November's Interview

This month's interview is with my friend Linda, a food and travel photographer partnering with global food, beverage, and luxury hospitality brands to create evocative images that tell authentic stories through light and colour. Inspired by nature and travel, she aims to capture moments that connect with viewers and invite them in. Her passion lies in working with sustainable brands that are making a positive impact for people and the planet. For aspiring food photographers ready to elevate their passion into a thriving business, her coaching program provides the guidance to build a standout portfolio, market confidently, and attract premium clients who value your unique style.
Website: https://lindahermansphotography.com/
Instagram: @lindahermansphotography

Questions:

CC - What inspired you to start your business? 

LH - 'The desire for more freedom of how I spend my time. I worked a 9-5 for several years after I graduated from my masters degree and I really disliked the way I was always looking forward to the weekend or rationing my holiday allowance so I could travel to new places. In 2016 I quit my job after saving some money to go travelling in South East Asia for 6 months. Whilst on that trip I realised that I didn’t want to go back to an office job and ended up backpacking for 3 years with my partner. It was this freedom of choice that I wanted to hold onto, and starting my own business was the way I could do that'.

CC - What was the one mistake you've made that taught you a valuable lesson?

LH - 'Missing out on all the services you can charge for with client projects! From not being specific about how many rounds of editing revisions and retouching requests in Photoshop that I can do for one shoot, to not charging the client for hard drives for large projects or online storage if they want access to the images for a longer period of time - I’ve definitely made mistakes in my contracts that caused me to undercharge projects. It’s always a case of “you don’t know what you don’t know” in the beginning, so it’s totally normal for these things to be overlooked, but now I’m much more confident in how I price my services as a result'.

CC - If you were to start over, what would you do differently from the very beginning?

LH - 'I would get a coach - and I don’t say that because I am one! Having someone who is already where you want to be and is willing to help you get there too is priceless. It means that you save time trying to figure it all out alone from blogs and YouTube videos, you save money on a billion courses that don’t answer your specific questions, and you avoid comparing yourself to others every step of the way, wondering what they’re charging and how they got that client to reply to their emails. Businesses take time to build and I really would have benefited from having someone fast-forward me through the essentials early on'.

CC - What trends should aspiring/established photographers look out for?

LH - 'I don’t really follow trends, but I think it’s important to be aware of what others are creating in your industry for inspiration and idea generation. I also think it’s essential to stay on top of technological advances both in terms of photography equipment and software, including AI. I know many creatives are afraid of AI and how it will impact our industry, but I’ve been using it to improve my pre- and post-production workflow with great results!'

CC - Can you describe a typical day in your life as a photographer & coach?

LH - 'To be honest, no two days are the same, which is something I love about my lifestyle! Some weeks I spend more time at home, shooting and editing product images for food brands or taking coaching calls with my clients. Other weeks I’ll be on location shooting for restaurants and hotels - these days can be really long but, thankfully, I usually work on these types of projects with my partner, so we can support each other through them! When I’m not shooting I’ll be working on personal projects, marketing strategies, updating my website or organising my finances - there’s always something to do!'

CC - How do you grow/progress as a photographer?

LH - 'Make time to create projects that get you out of your comfort zone regularly. I’ve definitely seen the most growth and progress in my own work when I plan and execute projects that require me to learn a new skill or work with a brand that makes me a little nervous! I know it’s hard to find time to work on these kinds of projects, but I believe it’s important to make the time for them. If you struggle to come up with project ideas, find inspiration from others - what’s an image that someone published recently that made you think, “wow, I wish I created that!” Then think about how you can make your own version of it and go from there'.

CC - How do you maintain a healthy work - life balance? 

LH - 'I’m clear on what’s important to me and I prioritise those things. As much as I love and enjoy my work there are other things that I want to do with my time as well! For example, cooking and eating well, exercising, spending time with family and friends, travelling to new countries and seeing wildlife are all things that I want to be doing on a regular basis - if I don’t make time for them, they won’t happen. I no longer believe that I must work 8 hours for it to be a productive or successful day, which makes it easier for me to take a 2 hour lunch break and cook a delicious meal or take the afternoon “off” to see a friend. I’m also good at managing my pipeline and client expectations so I don’t have too many projects at the same time!'

CC - How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

LH - 'I’d love for my images to inspire people to care for nature and wildlife. I’m building my wildlife photography portfolio at the moment and would really like to create projects about animals and landscapes that show people how beautiful the world is and how important it is that we look after it. I want to tell stories about the people and organisations that are doing amazing things for the environment in a way that might inspire others to take action or change the way they think about nature. This is something I still need some time to build over time, but I like to think I can achieve it!'

CC - What was the hardest decision in your career so far? 

LH - 'Gosh, there have been many! I think the decision to finally go full-time was a tough one because I had to let go of some safety blankets in order to do so. For example, I was teaching English online part-time in the first few years of my business, and letting that go was hard as it put pressure on me to find more photography clients - and when you add that kind of pressure it can take the joy away from the work, which makes daily business life unpleasant. But, I’m happy to say that that decision was a great one as it encouraged me to look into additional income streams and start my coaching offer, which has been very successful and is now a part of my business that I love!'

CC - How to you find inspiration in the dark & moody days?

LH - 'To be honest, I think being from the UK I’m more used to the dark winter days and don’t find it as hard to get through the season. Yes, I prefer long summer days and waking up to sunshine definitely puts me in a good mood compared to grey rainy days, but I don’t feel that I struggle to find inspiration for client or personal projects. Social media is a constant source of inspiration for me and I’m always saving posts to collections in IG, for example. Now that I’m shifting towards wildlife and travel photography, I’m also spending more time abroad and researching destinations, which I find really fun to do! We have a few photography books on our coffee table as well so even when I’m having a coffee at home it’s easy for me to be exposed to new artists and storytelling'.

Thank you for your time Linda, it was great finding out more about your journey.