Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Leigh.
Hi Tara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My love for photography started when I was around 13, my mom had gotten me a blue Kodak point and shoot camera for Christmas. One day I was taking some nature photos behind my house, I was living right next to the water at the time and I snapped a picture of the marsh grass. I pressed the playback button and I was stunned! I said to myself “I would hang this in my house!”. That was really all it took, after that I never left home without my little blue kodak. My passion for nature and object photography slowly developed into doing mini photoshoots of my best friends and closest cousins growing up. We would get all dolled up and put our cutest clothes and go find a fun outdoor location to take photos of each other. My love for portrait photography blossomed from there. My parents started telling everyone their daughter was good at taking photos so I started taking family and maternity pictures too. I realized around 15 that this was what I wanted to do for a career. Ever since then I’ve been building up my portfolio and creating with other Charleston artists. My goal is to be a full-time photographer in the next 2 years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a portrait photographer in Charleston definitely has its challenges. Charleston is filled with incredible experienced artists who do not mess around. It is so competitive out here; I would say that it’s a very “every man for himself ” trade. So, it makes it a little difficult to make other photographer friends in the area. I’ve also run into difficulties knowing my own worth. It’s so easy for me to say yes to every person because I want to keep adding to my portfolio. There comes a point where I had to put my foot down and start charging people I didn’t necessarily want to charge if I wanted to start making an income doing what I love. I’ve learned that people who love you and your work will still support your passion even if they can’t afford you. All it takes is quick shout-out or share to change an artist’s life.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
To be honest, right now I’m a little all over the place in my photography career. I am 23 years old so I feel like I definitely have time to figure out what I want to specialize in. But in my 10 years of photographing, I’ve learned that I live for making women feel beautiful and confident in their own skin. So, most of the work I post is geared towards fashion and boudoir. I still photograph anything from proposals, birthday parties, weddings, headshots, really whatever my client is wanting from me. I would say my style is capturing beauty. I want my photos to make you feel something. I want that client to look back on their shoot with me and forever be amazed at just how stunning they are. I have struggled with body dysmorphia my whole life so I think a lot of my passion for wanting to make women feel beautiful and know their worth stems from that struggle of never feeling like I was enough. I want to represent all different types of beauty and sexy in my work. We all look at our bodies with such harsh, distorted lenses, so I want to show others how I see them through mine.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
When I was 15, I traveled to Togo, Africa for 2 weeks on a mission trip to help teach math, English, and computer skills. I, of course, brought my camera with the intentions of photographing my trip but I had no idea the impact that it ended up making on me and all the kids around me. We traveled to a couple extremely rural villages. So rural that they had never seen a white person before, so not only were the kids terrified of us but they were scared of my camera too. I didn’t push or force any kids to pose, I just casually photographed them playing. Soon enough the children were curious to what I was doing and holding. So, I realized that this would be a great way to connect with these new friends even though I couldn’t speak their language. So, I snapped a picture of them and turned my camera around so they could see my screen. As soon as they realized that their faces were in the little box on my weird foreign device, well they were screaming and jumping with joy and I was genuinely confused. Then it hit me, they have never had their picture taken before. After that day, I photographed as many faces as I could. In these images I took, you don’t see the poverty or the pain that Americans think of when they think of 3rd world countries. There was so much light and joy in their eyes. Pure contentment. They weren’t wishing for what they didn’t have, they were just enjoying their time here on this earth and it’s something I’ll never forget.
Pricing:
- Package 1- $150
- Package 2- $250
- Couples – $250
- Boudoir- $200
- Weddings start at – $1200
Contact Info:
- Email: tararleigh@gmail.com
- Website: www.taraleighphoto.com
- Instagram: @tara_leigh_photography
Image Credits
Randi Katheryn Roberts
