May 8, 2017

Meet Michelle Lytle of Michelle Lytle Photography in Edgewater

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Lytle.

Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always had a mild interest in photography but it wasn’t until I was fortunate enough to have some really great art teachers in High School that I began to seriously consider a career in it. I was turned on to some great surreal collage artists and began creating my own composite images in Photoshop which eventually turned into taking more and more photos that I would eventually turn into art. From High School I attended Columbia College in Chicago for a year before making the decision to move full time into launching my photography business. I started off shooting for a larger wedding studio but after a couple weddings through there I made the leap directly into shooting under my own name. Over the course of 13 years I continued to grow and every year I took on more and more clients until I settled at roughly 43 weddings a year.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t think running your own business is ever completely “smooth” but I always knew I didn’t want to work for anyone else and I wanted to be free to make my own schedule. I only wanted to rely on myself regardless of how stressful that could be at times. I knew it was up to me and there was a sense of pride that came from that which motivated me and kept me pushing to continue growing my business. There were periods of time that I was stressed out wondering where the next job would come from our how I would pay for X, Y, or Z but by being responsive with my clients, providing a quality product, and trying to be as accommodating and helpful as I could be I continued to get referrals and eventually my business was built to a point where it was more reliable and steady.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Michelle Lytle Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Over the course of the years we have been in business I feel our style has really tailored into a very clear and direct objective. We work within two different areas of photography: pet portraits and weddings. A lot of times those two overlap as our clients are sometimes drawn to us through our work with pets and then are able to incorporate their animals into their engagement shoot or even their wedding day in some cases. Our approach is very candid-we tell people to go about their day and pretend we aren’t even there. We want to capture images in a way that isn’t intrusive and that allows us to blend into the background. Our coverage tells a story from the perspective of a guest attending the event. I think we are known for this type of approach which continues to attract clients that “hate being in photos” or are “awful at posing”. We hear these two things constantly and our hands off, natural approach really lends itself to making the entire experience stress free and comfortable for our customers.

I am most proud of being able to work in a team with my wife and of being able to get this amazing feedback from our customers who are so incredibly kind and thankful for the time and effort we put in. At the end of the day, this is a job but to be able to have an experience with our work where we genuinely are enjoying ourselves and meeting amazing people who in turn are so thrilled with the work we produce…it really makes us incredibly lucky to be able to be successful in this industry.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
As we move forward in the future we have some big changes happening. We welcomed a daughter this January and also moved into a new home that is above our new small event space in Edgewater. The building was an old auto garage that we purchased and over the course of two years have renovated into a small event space/studio with our own residence above. We want to continue targeting our key customer base and provide a stress free/intimate experience for people who want to get married without all of the hassle and anxiety of planning a large wedding. Despite this being our “work” and despite attending over 43 weddings per year…we still love weddings! To be able to work with amazing couples who are just looking to marry the person they love and celebrate with the people closest to them, is so incredible. We are looking forward to working with them in this expanded capacity in the years to come.

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