Today we’d like to introduce you to Bree Lee.
Bree, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story is a bit of a ride. I started out as a blogger, sharing parts of myself to the world in hopes to create a community of some kind. If you dug hard enough, you actually might find a few of my original posts–they’re still public after all. Anyhow, after publishing a few posts, I realized carefully crafted words wasn’t going to cut it for me. I needed photos. My mind only made sense of one thing. Collaborating with Instagram photographers.
But of course, being as picky as I was, I quickly got my hands on my own camera (or rather my father’s) to have full control over the final product. For a few weeks, I attempted to take photos of myself with no tripod. This was an incredibly difficult feat.
Frustration got the best of me. I quickly forgot my original intention with why I started taking photos along with my blog and began searching for other subjects/models to create better-composed photos. Fast forward to two years later, my blog is now a portfolio and yes, I now own a camera of my own. Welcome to my journey!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest struggles were the mental ones. The constant comparing with “bigger” photographers, meeting terrible people who have nothing better to do than push you down, etc. Each negative encounter I had with both myself and others put my photography journey to a halt in some way. At one point, it pushed me so far over the edge, I had to stop completely. But when you’re passionate about something, you always find a way back. You have to. Life gets too difficult when you try to go on without doing what you love.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a freelance photographer, specialized in portrait photography. You can say that I’m most proud of my dedication to my work. I make sure to plan as much as I can along with a bit of flexibility to ensure purpose in everything I do. More specifically, I plan poses, arrive on time, and put the utmost care into the photos during the editing process amongst other things. You would think that these are basic things but many people lack this sort of discipline.
Although I have much to learn, I push myself to be as good as I can be in the areas that are controllable. What separates me from other photographers would be my ability to make my clients feel comfortable. A camera often times feels like a strange spotlight. It’s too much attention for most people. I then see it as my job to put whoever in front is at ease by guiding them with words of comfort and direction. In a more technical sense, the editing part of the job is where I really get to separate my work with the work of others. Everyone has their own color.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
The one thing I’d keep in mind now is: set a limit. This applies to everything. The amount of shoots you do in a month. The amount of time you spend per shoot. And the worst one of all, the amount of photos you end up editing. Each one I learned over time and every time I had applied a “set a limit” change, it was life-changing. I still do a ridiculous amount of shoots–definitely a workaholic thing– but now, I spend one-two hours per shoot max and will not send more than 10-15 photos per session. If you’re spending way too much time per shoot, that’s just not time efficient. If you’re editing more than 25 photos per shoot, you’re just not being realistic. Of course, this is all based on my own opinions but if I had to start over again, I’m 100% following this guide.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Knxll.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/knxll
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