Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Giannelli.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started photography as a sophomore in highschool in 2015 and immediately knew it was my calling from God. In November of 2023 God told me to officially start my business and call it Faith and Photography.
I didn’t know where to start and lacked some of the business side of photography, until I came across a facebook post for a Photography business course by Sarah Petty. After taking the course my business was official!
Since starting up my business, God has provided me with everything I needed.
I was shopping around for a new camera and fell in love with the Canon 90D. I went to the Canon website to make my purchase and my card was declined! It was a Friday night and I couldn’t call the card company so I settled on waiting till Monday to make the purchase.
Over the weekend I was Facebook marketplace surfing and found the exact camera from the Canon website! This Canon 90D was being sold with a 135mm lens, 250mm zoom lens, 35mm wide lens, 400mm sports lens, and tripod with a gimbal. All of which would have cost well over $7,000 and I purchased it all for $2,800.
This was one of the greatest confirmations I could receive that gave me the confidence to continue to push to grow this business!
My last session was actually a result of my obedience to God. I had just finished teaching my morning tennis lessons and was told by God to go to my local pickleball courts at Central Creek Park. It was 1 o’clock in the day and I was sure there wouldn’t be anyone there to play, but I went anyway. While I was there I met a group of people doing an interview of the Mayor of Goose Creek and a new stone chess table being added to their recreation center.
I spoke to a man named Frank Johnson about my startup photography business, he gave me contact information for the marketing manager of the city of Goose Creek! I gave him a call and left him a voicemail later that week. (This was in August)
After months went by on Friday November 21st I received a text from the marketing manager to photograph an event that night and the following night!
This again has built my faith in God and in this business He has called me to start.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While I’m building my business the greatest struggle has been marketing my business and getting in front of the ideal client.
Nobody talks about the impact that a photographer feels in an area that has an over abundance of “Photographers” who saturate the market with cheap and quick sessions.
I like to compare the difference between a hobbyist photographer and a professional photographer the same way you would compare fast food through a window to a fine dining experience.
At one it’s quick, low quality, cheap, not memorable, tingles your tastes buds for a few minutes then it’s gone and you forget about it, at the other, you slow down and take your time, you enjoy yourself and the food, live in the moment, you make memories there, and it makes you want to come back again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional photographer. I specialize in business headshots, portraits, events, and I’ve just started photographing pets!
The thing I’m most proud of and what also sets me apart is the fact that I am a christian-based business. So many people have been inspired and encouraged to see me incorporate faith in God in my business.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Being a Christian I believe that everything that happens is by God’s design. Something we might see as bad luck could be meant to teach us so that we can understand an aspect of our business better which in turn helps us to grow our business!
Pricing:
- Portraits Session $150/ 1 hour
- Images for portrait sessions are sold separately to accommodate for those who might want to invest in artwork for their home ex: wall portraits, canvases, albums, metal prints…ect
- Digitals for portrait sessions $85 for 20 digitals
- Headshots $150 / 1 hour / 8 images
- Events $300 / 2 hours / 50 to 100 digitals
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Faithandphotographystudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithandphotographystudio?igsh=N2FheDhvMTZ4MzZi
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1SGLzngnzL/
