Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Murray.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My photography journey started when I was a senior in High School in Des Moines, Iowa. I took a self-paced photography class where we worked exclusively with black and white film. It was a great learning experience, in that I was able to be a part of the entire process from taking the photos, to developing the film and then working in the dark-room to develop prints. Shooting film really helped me to slow down and try to make each photo count.
During college I took a photography hiatus to get my business degree. After graduating, I was able to purchase my first DSLR (a Canon Rebel XT) and started photographing my friends. It was then that I fell in love with portrait photography. I spent a lot of time just photographing friends for free and then I started getting high school seniors wanting to book me. I realized at that point, this could become a business.
I put together a plan, including branding myself as Blue Lime Photography, getting a website, insurance, etc. From there my business grew to where I was pretty busy with seniors and my full-time job. Then we moved to Illinois.
After the move, I had to re-establish myself in a new area with new competition and a very different market. In Illinois, I started shooting aspiring fashion models in addition to seniors. That’s when realized I wanted to do something more than just standard senior portraits. I reached out to Jen Dodson, of Adelia James Styling to add wardrobe styling to my senior packages and to Emily Dahleen, of Emily Ann Artistry to add hair and makeup services. Adding these two amazing ladies has really elevated the overall experience for my clients.
Please tell us about your art.
My goal for each senior shoot is to bring a fusion of fashion photography and more traditional senior photography. I don’t want to produce boring, stiff photographs. My hope is that I can make my clients feel beautiful while also elevating what is their typical sense of style. I treat each senior photoshoot as though it’s one of the most important photoshoots of my client’s life, because it is. Outside of her wedding day, her senior shoot is likely the only time where she will get professional photos of just her. I want to make her feel like a Rockstar.
For model portfolios, I get often get to work with girls who are just starting out. I love being to help start their portfolios and help them start to get comfortable in front of the camera and studio lights.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think what has changed is the definition of artist/photographer. Everyone has a camera on them all of them time and if you scroll through Instagram, you see that they are constantly taking and posting pictures. I’ve seen a lot of photographers complain that “everyone is a photographer these days”. Rather than complain, as an artist, I’ve needed to step up my game. That led me to bring on Emily, my hair/makeup artist and Jen, my wardrobe stylist. I want my clients to love their experience from beginning to end. That’s my art.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
They can find my work on my website, Facebook or Instagram. Instagram is where I post my work most often. They can find me there @bluelimephoto.
The best way to support my work is by booking a session or telling their friends about me. I would love to connect with them and starting planning an amazing session.
Contact Info:
- Address: Oswego, IL
- Website: bluelimephotography.com
- Phone: 515-321-0150
- Email: info@bluelimephotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluelimephoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueLimePhoto/
Image Credit:
Blue Lime Photography
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