Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Newton.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been a full time photographer since 2009 and my career has seen many iterations. Sometime in 2018, I was primarily doing lifestyle work and headshots, easing out of the wedding industry. I had quite a few friends who needed headshots and were dreading the process. I had the idea to invite them all over to my home studio and shoot their headshots all together so it would be more fun and not so serious. Some gals brought wine and they all were way more relaxed and ending up loving their headshots (we shot in front of a millennial pink backdrop which was very cool at the time). Whenever they posted their headshots, lots of other women expressed interest. Thus, Head Shot Happy Hour was born. After over a year of a ton of success, I eventually trademarked it at the end of 2019. You can see where that went but today, it’s still going strong with 3-4 public events every year and a multitude of private happy hours.
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?
As I mentioned, I trademarked Head Shot Happy Hour at the end of 2019. Then the pandemic hit and happy hours weren’t really happening. When things started to improve, I started offering Solo Sessions (mini sessions meets headshots) so I could responsibly still offer modern, affordable headshots. That’s something I still offer today as an alternative to the Happy Hours. Head Shot Happy Hour is definitely back but I’d say the current struggle is how saturated Austin has become with people offering really similar services. It’s to be expected and I always say there’s plenty of room for everyone but it’s definitely a challenge!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I specialize in personal branding and headshots. I do a little bit of interiors which I’d love to do more of but I really do love shooting people, specifically women. Nothing satisfies me more than someone coming to my studio and saying they hate having their photo taken and them leaving saying they love their photos.
I used to be a Photo Editor for a local only fashion magazine (that’s one thing I really miss shooting) but I think I bring a bit of that into my personal branding so it’s not just super boring or traditional lifestyle imagery. I also started offering raw, unedited iPhone video to my branding sessions so you can have a ton of amazing video content for your socials.
Really what I think makes me good at what I do is that I can meet people where they are and work through that with them. Having your photo taken can be a really confronting/awkward/not fun process and I work really hard to make it as pleasant as possible.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Email me! (paige@paigenewton.com)
Message me on Instagram (@paigenphoto)
Come to a Head Shot Happy Hour! I’ve got two public events coming up (Sep 23 + Nov 11) which you can book here: https://www.paigenewton.com/public-happy-hours
If you have a group of 5+, you can also have a private Happy Hour: https://www.paigenewton.com/privatehappyhours
If you’d prefer a Solo Session, you can book that here: https://www.paigenewton.com/solo-sessions
If you want a regular headshot session where you can pick your backdrops: https://www.paigenewton.com/headshots
And if you’d like to book a personal branding session, go here: https://www.paigenewton.com/personal-branding-photography
Pricing:
- Public HSHH starts at $185
- Branding starts at $1450
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paigenewton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigenphoto/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigenewtonphotographer/
Image Credits
All by me!
