Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Morrissey.
Claudia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my journey in photography at the age of 14 when I was gifted an SLR camera. It was a Canon SLR camera, pre digital era, so this meant I was using film. I started photographing landscapes, animals, and people. I realized quickly that my true love was in portraiture. I readily captured the many emotions and facial expressions of people, families, and groups. I was a hobbyist photographer in high school as a yearbook photographer and for friends and family until I became a mom in 2015. I then completed several photography classes at Howard Community College and online classes through Creative Live and photographed my little one any chance that I could. After being a hobbyist photographer for 18 years, I was ready to take my photography to the next level and turn it into a business. That was in 2016. For the last 10 years, I have been photographing all ages as a portrait photographer.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes and no. The initial foray into the business meant that I had to face my own doubts about myself. Would people hire me? Is the market saturated? How do I price myself? Am I good enough? What I have learned along the way is that customer satisfaction is just as important as the actual images. If I can keep my customers happy and satisfied and communicate well with them throughout the process, they will hire me again and again. However, part of keeping them happy is to provide the highest quality images and strive to exceed their expectations every time. A mentor once told me that your client base needs to extend outside of your circle of friends. That’s how your business really grows. This was truly the best advice ever given to me.
The other challenge has been how to best market myself. I am a mom of two children with various interests. I also do some volunteer work with my church and our moms’ group. I don’t want to spend all of my time on social media posting stories and sharing my entire life with strangers. Have I lost clients along the way? Maybe, but in the end, a small business owner needs to decide what works and what doesn’t, and the right clients will choose you.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Absolutely! As a portrait photographer, I specialize in newborn, maternity, senior portrait, family, and extended family sessions. My style is lifestyle photography, meaning I capture life as it happens with gentle posing and direction. Every session has both posed and beautiful, candid images included in the gallery. I want to capture you laughing and dancing with your children, newborns with their parents, siblings, and pets in their nursery, seniors in their element, and grandparents with their grandchildren in an extended family portrait session.
I am proud of how far I’ve come in terms of the quality of my work, my editing, and my technical skills as well as my ability to pose and capture seniors, newborns, and families in a way that gives them awe when they receive their images. To be able to serve seniors and families in a way that inspires them with greater confidence when they see their images brings me so much joy!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Interesting question. I believe that God has directed my way and opened and closed doors along the way. For me, that began with receiving a Canon SLR camera at the age of 14 and realizing that I had a gift- something that just clicked for me, even before I had any technical camera skills. There were the photographers, both in person and online, that provided valuable insight and feedback to me. There were also the people that were willing to give me a chance when I was first starting out and didn’t have the best camera or editing techniques yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.claudiamorrisseyphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudiamorrisseyphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claudiamorrisseyphotography
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/claudia-morrissey-photography-ellicott-city
