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Life and Work with Mandy Penn

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Penn.

Mandy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I truly never imagined I’d have a wildly successful career as a professional photographer. But then again, I never saw myself settling into a desk job for the rest of my life either. When I had my twins, six now, at the wise old age of 27 (ha!) I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Up until then, I actually loved being in all the pictures and I even modeled for a few years. But, after a horrible experience at a modeling call, I decided that it was not the right job for me!

Have you seen the movie 27 Dresses? The one with Katherine Heigl where she’s always a bridesmaid or the maid of honor but never the bride? (Cheesy confession: it’s actually one of my favorite movies!)

I have been in 13 weddings; ­ six as a maid of honor and two as an honorary maid of honor (of course, I’ve also been the bride!). I am closing in on having my own 27 dresses! I loved everything about each one – throwing the parties, getting gifts for the brides, being a part of the wedding party, and everything in between!

When I first got into photography, I never dreamed that I would love capturing weddings, but looking back it seems so obvious. When I first started doing photography, I took every job that I could get and thought that was a great idea. At first, it was fine and I seemed to like almost everything. The longer I photographed people the faster I learned I loved that the most. I tried Product photography, real estate photography and found that I did not like it at all! Just not my jam. I tried my hand at newborn photography…ONCE…and that was all it took for me to realize that it was also not for me. I have found over the last two and a half years that I LOVE shooting Weddings (above everything), Families and Seniors! So when I get inquiries for things besides those three, I refer them to a photographer who specializes in that field and loves that type of photography.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I always have loved taking pictures, you know with the old click and shoot cameras and back in the day with the disposable ones. I love the composition and the interaction with my clients so that seemed to come easy but taking my camera and shooting in Auto to full Manual was a huge learning process and every time I pick up my camera, I am constantly trying to improve my skills. I found that the biggest struggle I have is comparing myself. I don’t just do this in my business, I compare myself to the mom who volunteers at school, to the mom who stays at home with her kids, to the friend who gets to the gym every day, to the person next to me in the carpool lane that has a nicer car than my mommy missile of a van. We all do it and it can really take a toll on you and your business. I have to remember that no one is like me and everyone has their struggles. Constantly reminding myself, I am enough and people wouldn’t hire me if they didn’t believe so is something I remind myself daily.

Please tell us about Mandy Penn Photography.
I am a photographer and I specialize in Weddings, Families and High School Seniors. I enjoy shooting outdoors the most because I love playing with what the sun does to my clients. As much as I love the reaction my clients get when they receive their images, I believe people like how friendly and approachable I am and my interaction with them. I strive to remember names- at EVERYTHING!!! I use names and especially at weddings people are always commenting on how impressed they are that I know almost everyone’s names (bridal party and family) I believe using someone’s name instead of “Hey you in the polka-dotted tie” is a lot nicer to hear.

I also am known for my insane obsession with the show “FRIENDS”. I constantly quote the funny one-liners and will reference it throughout shoots and it always makes it better when my clients (which has happened numerous times) finish the rest of the quote.

At the session I shoot, my favorite things to focus on are candids, details and interactions of people. I have always been able to get great pictures of people just being natural. There is nothing worse than the cheezy smiles people tend to give you when you have a camera up in front of them.

I also love hearing what people want and I am super flexible. Some people love that I tell them what to do but others have ideas and I am never opposed to trying them. I show my clients the back of my camera a lot so they are assured they are happy with what the final result will be.

Who have you been inspired by?
I love chatting with and meeting local businesswomen and to see how far we all have come. I take a lot of inspiration from, like-minded women. These specific women are constantly asking me about my business, tagging me in posts and being a true advocate for me daily. I also have to say I find a lot of inspiration from Rachel Hollis because she tells the truth, never sugar coats anything and is just plain funny. I also find a lot of love and inspiration from Pride 411 and a few other networking groups I am a part of.

Pricing:

  • Wedding Photography: Starting at $1800
  • Family Sessions: Starting at $475
  • High School Senior Sessions: Starting at $425

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Mandy Penn Photography

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