Stephanie Bathgate
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Stephanie is a photographer specialising in family, maternity and newborn photography. Stephanie loves to take families outdoors to capture the emotive moments as you laugh, play and connect with each other. Inspired by natural light she aims to weave the colours and textures of Jerseys beautiful landscapes into each session to create beautiful photographs for families to treasure for generations.
“Being able to connect with people I have never met and ending up leaving being friends and knowing their story by the end of the session is always memorable."
Tell us about your path to setting up your business and what motivated you?
I was always the one out of all my friends to have a camera in my hands. Snapping away at any opportunity. It was something that was burning in me but I didn't know what path of photography I wanted to go down...until I had my own children, then that was the spark for me that ignited everything. I really found the passion that lead to me where I am today, they give me the drive, and I knew I wanted to work with other families to create memorable photos.
How do you work and what is a typical day like for you?
For me the work is all year round, there are always babies being born! However it tends to be seasonal for the outdoor location sessions, most people tend to want family sessions in the spring and summer months. Saying that I finished my last outdoor session in November! If families enjoy being outdoors in the winter then let’s capture that! I work around being a stay at home mum, so I tend to shoot evenings and weekends and edit into the night.
What are the best parts about your business?
The feedback! I live for that, there is no better feeling! I love it when clients contact me after receiving their photographs and tell me how they made them feel. Being able to connect with people I have never met and ending up leaving being friends and knowing their story by the end of the session is always memorable.
What has been your greatest struggle as a business owner so far?
Finding out how to run a successful photography business! I love photography and what once started as a hobby has developed into a business, so it’s getting to know my worth and market myself. It can be intimidating and overwhelming finding out how it all works and being able to run it smoothly as well as juggling family life.
What has been your biggest a-ha moment so far?
Learning to say no! I am very enthusiastic and love trying new things, but sometimes that can go against me. Work will come in that I simply don't have the passion for and learning to politely turn these down has been a massive learning curve for me. It means I can spend more time concentrating on what I really want to develop, which is family, newborn and maternity photography. Quality over quantity am I right?!
Do you have any advice for other small business owners?
Don't be afraid to just go for it. It takes time and dedication but if you are really committed you will get to where you want to me. For me, it was being able to reach out to people in the same field as work and have a chat, that really helped to know you don't stand alone and everyone is dealing with the same struggles.
What currently inspires you?
As sad as this seems, Instagram! I have found so many inspiring artists via this app that have really helped me find the style and path of photography that I want to go down.
You can contact and find me here