Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Merkling.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
If you are asking how I got started in photography, I would say that it was a natural draw from a super early age. Got my first camera at 11 and fell in love with the unpredicted bonus of being ‘invisible’ while shooting. As an introvert [and shy then, as well], it was a nice oasis of everyone leaving me alone when I had a camera in my hand… along with doing something that ironically gave me a voice. Eventually, I realized I liked people in my pictures and once again the irony struck as I was forced to start directing them in front of my lens to get the desired image in my head. I shot portraits off and in all my life.
After having my last child in 1998, I opened my current portrait business while the film was still the go-to medium. We expanded from families, children, high school seniors and weddings to include more commercial work when we started shooting for MC Magazine [Shaw Media] a few years later. Adding this commercial work [professional headshots, website & branding images, event coverage] was a timely addition to our company as the family portrait photographers started multiplying with the increase in digital photography quality. Today, our professional photography sector of NMP is run by our brilliant Lead Photographer, Janet Kay, who hopped from running her own successful photography business to Nancy Merkling Productions in January 2017. Outside of weddings & events, families & high school seniors, pro headshots, websites & branding images, Janet also brought in her own unique art specializing in performance art photography for musicians and dancers for both branding and fine art.
When digital photography quality started paralleling the quality of the film, I made the business survival decision to switch, as well. While back in school, I noticed many colleagues struggling with the new digital technology. I learned that not only did I fall madly in love with the technology of digital but I also thrived on helping others learn it, as well. I wrote up a system that helped bridge the gap in learning from what the professors were teaching to how the students were receiving it… and that became my very first workshop – Simply Learn Camera 1. This workshop taught the exposure triangle in 3 different exposure modes… in digital terms, overriding and erasing how it operated in film… in a way that made sense. The workshop was a huge success so Nancy Merkling Photography evolved into two sectors – adding the Simply Learn Photography workshops. Today, outside of the expanded topics for these group workshops, we also teach in One-on-One format through our Ninety-With-Nance personal sessions as well as a Mentor Program that dives a little deeper in people’s individual goals and the teaching and inspiration necessary to get there.
And if that isn’t enough, in April 2011, I decided to add creating and producing a crazy successful art event named “4th Fridays” at Starline Factory to our regime. 4th Fridays is a trail-blazing art event that started in an idea notebook decades ago. Our objective is to create a 9-time a year consistent event that holds the bar high on its juried art exhibits and experience while connecting regional artists [only] with their community and the buyers within. 4th Fridays put 600 – 1000 people through the door in one night with many driving from as far away as Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
Has it been a smooth road?
The journey of being a career photographer is always a challenge and highly competitive even more so now in this digital era. There, you have it. I said it out loud. Most photographers who are telling the truth will confess that. They will also tell you it just means you have to work a little harder at being a little better than you were the day before. Also, being a really great photographer doesn’t necessarily mean you will be a successful photography business because that word “business” is certainly a skill and art in itself. It doesn’t just happen. There are degrees offered in it for a reason. If you’re going to be a career photographer, you’ve got to be good with the business and marketing when the lens is down as well. So hire it, learn it… do it.
My biggest ongoing challenge is being a self-employed entrepreneur who finances our growth with time and money. Taking the large [and awesome] step into the photography teaching portion of my business 9 years ago was exhilarating and exhausting. The decision just two years later to create & produce our trailblazing art event 4th Fridays ‘on the side’ took my already stretched one-woman-show self to being stretched crazy thin as both became successful time bandits right away. It’s all good, of course, because when you want to do big things, it takes a big effort, right? One of the things that have helped even out our course was inviting brilliant photographer and colleague Janet Kay to lead the photography section of Nancy Merkling Productions [NMP] in January 2017. Janet and I are both innovative in the business and marketing sections and it’s beyond exhilarating to brainstorm together.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Nancy Merkling Productions story. Tell us more about the business.
NMP is 3 categories: professional photography, photography instruction [both group workshops and one-on-one sessions] and our 4th Fridays Art Event at Starline Factory. Our pro photography [managed by our Lead Photographer Janet Kay] covers commercial, events, and portraits. I also shoot commercial work and we employ second shooters for events and assistants for most shoots. The photography teaching happens in group workshops as well as one-on-one private sessions. The group workshops cover camera exposure settings, composition, black + white, people pictures, iPhone, the creative process, editing and more. The private sessions can be ordered session by session in our 90-With-Nance to get your current questions answered or in our longer-term mentor program in 3 or 6-month chunks. Our most recent move in this department is the recording of our workshops starting in December this year so they will be available to purchase online for those outside of the area. More to come on that later!
4th Fridays Art Event at Starline Factory started in an idea notebook when I was in my teens attending art events. It was my “If I ever ran an art event, this is what I would do” notebook. When I first rented my studio at Starline Factory, I began to see it happening there and started it 2 years later in 2011. 4th Fridays happen 9 times a year in this beautifully renovated factory and draw crowds of 600 – 1000 people in one night from as far away as Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee. We produce a fresh + fun art event that keeps a high bar for the artwork and blows the mind of all first-timers in its variety, spans, and energy. Three juried art exhibits, 4 stages of live music, People’s Choice voting, appetizer tables, cash bars, open artists studios and more. Our 4th Fridays Team strives to be crazy successful in it’s over the goal of connecting regional artists with their community and the buyers within in an art event you want to return to 9 times a year.
We specialize in commercial branding photography for businesses [from small to international]. Janet Kay, our lead photographer is a genius with both natural and artificial light and also nails event shoots with her madly artistic flash skills.
As a company, we are most proud of our professional abilities to analyze our clients’ photography needs and to direct them in every detail and decision necessary to exceed their expectations in both end product and the experience along the way. We work hard for client feedback like this from one of our international clients after shooting headshots on location for their employees “The proofs are AWESOME and we love every single one of them. Also, I actually love my picture so major kudos to you. A guy friend of mine commented that you captured my spirit in this professional headshot so compliments to the photographers, AKA Artists.” We adore exceeding expectations in all aspects of our photography but especially in our commercial & branding work.
As a company, I am most proud of our ambitious goals and growth to keep our work fresh & cutting edge.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see the industry being given a consistent flooding of ‘more’ photographers as the flip to digital has made the financial investment much less with sdhc cards replacing film, editing software replacing developing negatives and printing only being necessary for end products. Learning how to operate as a portrait photography business today looks a lot different than what it looked like 20 or 30 years ago. That’s a good thing overall. The truth is there are new portrait businesses springing up out of the combination of someone’s ‘new camera’, good eye and spare bedroom every day. And this won’t stop. The photographers whose businesses survive still need the necessary ingredients of a good business plan, a good marketing plan and of course, amazing photography.
Professional photographers who survive and thrive long term will have to continue to keep their creative & technical edge while holding tight to their business and marketing reins. The good news is that the super hard work that keeps commercial photographers alive is still part of the equation. Hard work in the right areas gets you there and keeps you going. It’s an age-old cornerstone.
Pricing:
- Photography Workshops $85 each
- Ninety With Nance One-on-One Sessions $125 each
Contact Info:
- Address: Nancy Merkling Productions | Studios in 2 Locations :
Dole Mansion 401 Country Club Rd Crystal Lake IL 60014
Starline Factory 306 W Front St Harvard IL 60033 - Website: www.NancyMerkling.com
- Phone: 815.347.8535
- Email: nancy@nancymerkling.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.merkling
Image Credit:
Bonnie Wemken, Janet Kay, Stacy Pahl
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