Meet Mallory Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mallory Williams.

Hi Mallory, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always loved art and art has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Whether it was painting, drawing, sculpting, ceramics, photography, you name it, I tried it. Photography is something that has always stuck with me the most throughout all of my adventures with artwork. It feels like literal magic, being able to harness light and capture a moment in a physical form.

When I was a child, I would excitedly take my disposable cameras or rolls of film up to the local drug store and impatiently await my photos. I would make scrapbooks (that I still have to this day) of all of my pictures. When I was 12, I joined a darkroom club at my school and for the first time, I was able to witness a blank piece of paper come to life with a moment I captured. This was where my excitement started to transform into love and a lifelong passion.

Through the years, I always took photos with point shoots or whatever cameras I had access to, but when I turned 18 in 2010, I bought my first DSLR with money from a summer job. I started doing photoshoots with friends and eventually started taking on clients and second shot and assisted for some amazing photographers. In 2014, I began a visual art program at Gulf Coast State College where I traveled to Greece and studied photography abroad. This experience turned my love into a concrete thing. I decided this is what I wanted to pursue as a career. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

After some reflection and a few years of playing around and working in the field, I decided I wanted to further my education and hone in on some skills. I applied to the Isaacson School of New Media professional photography program at Colorado Mountain College and I moved to Colorado. I built my business while I was in the program and started working for myself full-time right out of school in 2018. It’s been an amazing 5 years doing this full time and I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences for the world.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest obstacle that comes to mind was moving to Colorado and starting from scratch with zero connections, no clients, nothing. I had to really believe in myself and put myself out there to find success. It can be really scary to do that.

I also think that people assume doing what you love is always easy. They say, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” But that’s not true in the least. It’s hard work and there are many day-to-day struggles that any passionate business owner deals with. There are days when motivation is hard to come by, and there are times when it can be difficult to set boundaries for yourself and your business.

No road is smooth. Of course, I have had challenges and struggles, but it’s all been worth it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I summarize my work in 3 words: warm, magical, and natural. I aim to achieve warmth in both the way my photos make people feel and the energy I want to bring along with me in life.

Magic is all around us. Magic swirls in the light of life’s little moments every day. That’s what I want to capture. And above all else, nature is my biggest inspiration. My goal is to allow my clients to feel natural and calm in front of my camera. I mostly shoot in nature, and I want people to feel the embrace of our natural world in their sessions with me.

I specialize in portraiture, weddings & elopements, boudoir, and small business branding sessions. I love to work with people and to tell a chapter of people’s stories. It’s such an honor to be able to bring a vision to life with a client and be a part of a time in their life.

Being a storyteller feels like a superpower sometimes.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Photography is always changing. AI is a huge conversation in the field right now, but I don’t foresee that making any huge changes anytime soon. People still need other humans to capture their special moments in life.

Styles in photography are just like fashion, trends change and fade, and some things stay timeless. I think it’s important to always keep an element of timelessness to imagery because Instagram trends inevitably shift and change and fade.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mallorywilliams.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mallorywilliams
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MalloryWilliamsPhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywphoto/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/malloryw_photo
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/MalloryWilliamsPhotography/ 

Image Credits
Mallory Williams Photography