How She Turned Her Photography Side Hustle Into a $297k Per Year Career
Lyndsay Hannah left her stable 9-5 job when she had her first baby. She and her husband were scraping by in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Boston. But even then, she couldn't imagine returning to a typical 9-5 desk job.
Before becoming a mom, she dabbled in landscape photography, but had never intentionally photographed people before. After her son was born, she discovered how much she enjoyed taking photos of her loved ones and preserving her own family memories as the kids grew through the different stages of their lives.
She took on photography thinking it was a side hustle to make a little extra money on the evenings and weekends when she had a little extra time, but quickly, her hobby developed into a full-time career that gave her extraordinary flexibility to make real money, while also being there to watch her kids grow.
"I just fell in love with it right away," she said. "I went into a photo session, and something clicked in my brain that I could be the mom that I wanted to be at home while my kids were young, but then also use the business part of my brain, the creative side, and photography allowed me to step outside and be something else, to be a business owner."
Photo by Lyndsay Hannah Photography
In her first year, she made just $6,000 by doing $75 sessions with other moms that she met in groups. As her passion bloomed, and she began booking more clients, she was able to raise prices and turn her side hustle into a full-time career. These days, Lyndsay Hannah Photography charges $1550 for a single session, and she went from making just $6,000 to almost $300,000 in a single year!
Lyndsay Hannah doesn't beat around the bush on pricing, either. Her prices are highlighted on her website, and her welcome package emails ensure the clients know what they're spending long before they see an invoice.
Neither she nor her clients have time for pushy sales calls or complicated packages — Hannah sets the price, and delivers all the best photos (even when it's far above the minimum stated on her price list). The majority of her upsells are creating books and print packages from a local, high-end printer her work is calibrated with.
photo by Lyndsay Hannah Photography
She attributes her success to two main points: taking care of everything (including helping with outfit colors) so the family just has to be there, and making sure the moms look their best in every single photo.
"I've never had any client who has said, 'oh I could just take that with my iPhone,' because the reality is that who is it taking the photos? The moms, and they might have beautiful photos of their partners with their children, but the moms are always behind the photo. That's the target client that you want to capture. You want the moms to have their moment in front of the camera with their babies," she explained.
"If mom doesn't look fantastic in that photo, I'm not delivering it."
And even though she's perfected her process and craft, she still works hard to ensure she's ready for any situation. Long before every shoot she's scoped out the right location, ensures the weather is perfect, knows the families will be wearing an outfit matching mom's, and has the gear she needs for perfection.
Photo by Lyndsay Hannah Photography
But that doesn't mean she doesn't still get nervous from time to time.
Families are unpredictable. You really don't know what you're going to get when you walk in. Especially doing newborn sessions. I don't have a studio, so I'm on location going into their offices, their homes, and every home is so different. The light is so different, the amount of clutter is different, the style is different — you really have to know your settings like the back of your hand, know how to use off-camera flash, know how to have all the tools at your disposal to make any situation work."
Hannah says the biggest challenge for new photographers trying to break in is to develop their own style. That's what separates you from the thousands of other people who could potentially become photographers in a day and age when the barrier to entry is so low.
She recommends either starting by charging small fees for photoshoots, or by doing model calls on Facebook and other platforms, that will allow you to do free photoshoots until you have a portfolio of 20 photoshoots. That way, you can learn camera settings and make mistakes without the fear of having to be perfect because you're getting paid (even if it's just a small amount).
Once you've developed your own style, you'll quickly be able to move into paid photoshoots through referrals, social media posts, or Search Engine Optimization to get your pages viewed on Google.
Photo by Lyndsay Hannah Photography
Even if it seems like the market is saturated with photographers right now, Lyndsay Hannah says there's still room to make a comfortable living with photography.
"People talk a lot about how saturated the field is, and yes, there are a lot of photographers, but there are also a lot of people. I live outside Boston, if you think about the reality of how many clients each photographer needs to fill their calendar, most people are looking for 100 clients. There are not 100 people for every photographer in metro Boston — there are so many more people. There are plenty of clients for everyone. I think the goal is just to photograph enough that you define a style and set yourself apart from the competition."
And if you want flexibility to take vacations, and to be there for your children, there's no better opportunity than to start your business and become a family photographer.
"I started the business thinking it would be a side thing to make a little extra while I was with my kids. I never imagined it would snowball into this. It has given so much financial freedom, but also schedule freedom. I think that's the best part about being an entrepreneur — I can schedule things around what works for my kids' lives, my family, what works for me. I am my own boss and I am in charge of my own schedule, and that's hands down the best part."