color and Beam LLC, Sarah Lord
