Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle McSwain.
Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I studied photography in college in Kentucky, where I’m from. I had always dreamed of living in New York City and, being the type of person who pretty much never says I will do something without doing it, I sped through college in 3.5 years to hurry up and realize my dream of moving to the big city. I landed an internship at a boutique studio in Manhattan where I literally learned everything I know now about photography.
I was taught retouching, studio lighting, production, assisting, you name it. After four years, I left to go freelance doing photo editing and retouching for the New York Times for almost five years and also spent a year with Yahoo! doing the same. During those years of freelancing, I got swept up with long exposure/light painting photography and with a partner, created the first ever light painting photobooth.
We traveled the world with it doing events for the top companies that exist- Google, Microsoft, Nike, Intuit, etc. We even did a 12-day shoot for Saudi Aramco Oil in Saudi Arabia (that’s a whole story on its own). Anyways, back to the light painting photobooth, we took it everywhere. Around this time, the very first iPhone came out, and besides being absolutely amazing at first, it was missing one thing- a long exposure camera. So, my partner and I decided it needed one. So we made that too.
In 2010, we launched LightBomber and patented our long exposure technology that we had created which enabled long exposure capture on the iPhone camera. We ended up getting a little investor from Egypt for our team (three at this point) and re-launched the App under a new name PABLO (no one liked the “bomb” part) however this time we included long exposure VIDEO capture, which doesn’t exist anywhere… not even on DSLRs. So we patented that too.
Well, as startups go, we had a falling out with our small investor, and after devoting countless years to long exposure work, we realized it was a little too niche to ever explode, so, we quit. I make it sound easy, but it wasn’t. I cried for weeks over quitting my own company I had spent years creating. But, so life goes. So, where did this leave me.
Well, as I said several lines back, I had “gotten swept up” with long exposure photography but it was never really at the heart of what I wanted to create… at the time though, the momentum took over me. So, in 2017, I decided, no more partners, no more investors, I’m doing my own photography, and within the first two months, I landed two giant commercial gigs, thanks to two close friends at agencies.
Since then, I’ve continued to build my portfolio, do several portfolio reviews, meet other creatives to collaborate with and began to build my next business- Michelle McSwain Photography. About four months ago, I realized my second dream of living in Los Angeles and picked up my life after 12 years in NYC and settled into a cute bungalow in Mar Vista… and here I am.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been smooth. Is it ever? I spent a decade trying to build a tech start-up which ultimately did not work out but I’m a pretty determined person so it’s not enough to stop me. I’m excited for the road ahead of commercial photography and enjoying the process of growing and expanding my creativity. It’s taken a few years but I’m slowly learning that it’s more about the journey than the end result.
Pricing:
- Headshots/Portraits: $400 min
- 1/2 day photography for small brands: $750
- Full day photography for small brands: $1500 (range varies depending on project)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michellemcswain.com
- Phone: 502-396-8862
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @michellemcswain
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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