JACKSON, MS / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 2020 / Tristan is an accomplished Portrait Photographer, Educator, and Entrepreneur who has been shooting for magazines and businesses since 2009. Experienced in her field, Tristan is teaching other photographers what it takes to run a successful business.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
My name is Tristan Duplichain I am 27 years old. A mom to my son, Finley. I am the owner of Tristan Duplichain Photography LLC. I am a Portrait and Editorial Photographer based out of Jackson Mississippi. Using my photo knowledge, I shoot for companies such as Godaddy and Snapwire. My work has been seen in several Magazines, a few being Mississippi Magazine, Garden and Gun, A Taste of the South, POZ Magazine based out of New York, Photography Masterclass Magazine, and several fashion magazines such as Salyse and Volant Magazine. I shoot weddings, family portraits, and musicians in my free time and have recently started a blog for aspiring photographers training them in business marketing on how to grow a successful photography business from the ground up.
Tell us how you created this brand and what was the sole idea behind it.
Creating my brand, "Tristan Duplichain Photography LLC" was an idea I honestly never saw happening for my career choice.
A little back story,
I grew up being homeschooled, so I didn't have many friends. A lot of my friends were online (Xanga, myspace, and Facebook) I was always taking photos of myself and editing them in photoshop for my social media pages for fun to show people. My plan was to go to college to become a graphic and web designer. However, in high school, there was a vocational class that took homeschoolers. My teacher, Mr. Gore who I thank every day for pushing me, talked me into competing in TSA (The Technology Student Association) and I ended up winning a few of the photography contests. After this, I realized I wasn't a fan of sitting at a computer for 8 hours of my day that I loved a changing environment and getting to know a variety of different people and telling their stories and using my photoshop techniques to make people look their best. A camera was in my hands at the age of 16 after saving money from my first job to purchase it. A canon T1I, this tells you how long ago it's been. Taking photos of my friends always gave me joy but being young and naive I didn't see it making an actual income, just a fun hobby.
I enrolled at Antonelli College for a Photography and graphic design degree at 17 after graduating from school early and had my degree before my 19th birthday. After a few business classes, I realized there was an entire industry with photography and realized very quickly that I could turn this into a full-time income if I just put in the work. This is where I began networking and getting to know business people in my home town.
Being honest, I did a LOT of free work starting out, however, the bigger picture was the return value. Providing a service that other people couldn't replicate. Getting my name out there was the purpose. This took years of building, and being so young it also took maturing and becoming a business person. I learned real fast just because you can take photos, doesn't mean you can run a business.
One of my recent projects, I shot the cover for the new documentary "The house in-between" which has been one of my proudest moments thus far.
A few projects I am currently working on would be:
Growing my photography education blog to cater to new and upcoming photographers, giving them the advice, knowledge, and confidence that I was able to learn at a young age. There are resources for branding, marketing, and also Lightroom Presets to help enhance images.
My personal project goal for me is to book 30 weddings in a year, which I am very close to accomplishing.
I'm currently in the process of booking new travel spots and talking to a few fashion magazines and trying to get more editorials online, absolutely love fashion, and taking photos of models and hope to focus more on this in the future.
The idea behind my brand is capturing people in their elements in an artistic way. I want people to see my work and feel connected to the person or business they're viewing. I want to educate my clients and show them that using professional images can boost their businesses significantly.
When it comes to my everyday clients, I want my brides to feel beautiful and natural. I photoshop of course but I have learned less is more. Capturing someone in their natural element and showing them that they are beautiful and don't need photoshop to be their own version of beautiful.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works.
There are several elements to my business that caters to different people in different ways.
Social media is the biggest thing in my business. People come to my page to see beautiful photos and envision themselves in my client's shoes. The photographers I am educating can come to my website for an experience learning how to grow their business and enhance their work. They can read tips and even go to my shop and purchase Lightroom presets to enhance their editing skills. A lot of people on social media pin my images as inspiration for other photographers to capture for them which can help their own businesses.
My photo business helps other companies have great images that reflect their brand for marketing and social media, once they book with me we come up with a mood board and ideas before we even get to the session.
When booking me for a wedding or family session, the client is spoiled with welcome gifts, t-shirts, fun carefree time during our shoot, and a great digital experience after it's over until we shoot again! I try to keep people in their element without making photos look overly posed or fake. I think that's one reason people enjoy looking at my work.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview?'
I want to show people you don't have to live in New York or LA to be a successful artist, photographer, or Entrepreneur. I feel like many people think you have to live in a big city to be successful and have a 6 figure business. That's simply not true. You have to want it, and go for it. You have to show up and be seen or be heard. I am a simple girl from Jackson Mississippi who has used networking to meet and expand my business. All you have to do is want it, work for it and you can succeed.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
The challenges I face recently are the fact living in a smaller town there are a lot of photographers who want the same jobs as you, who are willing to do it cheaper or for free. Nowadays everyone has a camera, an iPhone or iPad, and knows how to use filters. There are people who don't care about quality and just want a photograph and don't want to pay for these services from professionals. I find myself having to educate clients on the value of hiring a photographer and purchasing good quality photos and how paying another small business can help their business especially with networking. A company working with me helps their business as well when I am essentially promoting them to my audience in return helping them grow their brand as well.
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
I have never received funding for my business. Personally I have always worked side jobs, waiting tables, bartending, ad revenue from my website, etc. It's not glamorous but the income I made from those jobs essentially funded my photography until it grew into what it is today. Once I was making a solid consistent income I was able to put my money back into my business and now I don't need that second income to support my photography business, what goes in my account comes out, and I am able to use that account solely for purchases and necessities.
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
My future vision is to grow my education blog and expand it to YouTube and other platforms giving me more free time to travel and be seen by a bigger audience to network with and shoot for bigger companies. I want to show my son there is so much more to life than a 9-5 and that you can make a living doing what you love. Life is short and I want to photograph the world, and utilizing my business to support it and make it happen.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
No matter what, don't stop. There will be days you feel defeated. There will be people who say you can't do it, just to give up or get a 9-5, play it safe, and do it easy. Just as you feel like giving up, that is when things happen. Keep that dream alive and it will happen. You just need to do the work and show up. You can't regret something you gave your all to.
Media Details:
Company name: Tristan Duplichain Photography LLC
Email Address: [email protected]
Website URL: www.tristanduplichain.com
Instagram URL: instagram.com/tristanduplichain
SOURCE: Tristan Duplichain Photography LLC