The Beginner Photography Podcast

Lessons for Surviving Your First Year of Full-Time Photography with Taylor Isselhard

• Raymond Hatfield

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#576 Taylor Isselhard is a full-time wedding photographer and the host of the Wedding Lens Lounge podcast. As a professional who successfully transitioned from part-time to full-time photography, Taylor offers an in-depth perspective on the critical steps required for building a sustainable photography business.

A significant theme in his career is the disciplined approach to business growth. Relying on his background in business, Taylor underscores the importance of thorough preparation before leaving stable employment. This includes maintaining a clear understanding of financial needs, forecasting bookings, setting aside an emergency fund, and only making the leap once the business demonstrates consistent demand and stability.

KEY TOPICS COVERED

  1. Transitioning to Full-Time Photography - Taylor describes how he built up his business gradually, shooting weddings part-time for six years and only going full-time once he reached a threshold of consistent bookings and had established key systems and savings.
  2. The Power of Client Experience and Networking - Taylor attributes much of his rapid growth to the positive client experience he provided and the word-of-mouth referrals it generated. He emphasizes the importance of networking with vendors, tagging them on social media, and intentionally nurturing relationships in the wedding industry to gain referrals and increase visibility.
  3. Systems, Workflow, and Work-Life Balance - Taylor discusses the practical systems he implemented for client management (like HoneyBook CRM), planning his work week, and balancing business with family life. He outlines his method for blocking off time, using spreadsheets for goal setting, and the importance of beginning with the end in mind—setting long-term goals and breaking them down into actionable steps.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS

  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management): A software tool (like HoneyBook) used to manage client interactions, contracts, invoices, and communications in an organized, professional manner—critical for scaling and streamlining a photography business.
  • Begin with the End in Mind: A strategic planning principle (from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”) involving setting clear, long-term business goals and then mapping out the milestones and actions needed to achieve them.

DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  • What fears or obstacles do you face in considering a transition to full-time photography, and how could Taylor’s experience inform your approach?
  • How can building client relationships and networking with vendors be integrated into your workflow?
  • What current systems (or lack thereof) are holding you back from scaling your business and achieving balance?

RESOURCES:
Visit Taylor Isselhard's Website - https://tpiphotography.com/
Follow Taylor Isselhard on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tpi_photography/

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond!


Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Taylor Isselhard:

I would say you definitely want a solid CRM, something like HoneyBook. I think that having a solid CRM really just helps elevate, first of all, your persona as an expert in this industry. because then it's like, oh wow, like all of our information is in this project. This is really cool, like our questionnaires and our invoices and the contract. So I think having that, and understanding how it works and investing time into it is really helpful, before you go in full time.

Hey, welcome to the Beginner Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield, and today we are chatting with wedding photographer Tyler Isle. Hard about lessons that he learned from his first year going full time. But first, did you know that 70% of people abandoned their online shopping cart before checking out? I know I've done it, But if you're trying to sell prints, that's a lot of money that you could be leaving on the table. Well worry no more because Cloud Spot has introduced the abandoned cart email feature. Here if your client adds a print to their cart and then they leave, maybe they got distracted by kids or life or anything else. Your clients will be automatically reminded to finish their purchase without you having to lift a single finger. Pretty great. So you can grab your free cloud spot account over@deliverphotos.com. I really think that you're gonna like today's interview with Taylor Isle Hard. Taylor recently celebrated his first year as a full time wedding photographer, so naturally I asked all the questions about the transition, such as how he booked. 20 weddings while still working a full-time job. How he prepared himself to know that he was ready to go full-time, and what are the systems that he put in place to ensure that he could not only handle the workload, but so that his business could support his life. Taylor also hosted the Wedding Lounge podcast where he sits down with other wedding photographers to chat and learn and grow together. So if you like this format that we have here on the Beginner Photography Podcast, but you wanna hear from more wedding photographers, then check out the Wedding Lens Lounge podcast. Now, just as a reminder, the one thing that I have learned from interviewing hundreds of world class photographers here on the Beginner Photography Podcast is that these successful ones take action. They don't just like sit around and watch everyone else achieve their dreams. They take action. So listen carefully, and I encourage you to find something in this interview to implement into your own photography. Don't let the lessons that Taylor shares today go to waste. Alright, with that, let's go ahead and get on into today's interview.

Raymond Hatfield:

Taylor and I really want to know, when did you first know that photography was gonna play an important role in your life?

Taylor Isselhard:

yeah, dude, that's a really good question. So I guess, just personally, just to the fact that I think photography has value would just go back to when I was a kid.'cause my mom was one of those people that always loved taking a moment to document a moment whether we were on vacation at the park. Holidays, birthday parties, she always had her camera out and as kids you're like, oh, this is so annoying, you know? But what was really cool is that, now we get to look at these bins full of photos of our childhood. I. being able to do that, even though it was frustrating and annoying at times for her to always be taking those photos, we can see the value that she really ingrained into us, because of that. So, truthfully, I would say the value of photography was really more ingrained in me probably when I was in high school, when I started to really look at these photos with my siblings and my mom and everything like that. But I guess for my business, it really started to take off a couple years ago. I was doing it part-time since about, 8 years ago, and then officially took the leap full time in October of 2023.

Raymond Hatfield:

That's huge. but I wanna stick with the earliest days first, because when I think about my time in high school, I was focused on friends, I was focused on, a bunch of stuff that maybe I shouldn't have. you know, I wasn't sitting around looking at a lot of photos like with my family. Like what was it about looking at those photos where you thought. There's something here did you turn into the photographer yourself of the family or what is it that that stood out most about the power of these photos?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, I would say it's, you know,'cause there's so many core memories that you hold in, into your brain and that you can really look back on visually, in that regard. but when it comes to these photos, they bring back other core memories that didn't store inside of you, which I think is, is really, really cool. and, I had a Miles Boyer, who is an incredible photographer outta Wisconsin. He explained it in such a unique way, and he said certain photos even, you know, more referring to weddings. But in just in general, certain photos have a different type of long-term effect than you really realize. And were looking at those photos, that's what, kind of hit me hard and thinking about that is that, Being able to look back at those photos at that moment in time just was just insanely special because you could be like, oh yeah, I remember that. Or you get to like, look and laugh and then share it with your brother or sister next to you and be like, do you remember this? or like, oh, I can't believe we did that. Or like, oh, look at your face. it's those little, little pieces that are not stored in, into your memory, but you get to be able to reflect and see the joy in those memories, as you get older and older, because that's, that's all you have.

Raymond Hatfield:

Man, that's so funny. I try to think about growing up in the nineties, it's like some of the adventures that you had that, you know, wasn't documented on a cell phone. But I remember the disposable camera photo of the moment, and even though like, it didn't capture the moment, I remember what was happening at that time. I remember that day. I remember that event. and yeah, it definitely does that, that's one of the things that I love most about photography too. So, what did you do with that information? Did you decide, I'm going to college for photography? how did it develop into a business today?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, that's a great question. So, never thought photography would be a full-time career. I just enjoyed taking photos. when I got to college, And even just like during the college years, I always took photos during the holidays when family came over and, just enjoyed it. my first ever camera I had was a Cannon T three I, with the little base lens that comes with it, you know, so you're, you're talking real basic. but happened over time, it's, I got more intrigued with cameras and technology. And just thinking about what my mom did over the years, and it just started to continue to grow on me and I never expected it to happen. So what happened is my first ever, I guess, considered paid session was my wife's, sister and her husband, they had their first baby. And so my first ever session was actually like a newborn session, in their home, which I'm like, wow, this is like such a wild session to be starting off with, you know? But, from there I was like, this is pretty cool. Like, I really enjoyed being a part of my own family's, story here. and then ever since then I slowly just started to do more for other families, families that we knew and it just continued to grow into something. I still at that point, never expected to do a full-time at any point.'cause I'm like, eh, inconsistent income. I don't really know about this. Like, I wanna have a family. I just wanna have a simple nine to five, just like most people at that time. but what was really cool is it just continued to grow and grow and it's like I kept getting put into these jobs that I never fully enjoyed. And it's like, something was telling me like, this is what I'm supposed to do, even though I kept, pushing it away.'cause I was, fearful like a lot of people are when it comes to making that leap.

Raymond Hatfield:

What did you go to school for?

Taylor Isselhard:

Business

Raymond Hatfield:

Business.

Taylor Isselhard:

that helped.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. Yeah, that is, that is helpful. Okay. So, your thought when you're gonna college is like, I'm gonna work for this big company. I'm gonna make these big decisions. I'm gonna help, guide the, the direction of a probably already established company. And at some point you decide, you know what? I'm gonna take pictures for a living. Like I'm gonna get into this creative field. Was there any sort of like nervousness. As far as like, you went to school for this degree and now you've kind of abandoned it, if that makes sense. even though you're not in the, business sense, but like, making that decision. Was there any nervousness?

Taylor Isselhard:

When I made the jump full time, honestly, no, because I set myself up for success first.

Raymond Hatfield:

how so? What do you mean? by going to school for business.

Taylor Isselhard:

so like when I took the leap to photography full time. Yeah. So happened is I was having some good years building my wedding photography business in that niche specifically. well, the phony part was I worked at a nonprofit for about five years, and then my wife's like, you always talked about wanting to be a teacher. So I went back to school again, so to get my third degree because why not? And so I went back to school to be a teacher. Did that for two years. And during that two year timeframe, I was about booking about anywhere from like 15 to 20 weddings a year.'cause that was my max that I could really take on while also working full-time. so I was getting the inquiries. I was getting the bookings. I. And at one point looked at my wife and I was like, I think I can, I can just run with this. I think if I can invest into this business full time because it's already showing success, I've already got these great relationships with these venues and other people in this industry. That like, I can just hit the ground running if I can invest into this full time. And that was the mindset I needed to go into. It was thinking about what can I make this, how can I make this special for not just the business itself, but also great for my family? I. And thinking about what it could look like long term and so on. So, because I was already having a lot of bookings, I had a solid savings account, emergency savings account. So I was able to use like that first six months to really build it, in a full-time capacity. And I was also just continuing just to think about what type of goals and what type of areas do I need to invest in, into this first year to be able to continue doing this long term.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. I got so many questions about that, like. What were those goals? You know how, but I wanna pump the brakes a little bit. talk to me about How did you make the decision to go from photographing, families to photographing weddings and going all in on that?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question. So, the only reason that I actually did my first wedding was I was doing a lot of family sessions and so on. but one of my friends from high school, he was getting married and he's like, Hey dude, my sister, I. Saw that you're doing photography, like just for some families and stuff, we're trying to just save as much money as possible. They're like, we have$800 to spend on a, a photographer. Like, would you be down? Like, we trust you. We know you, we love you. And I was like, sure. Like, well, you know, I got nothing to lose here. know this guy. I know his soon to be wife at that point. So I met with my wedding photographer who photographed my wedding, I was like, Hey, can we just meet up? I need all the tips, I need all the insight into going into my first wedding, you know? because like, I didn't wanna walk in blind because that's not, good strategic thing to do. Thinking like you have the confidence because you take, photos of families and newborns. so I utilized my relationship with who was our wedding photographer and who's now one of my really good friends to help me prepare and just know how to successfully walk into this wedding day. And because I set up that that relationship and that meeting, I was able to have a lot more confidence. And there was still a lot of fear because it was my first time, but I knew what I was walking into and that helped a lot. So from there, people just started seeing my work and seeing like, oh, he's very low price, just like most people, and they start wedding for dog fees. So, my first like 15 weddings I was charging are from 800 to a thousand bucks for full day coverage. But from there I was just able to build a portfolio and continue to invest in my craft and grow it over time.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, I was, the same as, well. The first wedding I shot was$700 and it was that way for like. An entire year. and it's tough. But, I wanna know more about this meeting. Like what were the sort of things that they shared with you? How did you personally prepare to shoot your first wedding? I.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. so some of the questions I asked was like, how should I mentally prepare for this, going into it. And so, what we basically just talked about was that you have to give yourself grace that even though you plan everything out, not everything may go to plan. So you have to be flexible and adapt to those changes, which help me just give a little bit of peace of mind knowing like, if things are falling behind and it's not right on time with a timeline. Like it's okay. Like you just have to adapt and adjust and then another thing was like, with certain, know, setting, I mean, it was in a very tricky lighting situation, so she's like, just do you know with your flash ETTL, you know, like just find anything white or she's like, use my diffuser. so she's like, just point it up just, just go with the manual or, the automatic, flash and in those dark situations. So she's like, it's not gonna be like perfect, but for your first wedding it's gonna be okay. and she was just giving me some insight into like how to, to photograph like certain lighting situations as well, which helped out a lot, you know?'cause I was like, the ceremony's gonna be outside at this time. She's like, all right. We'll look at what the angle of the sun's gonna look like. how are you gonna prepare for that for, your certain manual settings and so on. So it was just about thinking about the strategy of mindset and, strategically going into it emotionally in a way, and also strategically going into it technically. but also of course, like getting the timeline information, family photo that's like, the usual stuff. But I, I think it was important to go beyond that. So that way then I can prepare myself, to handle situations as they arise'cause as you know, with family sessions, you have a lot more control.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, and it's not as high stakes because if you mess it up, worst case you can just reschedule next weekend or whatever whereas a wedding it's a little bit more difficult.

Taylor Isselhard:

You

Raymond Hatfield:

Um,

Taylor Isselhard:

that.

Raymond Hatfield:

no, no. That's typically frowned upon. But, um, it's funny'cause I kind of had a lot of the same reservations as well, and I think that a lot of listeners feel the same way, that it's like there's so much weight on the importance of a wedding day and how you can't repeat it, that they have to do everything perfectly. They have to get every shot. They can't miss a single moment. The light has to be perfect every time. Like they just have to hit, grand Slam after Grand Slam, after grand Slam with every shot that they take. So I would imagine hearing from a seasoned professional that hey, you're gonna miss some moments, and the timeline is gonna be off. And even though you may be the only professional there. That's not your problem. I would imagine that that helped considerably. So when you showed up to this wedding, what was your goal to ensure that when you left, at the end of the day, you could tell yourself, I did a good job.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question. So, what I did was, just to prepare myself before the wedding day itself. Just having all the information that I need, and communicating that with the couple, just like what we do now, which helped just kind of make sure that we were all on the same page with everything. but just going in and just having that, that mentality that like, each moment is important to document that they care about and the other, everything else was a bonus. So like, the ceremony, the moment of her dad seeing her the first time, the bride, his reaction as she walks on the aisle, like the formal dances and so on, like those were the ones that I was more in tune with to focus on. And as long as I. We got several photos of each of those moments. I felt like that was great success because those were the pieces that were really important to them and everything else, all the other canon moments and details and stuff, that was just an added bonus when I was focusing on that for my first wedding.

Raymond Hatfield:

So you talked it over with the bride and groom for the couple first to say like, Hey, what are the most important moments that you want photographed?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

So what if they would've come to you and essentially just listed out like every possible moment that could have happened that day?

Taylor Isselhard:

back then. I would've been like, I don't know. I don't know what to do

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, really? You think you would've been that that upfront with, with the couple?

Taylor Isselhard:

I would've probably said, okay, because it's my first

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

I don't know, maybe this is just exactly what every couple

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

know?

Raymond Hatfield:

You're like, this must be expected, I guess. Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, exactly. Because it's one of those things you don't know what you don't know, so you kind of walk into something that you might not be fully prepared for because it's your first time. It's like when you start any first job, there's. Like that, like leniency in a way that you have to like, give yourself a little bit of grace and understanding that you're not gonna know everything the first time. and I think that's what happens with this wedding is, there are gonna be things that I'm gonna learn a lot about because it was my first one. So, if they truthfully did come up and be like, we have this entire shot list, I'm like, I'm gonna do the best, I can to get everything that I can. because that was. what I was walking into is my first time doing a wedding. So,

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

but, 10, 15, 20 weddings in, you would answer that differently.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, I know for sure. In fact, that's exactly what happened to me. I had added into my contract because I had an experience where I was expected, quote unquote, to capture. I mean, just like an unreasonable amount of moments. even like physically where you can't be in two places at once. You know where the bride's getting ready in the groom and like it, I had let it be known that like, hmm, I gotta pick one. Anyway, I had then put it into my contract that like if there is some sort of shot list or request for a photo, I will do my best to make that happen. But I can't guarantee that those photos will be captured or delivered. And that's like you said, something that you learn after 20 weddings and you gain some experience. So then after that wedding, you leave, you're on your way home. Did you tell yourself like, man, I did a good job today. Like, what was that experience like?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, I felt great, to be honest. Like, I mean, it was funny, back then, like the lens flare, you know, was a big thing. so I told my like, friend that, was kind of coaching me on my first wedding. I was like, I got a lens flare photo. You know, it was like those little wins that I really wanted to get out of that wedding experience. But overall, I felt really content, like the bride and groom seemed really happy. They had a great wedding day. and, The wild part was that the post part, I didn't really know much about Lightroom. I was editing everything in Photoshop, so I, I edited that entire wedding in Photoshop.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my goodness.

Taylor Isselhard:

I was like, there has to be a faster way. So yeah, I was editing all like these sessions prior in Photoshop.'cause I didn't know anything about Lightroom,

Raymond Hatfield:

Really?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. And then

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow.

Taylor Isselhard:

like, why is this taking you so long? I

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

I'm. I'm like, I have to edit one photo at a time. She's like, why? And then she's like, you use Photoshop, you dummy

Raymond Hatfield:

Lightroom. Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

or Lightroom. Yeah. so that was a game changer. So I like was halfway through the wedding and then she's like, you gotta download Lightroom. And I was like, okay. Okay.

Raymond Hatfield:

I've shared this on the podcast before. It took me a month to edit my first wedding, and I was using Lightroom, so like I can't imagine how long it would take in Photoshop, just ungodly.

Taylor Isselhard:

I, was like, how do people do this so fast?

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. No kidding. No kidding. Oh man, that's so funny. it's those small, yeah, those small lessons that you learn and that's your version of the, I had to walk uphill both ways type of story, you know what I mean? Like grandpa's tell.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh man. okay, let me ask,'cause you had said earlier that, you had been shooting weddings for like seven, eight years before you decided to go full time does that sound right? Was it weddings for seven, eight years or just photography in general?

Taylor Isselhard:

I would say weddings for six years before taking a leap. Going full

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. So in that six years before you went full-time, you said that you were, still booking like 15, 20 weddings, per year still, essentially just as a weekend warrior at this point. Tell me how you did that, because a lot of people are thinking like that's the hardest part is finding clients, booking clients. And to be able to do that without going, full-time at that point is a huge accomplishment. So one, congratulations and two, please share all your secrets.

Taylor Isselhard:

yeah, truthfully, I think what was a huge advantage was, the way that I would treat my clients and the relationships that I built with them. because in the end, word of mouth referrals is the most powerful referral source that you can have because you already are adding credibility and trust when somebody is reaching out to you. Like a wall of barrier is already broken down when somebody's reaching out to you because somebody told them about you. So

Raymond Hatfield:

Right.

Taylor Isselhard:

was a huge piece of my marketing. Was the word of mouth piece of it, because I was posting on Instagram once in a while. I didn't have a lot of time to focus on these different aspects of my business. I mean, even just finding like a good contract or, trying to figure out how to like balance and do everything, in the evenings. I mean, a lot of the time was just focused on editing and client communication truthfully. So that's what really helped me propel myself forward while I was working a full-time job and doing this on the side is, is based on the fact that I was just treating my clients well and making sure that I was taking care of them well, that was really the only thing I couldn't have time to focus on.

Raymond Hatfield:

So follow up question here, you have to have clients to treat them well. How did you get those first clients that either didn't know you, so that you could start to treat them well so that they could become sneezes and tell all their friends? I.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, no, good question. So, the first few weddings that I got, like I said, the first one that I ever got was a friend from high school, and that was, because his sister saw that I was doing photography and he knew, he trusted me. He knew me already. He knew, he said I was, you know, I'm a really nice person. So that was helpful.

Raymond Hatfield:

Humble brag, but All right. That's cool. Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

I'm like, how do I say this nicely without having a large head here? but what was really, the component that helped me was that I just tagged any part of the wedding, like the vendors and anything that was involved in engagement sessions or weddings on Instagram. so that way then I can build relationships with, with people in that regard as well. So one of the weddings that I actually got, that was my first, I would say, big, bigger, high-end wedding in our area was because I tagged Man's Jewelers, which is a jewelry company around here, in a engagement session post. And the couple saw that because they were looking at Man's jewelers for their rings, and they saw my photo featured and like little things like that. thing was that I, truthfully it's, it sounds weird, but truthfully it was a lot of just word of mouth referrals that made this happen in the beginning. I wanna say like I have all these like other secrets and stuff, but it was,

Raymond Hatfield:

It's just human connection.

Taylor Isselhard:

It was human connection that really helped continue just to build this over time and really just utilizing Instagram as much as I could. and that's where like, I think it's important if you are in that transition of you are working a full-time job and you are trying to build a business, is to focus on a couple areas that can really propel you for forward and continue to propel you forward if you don't have a lot of time, is really just investing in areas that are going to continue to build your business. So for me it was a great client experience. Like how am I gonna do that with the 10 to 15 hours I have a week on this? also just utilizing Instagram at that time because that was, a huge social media factor in the success of my business was, just tagging everybody that was involved in these weddings engagement sessions, like the suit where the, they got the suit, where they got the clothes, where they got the rings, like all the vendors and so on. I was like, I just have to like, try to get my name out to as many people as possible. And like with the time that I had, that was the best way that I could do it.

Raymond Hatfield:

And I imagine that you got all of that information from like a wedding questionnaire. Is that right?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah. So

Raymond Hatfield:

Perfect.

Taylor Isselhard:

just ask, ask them when I saw the final information that they would fill out, I'd be like, who are your vendors? do they have Instagram? And same with even the engagement session. I was like, where did you get your rings? where are the outfits from? Like, you know,'cause it could be like, maybe they have a tux from a place that's local and I tag them, then they share my photo. And like someone that is, newly engaged or like already looking at, where they want to get their suits and dressed and everything like that. And they see my photo tag, like, or I'm in the tag section. So it's like anything that can really just propel your name out to more and more and more people, in a way with the time that you have. that's really what I focused on.

Raymond Hatfield:

That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. You want to get the most done with the least amount of effort For sure. So, let me ask with that like jewelry example or if you have any other examples, let me know. But when you were to tag the photo on Instagram. Did you then message the business owner and say like, Hey, just FYI just did this engagement session. Really great couple, they got their rings there. Just wanted to say, I tagged you in the photo. Feel free to use it. did you do any sort of like personal outreach or was it just simply a tag and move on?

Taylor Isselhard:

it was truthfully a tag and move on, but looking back, I wish I did more of that because I

Raymond Hatfield:

Hmm.

Taylor Isselhard:

of that now. I share all like my colors with all the vendors I. So that way then they can utilize my photos. And that's just another way to get your name out there more and more, because they're gonna share your photos, they're gonna show them couples, they're gonna share'em on social media, their website, and they're gonna tag you. They're gonna share that's your photos. but back then I wish I would've utilized that strategy knowing it could have even expedited the ability to go full-time.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh man, so much. So much so for sure. Like,

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

like it's a people business. it's people who want to deal with people and the more that you can deal with people, the better it's gonna turn out. Let me ask though, because talking about the, limited amount of time that you had while still working a full-time job, was there anything that you maybe spent too much time on that you realized, oh, this actually isn't moving the needle forward in my business.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. I think if I had more time, I'd say that more, in a detailed format, but I would say something that I probably did invest too much time were a lot of like the nitpicky things when I would be editing photos. because in the beginning I'm like, I need to like, really make these photos so great for these clients. So a lot of like the stray hairs that are like, you know,

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh man. Yeah. Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

like, you know, it's new that you can remove exit signs and fire hydrants and, fire alarms, all that with so much ease. But like. back then, it would take forever. So like, I would do it for maybe, as many photos as I could, but I would get to the point where I'm like, I'm spending hours and hours and hours on just one section of a wedding day trying to remove all these scenes. And, what I should have done is just tried to crop more, but to get them out. But like, back then was like a lot of the nitpicky things that were in the photos, and realizing that. want to try to keep these more organic, especially when it comes to the people, like of course when it comes to family photos and, couples portraits, you wanna try to clean those up a little bit as much as possible. But I was doing that with like, all sections of a wedding day and,

Raymond Hatfield:

Wow.

Taylor Isselhard:

it was unnecessary, I guess is the best way to say it.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yep. Yep. That's exactly why it took me a month to, to edit my first wedding is I would like stress over, and it wasn't even like trying to remove obvious, blemishes or anything. It was like, stressing over like a 10th of a stop of exposure, on this photo versus the next one. And I'm like, what am I doing? Like they're just gonna apply a filter to this photo, post it on Instagram anyway, like, what am I doing with this?

Taylor Isselhard:

Instagram filters back then. Oh my

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh man, they were so strong. So strong. I love that. So when the time came where you're like, maybe I could make a go of this. Maybe I could go full time here. Let me ask, how did you prepare for that? Did you have a certain set of number of bookings that you knew that you needed to have? Was it a revenue goal? How did you determine now is the time to go full-time?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah. So, what I did first is I forecasted, okay, how many weddings do I have booked for the following year and even for the rest of this year? And then I looked at, okay, what is my income now with my current job and what do I need to make? I. At minimum after taxes and expenses month to month in order to make this work. And so I utilized, the net income goal, to help understand what I needed to do on a monthly basis and bring in, after all those expenses and taxes that you have to prepare for in order to make that jump. Because it is good to make that leap. When you feel ready, but you've gotta be financially prepared to, you have to understand how it all works. And that really helped me understand more of the business side of being an entrepreneur ahead of time instead of just going in knowing that I'm a good photographer, so help me set myself up for success when I took the leap. So, for example, say like, your expenses that you need to cover is like$3,000 a month, Because that was, what I was bringing in, like maybe at a previous job after taxes. I'm like, so after taxes,$3,000 a month. Okay, so that's$36,000 a year net. I'm like, so what does that look like? Gross.

Raymond Hatfield:

A lot more.

Taylor Isselhard:

exactly. You're like, all right, so what does that like after, taking, a third of all the income that you make to set aside for taxes, like what are my annual expenses going to look like based on all the softwares that I have and potential, like, a camera breaking, or I have to update equipment, education to invest in all of that. Like, what's that going to look like for the year? And then just like, I love spreadsheets, so I made this little spreadsheet to, to help understand, what do I need to be making annually gross then at that point in order to make the jump and then also having a conversation with my wife. Yeah. just to make sure, she was of course on board too. but I think that if you're able to. Set yourself up with that understanding. have an emergency fund that can cover six months of expenses if something happened and you're not getting your bookings and so on, that you can prepare for things. And then knowing you're going to invest in this business full-time, whole heart into it over your first year, like hard into it, then I think you're able To really take that leap. And that's what I did is I needed to understand what do I need to do for my business over this first year to be able to go and take that jump full time.

Raymond Hatfield:

And what were those things

Taylor Isselhard:

So it was the setting myself up financially. it was also thinking about what type of education do I want to invest in in the off season,

Raymond Hatfield:

as far as business goes or like technicals?

Taylor Isselhard:

everything, so like, it was, what am I okay at and what I wanted to be better at. So like, maybe it was like, I wanna learn how to do off-camera flash, so I'm gonna look at courses to help the off-camera flash. maybe it's areas of, setting myself up better in CRM systems. Like, what type of coaches or mentors can help me with that. thinking about, year after year, what type of investment in, in coaching and mentorship will help you propel yourself as an entrepreneur, and being okay with people helping you because there is only so much that you can do on your own. And if you try to succeed without investment in any type of coaching or mentorship, you are only gonna get so far it is. I truly think it's, it's almost impossible to have a successful business, thinking that you can do it without any investment in others

Raymond Hatfield:

You know, even, even at like the, at the short end of that, even if you think to yourself, I can figure out this whole photography thing, I can figure out this business thing. I mean, clearly you went to school for business. the technicals are pretty easy to figure out. It's like even at the least. Wedding photography could be a pretty lonely job and to work with somebody, It makes it a whole lot less lonely, and

Taylor Isselhard:

It does help.

Raymond Hatfield:

it does help. it means that there's less decision fatigue that you have when trying to decide between this or that. You can have somebody to like, talk through those ideas and it's a, it's a huge help and completely agree and it's weird. I feel like we live in the society where it's like we know that we need education and we need help and we need mentors and stuff, but also. We, I don't know, wanna pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and just want to figure it out by ourselves. like there's this weird split between that. But, yeah, we need help. I mean, even if it just helps us get us there faster than a plus.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah.'cause you

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Taylor Isselhard:

making more an hour at a faster rate. and you're not gonna be able to do that if you try to figure out my own'cause that's just time at that point. And you're losing out on money.

Raymond Hatfield:

Exactly. So speaking of money, let's talk about this real quick because you had said, you're shooting 15, 20 weddings a year before going full-time, but I want to know about making the decision to go full-time because obviously you weren't making enough to replace a full-time income at that point. So did that mean that you then needed to simply shoot more weddings? Did you just raise your prices so that you could shoot the same amount of weddings? How did you navigate that question?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. so, it was going back to seeing, how many more weddings do I need to book to reach my certain gross income goal annually? And then also I did increase my prices because I knew I was gonna be able to bring more value because I was going full-time.

Raymond Hatfield:

Hmm.

Taylor Isselhard:

so I, made a jump on my prices. I was able to book, double the amount of weddings or more,

Raymond Hatfield:

Really?

Taylor Isselhard:

I,

Raymond Hatfield:

How many weddings are you shooting a year?

Taylor Isselhard:

like anywhere around like 45 a year.

Raymond Hatfield:

What

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah. That's what my friends say too.

Raymond Hatfield:

You must really like this thing that's.

Taylor Isselhard:

I do, I do. I'm telling you, like, I have a lot of energy. I'm a huge extrovert, so like, weddings don't drain me

Raymond Hatfield:

Are you serious?

Taylor Isselhard:

yeah. I'm like, yeah, I'm tired at the end of the day and like, I'm a little sore. But, do a lot of like self care, like, solid eating exercise and all that to help, get through wedding day well. But yeah, like I, I get to the end of the wedding day. I was like, that was fun. And like, and truthfully, 80% of the time I will call, the full wedding that night.

Raymond Hatfield:

What you'll shoot an entire wedding day. You'll come home, you'll import the cards into your computer and you'll call through the entire wedding that night.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah,

Raymond Hatfield:

Dude, you're another species like that is insane.

Taylor Isselhard:

my, few of my friends that I have a, like a, a group text with, they hate me so much for it

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Yeah, I would imagine. I don't even wanna look at my wedding photos until a week after the wedding. That is,

Taylor Isselhard:

what they usually say.

Raymond Hatfield:

geez. Wow.

Taylor Isselhard:

yeah, I'm not saying I do it every, that's why I say like around 80% of the time.'cause it depends on, is it a, like, do I have multiple weddings that weekend? was it a 10 hour day? Did I have multiple photographers?

Raymond Hatfield:

Sure. Sure.

Taylor Isselhard:

I at least bare minimum, have them imported and then organized into folders. so that way then I'm just ready to move forward with it, going forward. But yeah, it's just setting up systems to help me prepare and to be able to,'cause my turnaround time is three weeks

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Taylor Isselhard:

and it's, enticing for people.'cause I want it to be fresh on their minds when they get to look at their photos.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Yeah. I would write it into my contract that I would guarantee their photos within four weeks.'cause we had, here in indie, a series of stories of wedding photographers just like leaving town. I mean, it was like, I don't wanna say that it was an epidemic, but like those stories stand out to people, you know, and like, nobody wants to get stuck. Yeah. It's scary. Nobody wants to be in that situation. So simply having something to differentiate yourself to say, Hey, I'm a professional, is important, but.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

When you don't even want to look at the photos till a week after you shoot the wedding, like that does put yourself into a bit of a time crunch. So having these workflows and these systems in place is, is super important. Yeah, I'm trying to think, like, I'm still blown away by the cooling weddings, like 80% of the time. I think I only did that once and it was for like an early morning like lunch type wedding, and I think it was only like, yeah, no, exactly. It was like. I think it was like four and a half hours that I was there, and I was supposed to be there for six, but like, it just ended early. Like it was just one of those weddings and, like super young couple. and I was like, great, I'm just gonna go ahead and get this done. but definitely not 80% of the time. My goodness. So, um,

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. It helps.

Raymond Hatfield:

yeah. Yeah. so then let's talk more about these systems then that, that you have, that you try to put into place. What are the most important systems that you need to have in place, to prepare yourself to go full-time as a wedding photographer?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, I would say you definitely want a solid CRM, something like HoneyBook, to be able to have all of your. Like relational communication set up beforehand. I think that, having a solid CRM really just helps elevate, first of all, your, your, persona as an expert in this industry. because then it's like, oh wow, like all of our information is in this project. This is really cool, like our questionnaires and our invoices and the contract and all of that. so I think having that, and understanding how it works and investing time into it, is really helpful, before you go in full time. And it's going back to the idea of setting yourself up for success. another thing too is, what does my work week look like, and what are other. in my life that I wanna make sure aren't gonna be interfered with in order to be able to make this, this job work well. So for me, I'm married, I have kids, so like, I want to make sure that. I'm scheduling things out, like I'm also making sure that I'm blocking out time to be with them. And so what does my work week look like then, based on that, and for me personally, I'll get up in the morning, I'll do a lot, all my email communication before I have to bring my kids to where they need to go, so all of the client communication piece is done for the day. So that way then when I drop'em off, I personally, I go to the gym after that to get my workout in, and then when I get home, I hit the ground running with all my tasks. And what I do is on Fridays, I will out the entire next week with what I need to do, and really to figure out, okay, what sessions do I have? What calls do I have next week? What do I need to do to prepare for those calls? I. What type of tasks am I going to do in the other hours of the day and when are those tasks going to be completed? Prioritizing this tasks, everything. So in order to be able to have a good, successful week and not be able to think about like, what do I need to do when I hit, get to Monday morning or Tuesday morning. I want to make sure that I know I, my tasks aligned, ready to go. So it's also about setting yourself up for what your life looks like in order to complete the tasks week after week two. So those truthfully for me are like more on the important, facets to making sure you're not gonna overwhelm yourself and you are going to really prepare yourself to be able to understand what needs to be done and when.

Raymond Hatfield:

That was so helpful. Like I, I think, no, like, I feel like that is just gonna get over, listened to like, okay, yeah, we get it, plan out your week, whatever. But like, there's this idea with like photographers that like going full-time is the goal. If I could just make enough money to go full time, like everything will be magical and fairies and balloons and like all these things,

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah,

Raymond Hatfield:

it takes. You still have a life, you still have to live a life. there's people in your life. there's kids who are on summer vacation. There's, all these other responsibilities that you have to have and like your business is here to support that. Like, it shouldn't be the thing that takes over your life. And I think what you just shared there, perfectly speaks to that and says like, Hey. You need to focus on your life. don't neglect the people who are important to you, the things that are important to you. But you do still need to get your tasks done and like, and do your job. and I hope that people listen to that and think and really imagine what that looks like for them. And whether it's just take a Friday afternoon or a Sunday morning, that's when I do my planning to plan out the week ahead. Just how beneficial that can be.'cause it also gives you kinda like a goalpost to reach for, because for me personally, I don't know if you, have this problem, but like if I don't have a clear set of what needs done that day, I am gonna like just stare at my computer until my brain is fried trying to do all the things nonstop.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. it gets scrambled and you get scrambled

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. I.

Taylor Isselhard:

kind of like clustered in your head and you're like, what the heck do I do? I do what's important to get done.

Raymond Hatfield:

Right, right. And then you end up like watching YouTube tutorials.'cause it feels, it feels like you're making progress. You're like, oh, I'm learning something. But then you realize, you're like, oh, I haven't done anything in an hour and a half. And then you hate yourself.'cause now you have to like actually get work done and then you try to, so anyway, I totally get that. Just having a plan is incredibly important. So, then let me ask you this, because, being a full-time wedding photographer for a year, like huge accomplishment, fantastic. But what are you doing to ensure longevity? What are you doing to ensure that you stay fully booked, for the next year?

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good question. So, I love this book and I actually, when I was, a teacher, I was a business teacher, for a year. And one of my favorite books that I had for my students in their career class was the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. and my favorite habit is to begin with the end in mind. So for me, what I want to do is like, begin with, the end in mind can look very different depending on, how long you wanna look ahead. For me, I can look 30 years down the road when maybe I want to be fully done working. maybe it's five years down the road. but use like one to two years down the road as an example. so what I wanna do is, think about. Okay. my end goal is in the year is I wanna be able to book 30 weddings for the next year, like maybe by September. and so I'm like, okay, so that's my big goal, like that's your 30,000 foot FU goal, right? All right, so now to get to that goal, like what are the steps I need to take? So I love to work backwards. All right, so like I have 30 weddings booked, so what do I need to do to get there? So I got my 30,000 foot view, of my goal, and now I need to, to narrow it down. so some of the best ways to get. Bookings is first to build relationships with vendors. looking at the different ways to get bookings. So you've got like three different, maybe three different ways that you're gonna focus on getting bookings is relationships with vendors. you are investing in your marketing and social media and maybe, you are, meeting with different people in the industry. now you've got your 10,000 foot views in each of those, your three 10,000 foot views Then you have to look at how am I going to make that all happen? then you gotta break it down even more. So being able to, almost like you can just get a big piece of paper, put it on your wall, write your big goal, then write your three goals under that, that you need to reach in order to reach that goal. And then strategize and write down like everything that you need to do be able to meet those goals. So creating good relationships with vendors to maybe eventually get on preferred vendor list. I would write down, send those venues the full gallery a week after the couple gets their, their wedding gallery. Find a time to, meet up with the vendor and say, if I ever work here, I wanna know what you really value out of your wedding photographers, build that relationship. and other ways they just, even connecting with other photographers so you can get referrals. So it's about finding ways to be strategic and intentional with those goals. So that way then, you can ultimately reach that 30,000 foot view. So it's like kind of bringing the feet down, breaking it apart. And that really applies also to maybe your 20 year goal. So maybe in 20 years you're like, I want to be five to 10 high-end weddings all around the world. And like have an associate team. So same idea. Write the big goal down. What are the three main areas, that you need to really focus on to make that happen over time? So it's really thinking about beginning with the end in mind. So that way you can have longevity in your business, so that way you're strategic, you're intentional, and then you also have to be disciplined in it too, you know? So that's just how I approach my business is my big goals. I have my whiteboard with my annual goals. I have my off season projects that I work on for goals in that regard. then I have, my big 20 year goal as well, so yeah, strategic, intentional, and discipline is my three words from a business.

Raymond Hatfield:

I think people who are listening, to this episode well, they won't, they won't know this, but I saw you looking off at your board right there. Like,

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah,

Raymond Hatfield:

like, okay, there's this, there's that. And like you, you're obviously doing what it is that you're talking about, and that's, incredibly important. So, I love everything about that. Being intentional makes life, feel a lot easier. there's that quote oh man, I'm totally gonna butcher it. It's something to the effect that, dang it, I just had it in my head. It was like, I would rather, go full steam ahead on an imperfect goal than waste all of my time planning a perfect goal. Right?'cause it's like some, taking some sort of action just because you write down a 20 year goal. Doesn't mean that that's gonna be your goal 20 years from now, but it's like, as long as it gets you a year ahead, you can then adjust and, make these corrections. So that's,

Taylor Isselhard:

Absolutely.

Raymond Hatfield:

hugely beneficial. And I think a lot of people who come at photography from the creative side rather than the business side, really struggle with those things, myself included. So to hear somebody like yourself with, uh, this education and this experience to say these things is, helpful. it just gives that insight of like what we should be thinking of and developing kind of A-A-C-E-O type mindset on, on building the business that we want to create. So I appreciate you sharing that. That was awesome.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah. No, I'm happy to do that.

Raymond Hatfield:

Well, we're coming to the end of our time here, Taylor. So, I got one last question for you before, I let you go. And it's, there's a lot of photographers listening right now who, maybe they've been doing it for six months, maybe they've been doing it for five years, but like their dream is to go full time shooting. What is something that you wish that somebody had told you earlier in your journey to help you get there faster?

Taylor Isselhard:

I think the most important piece of advice is to network as much as possible with the right intention behind networking. So it's thinking about who are the people that are gonna be in my corner, in my circle that are going to bring the most value, and that are just going to be good people in general to have in your life.

Raymond Hatfield:

that can be a hard thing at times. And it can be, difficult to put in the time to find those people, especially like if you're getting new into an industry. But people love working with people and,

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah,

Raymond Hatfield:

more that you can do that, the better it's gonna turn out well. I. Taylor man, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing everything that you have. before I let you go, share with us where we can learn more about you online and also tell me about your podcast.

Taylor Isselhard:

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram and TikTok, mainly at TPI photography. And my website is tpi photography.com. TPI are my initials if you're curious. Um, and then I also have my own podcast called The Wedding Lens Lounge, and it's just a place that you can come and listen to my conversations with other guests, and it's more of just a laid back conversation, where I've been, bring in people that are experts in the industry from locally in my area and also all around the country and world. And, to be able to just bring insight into what they're good at and what they love to do. sharing what, sharing that with me and with the others. So, it's just a lot of fun to have these guest experts on. I always learn a lot. When I'm bringing them on too, which is really, fun and insightful. But, yeah, it's just a great resource for you guys. and I would love for you to listen in. It's on Apple and Spotify.

All right. Today's action item being the one thing that if you implement it today, we'll move the needle forward in your photography is this, start with the end in mind. Having a plan to where you want to take your photography is paramount to making progress. That's a no brainer, And that's especially true to, those of us who maybe it doesn't come naturally to. So here's how you do it. You create a long term goal, even if it's just one or two years out, that's fine. Think about where you want to be in one or two years and write that down, and then just simply work backwards to plan out how to make that happen. As in what has to happen in the next three months to ensure that you're making progress towards your one year goal. And then from there, what has to be done this week to ensure that you're making progress on your three month goal that will then help you achieve your one year goal. Starting with the end in mind may not be sexy, but it will help you to get excited and to make progress on your photo journey. So sit down Friday evening, Sunday morning, you know, whatever it is. Plan out the week ahead so that you know that you're prioritizing the thing that is gonna be most important to you and your growth. Alright, that's it for today. Until next time, remember, the more that you shoot today, the better of a photographer you'll be tomorrow. Talk soon.