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Meet Miranda McDonald

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Miranda McDonald.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved taking photos and capturing moments. In 3rd grade, my dad bought me my first little point and shoot camera. I’d take photos of my pets, my family, my toys – whatever was around.

A few years pass and its time for high school, where I really fell deeper in love with photography. We had a dark room on campus, so I took every single film photo class that my school offered and started to learn the technical side of photography. All 35mm, all black and white – lots of lunches were spent developing in the darkroom, constantly making my friends model for me for projects, learning as much as I could from the greatest teacher (shout out Mr. Moser!).

When I graduated, I moved down to San Diego for community college. I was studying hospitality event management, and since I didn’t think it was “realistic” to pursue photography, it just made sense to take that next step into getting a college degree. I lasted a semester and a half before I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I dropped out and continued to work a job as a host at a restaurant. At this point, I was still doing portraits here and there and had just started creating some content for local brands. Pursuing photography as a career was slowly starting to become a more realistic idea.

In 2013, I was at an LED event at Sports Arena, and I saw this dude with a video camera shooting for the show. I introduced myself, told him I was an aspiring photographer and asked him for his email so that I could potentially learn from him since photographing music would be a dream. Fast forward to 2019, and he’s not only one of my closest friends, but we have also worked on some of the sickest projects together, and he’s helped me become the creative I am today. Love you, Scott! Thanks for believing in me since day 1. Proof that networking and showing that you’re willing to work hard for something can make the biggest difference.

In the years in between, I’ve managed to go from having three jobs at one point, with photography as a side hustle, to it being my full-time career for the last two and a half years. Started small and local, was working as a hostess at Bang Bang downtown San Diego, worked my way up to server then got the opportunity to become a resident photographer. Would go in for my shift at the restaurant at 4 pm, clock out at 11 pm then take out the camera and start taking photos til 2 am. This was my weekend just about every weekend for almost two years.

Since I’ve been able to put 100% of my focus into photography and quit every other job, the growth has been surreal. I’ve been living in Los Angeles for just over one year now and couldn’t be happier. It’s taken me to different parts of the country and world that I never expected to see, has put me in rooms with people I never thought I’d meet, has given me friendships that I’ll cherish forever.

I think the biggest thing that has helped me get where I am today is making it a point to be a well-rounded photographer, I have never classified or limited myself to one type of photography. Why put a limit on your own growth?

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Far from a smooth road.. yet I still wouldn’t change a thing. The biggest struggle for me is not letting myself get into my own head. The highs are really high, and the lows are really low..

It’s too easy to compare yourself to others these days, you’re not always going to get the gig you want, and you’re not always going to make every client happy which I feel is so difficult as an artist because you’re putting all of yourself into your work so its easy to take it personally. You’ve got to make sure that you find that balance in between all of that, which of course is easier said than done and something I’m still working on myself.

Another difficult side of the job is learning time management and self-discipline. When I’m not on site at a shoot, I’m typically working from home. It’s so easy to let yourself get distracted, so typically I’ll go work from a coffee shop or a friends house for the day if I know I’ve got a heavy workload.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
While music photography definitely takes the cake as my favorite, I have experience in many types of photography – from weddings and portraits to corporate events and sports to food and brands.

I am extremely proud of the well-rounded artist that I’ve become over the years, as well as my drive to grow and become the best version of me that I can be!

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Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

 

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