Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Carr.
Hi Michael, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Grace and I were married in 2006 when I was living in Chicago, going to school and doing a photography internship. When I completed my internship, I started taking weddings. My first wedding was for a college friend, who I charged $200 and Grace came along as my second shooter. I was so nervous. I had photographed a bunch of weddings as a second shooter, but it was daunting to do it on my own. I started taking more and more weddings, just charging what I could. Grace and I both worked other jobs, met with clients in the evenings and shot weddings on the weekends.
We moved back to Ohio in 2010 and commuted back and forth to Chicago until our business started growing here.
My dream was always for a studio space. I started in the Davis Linden Building in Dayton, which was kind of scary but it was mine. I moved downtown on Third St, on the second floor of what is now the Fireblock district and then finally into the Cannery retail space where we are now.
In the last few years, we have grown into commercial photography and commercial videography and have launched our studio as a shared business space.
I consider myself a true entrepreneur. I am always pushing into new ideas and new ventures and the studio has really helped me do that. Grace is the balance that helps put those ideas into action. We make a good team.
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?
Oh no. There have been a lot of ups and downs. We have seen seasons where we wanted to throw in the towel, but kept pushing through.
We are people of faith and truly believe that we have seen God working in every low point to grow us, mature us and make us better business owners, more compassionate people and keeping us humble.
We have dealt with not having enough money. Photography can be pretty seasonal in the midwest, so balancing busy and slow times can be hard. Growing capital to add a new portion of our business, adding and removing business partners, realizing that as much as we want every client to be happy, we just can’t have that. Balancing family, church and business is a real challenge when everything relies on you, it can be hard to put your work down.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a studio, we are known for weddings and we love our wedding clients. It makes us so proud when we don’t just have the same photos that everyone takes at a wedding but when we push the envelope and truly create art for people, that is a great feeling. However, we are most proud of our commercial photography/ videography. We love to help businesses capture who they are, their stories, their products and show their community/ clients a new side.
Photography is a wonderful field, but there are a lot of photographers. I think what sets us apart is our longevity and experience. We have been doing this for 16 years and have never stopped pushing to grow, get better, relate to our clients better and be the best. We research the best technology, the best strategies and truly want to help our clients have the best experience. In our world, anyone can have a couple of good photos, create an awesome looking website and start charging clients, but it doesn’t mean that you will get a quality product, especially not with the pressure that a wedding day can bring.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success, that definition has changed a bit for us.
We used to run ourselves ragged, checking emails at 11:00 pm just to be up all night. We would worry over every little thing. All this in the name of “making it.” We would be crushed if a client wasn’t perfectly happy or left a bad review. It truly felt all consuming.
Over the years, we have decided that a happy marriage, loving and spending time with our kids, getting outside, serving at church, and helping others is our measure of success. Our business does not define us, it is a tool that we can wield and are proud of, but our success is measured in other ways.
Pricing:
- Weddings $3000+
- Headshots $150+
- Portrait Sessions $300+
- Co-Working (Monthly) $300
Contact Info:
- Email: studio@thecarrsphotography.com
- Website: https://thecarrsco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carrsandco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCarrsPhotography
Image Credits
Carrs & Co Photography House
