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Transitioning from Corporate to Creative - An Interview with Photographer Chantal
by Suzann Kale
page 2 of 2
Okay, Chantal is human. She does go overboard on photography right when she gets back from a trip, sometimes sorting and cropping her photos until 3am. "But I think the best is to make it a 2-hour assignment. And I always had a 2-hour creative assignment every day, even before I got into photography.
I did some reading, studied foreign languages,
Key #5: Strong FocusThe other quality that assures Chantal's career transition success, is focus. While never losing sight of the outcome, she focuses her work and her energy on the immediate step of her journey that's directly in front of her. When asked if she plans to send her work to National Geographic, a magazine she admires greatly, she said, "I believe there are no limits - but it's important not to become overwhelmed. So I basically start with the states from which I have the most photography, and see what that could apply to. I mean if you think Texas, you've got Texas Monthly and dozens of other magazines that have photographs in them. The same thing applies to Montana and every one of the other states. So there are so many avenues. My plan is to start with what I have and keep it growing. Right now I'm focusing on the western states, and outlets for those particular photographs are the avenues I am going toward." But that doesn't mean Chantal doesn't multi-task like crazy. While working full-time and traveling with her camera on her vacations, she is also mapping out short-term strategies for marketing her photos. She made some photos into Christmas cards last year, and sold a number of sets of them. This year her Christmas card customers are wanting more, and her customer base has expanded. She also makes some of her photos into collages and some into posters and will work on placing them in the state parks gift shops. continued below |
or sometimes I would just cook using a new recipe, just to see if I could. Every day."
Key #6: Keeping An Open Mind to New IdeasAnd in the meantime, she's studying calligraphy so that she can hand-write beautiful-looking titles on her photographs. What Has Meaning for You?Chantal is a woman who is determined to experience every ounce of beauty, creativity, and love of life that she can possibly find. She doesn't do it haphazardly. She chose photography because it adds meaning to her life, and she plans to ease from corporate into creative because that keeps her afloat financially. Looking At the FutureWhat's her next step? "Right now it's about developing the photography and the formats and the pricing. And about reaching out and placing the pictures in certain places. It's a path. I have cards and posters and wall decorations, and plenty of food for articles so now I think it's a matter of moving to the implementation stage. I have a domain name and need to create a website. But mainly I want to reach out and contact the places from which the photographs came. The national parks. It's almost like I'm doing little cover letters and sending job resumes out the way we used to. Reaching out and seeing if the photographs can find a market - an inclusion in a book or article." 
She uses all the life skills she has acquired. "This is where the corporate background comes in, because we have to know how to manage projects and we have to know how to go down the path of ultimately getting the product. So I can visualize what has to happen now in my photography. The only difference is that in my corporate work I know exactly what the product is going to be. Photography is more challenging because I don't know. The project is actually creating itself as I'm going along." If you'd like more information about Chantal's photography, just drop me a line using the Contact Us button below, and I'll make sure she gets your message.
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