Caitlin Giesbrecht | Photography + Starting Your Business

Caitlin Louisa Photography
Weddings + Boudoir

Caitlin and I met whilst living in beautiful Aotearoa, New Zealand a few years back. She is a creative genius and all around girlboss when it comes to starting your own business. Caitlin’s present work is in wedding and boudoir photography based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 

GM: Tell us about your creative expression(s).

CG: My biggest creative expression is photography of people and their stories. I’ve tried shooting landscape or random objects, and it’s just not my thing. I want connection inside of my photos. I’m learning about people and how they tick, and I am finding unique ways to bring that through in an image to tell a story. It is definitely my biggest creative expression. 

With owning a business, there are always small pieces of design, but it’s not my forté. I like doing it in ways that I know help my clients, but at the end of the day, that’s just the nature of being a business owner. My heart and soul is for human connection, and to bring that to life in a photo. 

GM: What is one thing learned about yourself and/or life through photography?

CG: I think that the biggest thing that photography teaches is the power of images in a moment. Life passes us by so fast. I am trying to hold on to my own moments, to pull out my phone and take more photos. I try so hard to be present in the moment, and I don’t want my phone out, but one of the key things about photography is understanding the value of printed photos. 

Everything lives online. Sure, encouraging print could be a sales tactic of ‘print your photos! You can print them through me,’ but in my own life, it looks like spending time every year going through all of my images from that year and putting them into an album just for the sake of looking back and thinking, ‘wow, 2020 was actually a great year.’ 

There are so many beautiful moments, and we change so quickly. I think the biggest thing I have learned is to understand the true value of your photos. I am not just taking photos for a great instagram feed; I am taking these photos because they hold a lifetime of amazing memories for my clients. 

GM: It’s so interesting that our millennial generation has a span of a few years where we stopped printing photos. What do you think about this digitization of photography?

CG: We over-trust our devices to hold our images, yet I have this massive gap of awesome memories in my life, and where are those photos? Your computer dies and you get a new laptop and all of your photos were on that old laptop, with maybe five years of memories that you no longer have. That sucks. But print will never die!!

GM: Tell us about one of your favourite shoots.

CG: This is such a hard question! I have so many. One of my favourite shoots recently was a big challenge for me because I usually draw inspiration from nature, so that is what a lot of my clients choose for a location. I’m not a city photographer- I’m not a fan of buildings in my images. But I really challenged myself with one couple. We did a shoot in a parking lot (photos below) and it really challenged me to bring their personalities into it. It was an empty parking lot with a mall in the back--kinda blah--and we went to Burger King and took photos there as well. There is nothing beautiful about it, but the photos paint young love! Do you know what I mean? They are going to look back at these photos when they are eighty years old and think, ‘look how cute and young we were! We had so much fun!’ I really loved that shoot because it was a challenge to really draw from the connection rather than the beautiful surroundings. I’m putting myself in those scenarios more-- to go to a place that doesn’t seem beautiful because you are going to focus on the connection more.

Another one was this past September. This couple I had shot for a couple of times. They were my first wedding. It was really cool to reconnect in a place that meant a lot to them. We went out to their cabin and shot around the lake where they met. They had a canoe ride and it was perfect. It was first thing in the morning and the sun was rising-- way too early (laughs)-- but it will probably be one of my favourite shots ever because I had to scale the side of a cliff and I shot them top down in the canoe (photo below). It turned out amazing. It really captured them in their element. It’s why those moments are my favourite. It is something unique to them. Their relationship, personality, what they love doing together. 

GM: Any awkward moments you’d like to share?

CG: It’s all awkward (laughs). When I think about my job, it’s the most awkward job in the world. You’re literally cheering for people as they’re making out, being cute, right?! During the other night’s shoot I said, ‘okay, so you’re going to almost kiss, but don’t do it until I say.’ They get all hot and bothered by the time I say, ‘okay! Now kiss!’ Then they are full on making out, and I was just standing there with my camera, and said, ‘ummm, you can stop now.’ Uhhh, I have the best job in the world! (laughs) It was very funny! There are a lot of awkward moments. They are more so embarrassing, though. Once, I was following a couple as they were walking down the aisle and I tripped over a flower hedge and I fell. So, there are those moments! 

I shoot boudoir too. Is there anything more awkward than letting someone be naked in front of you and you take their photo? I don’t think so! But it’s only awkward if you make it awkward. 

GM: How do you help people feel more comfortable in shoots?
CG: Coming to them as a friend first. My camera stays in the bag for the first twenty minutes. I want to talk to you, I want to get to know you. A lot of this is how you communicate beforehand. I send questionnaires, and lots of emails. I think that’s why being present on social media is so important, because most of the time, at least the females, arrive and feel like they are my best friend already. They know all about my dog and my life. They feel like they’ve known me for so long. It’s always, always, always the men who are uncomfortable as heck. If they don’t want to get their photo taken, you just have to meet them where they are at and make sure they know it doesn’t have to be a structured pose of ‘smile here, kiss now,’ so I always meet them as a friend before a hired photographer. It’s why I really like the work that I do. I prefer the candid in-between moments. You might not look your best, but you are laughing hella hard, and that is you in your element. I give them playful prompts to laugh, get comfortable and forget that there is a camera there. No one wants fake laughter!

GM: Let’s talk about editing. What has been your experience with presets? How do you find your unique style and tone?

CG: In 2018, I realized that creating presets was something people did and made money for. I learned that at a workshop that I took for fun. They talked about presets and I thought to myself, ‘what the F is a preset?!’ They showed me that I didn’t have to use the editing sliders all the time.

I used to think that I had to define myself as ‘light at airy’ or ‘moody’ but you don’t have to define anything. It can feel very overwhelming, like you are not allowed to change once you have your look. I used to get scared that someone would hire me knowing my style, and then the next year (when I would edit their photos) my style had changed. From last year to this year, things aren’t that different, but I’d say that I edited with a more creamy, ivory, neutral, flat, but this year I am bringing in a lot of warmth and grain. 

At the end of the day, I want to make sure these photos stand the test of time. I want those skin tones to be timeless. The editing process is a huge part of the creative styling. It’s your signature. Like a Picasso painting, he adds his signature. That’s his- you know it. I really admire the photographers who are so consistent no matter what lighting. I can spot their work from a mile away. 

It’s all a learning process of figuring out what you like. I’m always learning. Never be afraid to try out different styles. The more you sort that out, the more you know how you need to shoot. Even the settings in your camera transfer to the presets you use. 

I don’t use other people’s presets anymore. I am starting to build out my own and have learned which ones to use for different settings and weather. You have to be okay with going back to re-edit. Don’t edit when you really don’t feel like it! It’s useless. 

GM: Where have you failed and continued on in your start up?

CG: Everywhere. Life is a series of failures, stumbling, and figuring it out. I know that I have probably failed so many clients and not given them the best experience or the best photo, but I think it is more about giving yourself permission to mess up and try again and admit that you are human. If a client isn’t happy with something, I just have to decide what to do to make it better.

As you stumble through a start up, you have so many responsibilities to people outside of yourself that can often be forgotten because you are so focused on your own business, your growth, where you want to be, that you forget you are serving someone else. When I decided that photography was what I really wanted to do, I let my full time jobs fall to the wayside. I didn’t have energy for them because I was spreading myself so thin and not giving my best to the person who was paying me full time. 

It’s about balance in the beginning of your startup. Two summers ago, I was working full time for a small family business, I was making marshmallows for my startup (Folk & Fire), and I was trying to start this wedding business. It was crazy. I was doing nothing well. I was trying to serve too many people at once. That is the hardest part about startups and where you can stumble the most. Even at the beginning, not yet having a niche, therefore accepting everything. I feel like I am at that point again right now because of covid, where I know what my niche is, but it is not an option, so I say yes to all of the work and learn my capacity. 

Let your rest and creativity come back to you. It is very easy to fall into the hustle mentality. You feel like you have to do everything right now, not take a break, and be all things to all people, but it’s impossible.

GM: What would you tell yourself at the beginning of your startup?

CG: Everything happens in the right time. Not everything can be forced. You don’t have to go a million miles an hour, twenty-four seven. It’s okay to take a day or night off. It’s okay to ignore your emails- inquiries don’t need to be answered within thirty minutes! It’s okay to be slow. Boundaries are a very important thing. I do wish that I had set those far earlier in my career. I’m very intentional about it now. You don’t need to try to make your five year plan happen in one year. The outside world doesn’t care what your success looks like. 

GM: What are you currently working on?

CG: Currently, I am trying to survive (laughs). I have a lot of engagements and two elopements this month and a bunch of product work. Nothing necessarily ‘creative.’ I am hoping to do more of a styled shoot at a new wedding venue to gather some new images and work with them, but because it is high season, I don’t have many creative plans. I have plans for the Fall, when I know things are going to slow down. Closer to the end of the year I plan to find more creative ways to make more passive income. I also want to build a team. To creatively and beautifully manage this and still offer a great experience. 

I also am thinking about how to make an elopement guide like the guide I provide for weddings. It has been a learning experience this year. The more you do it, the more you figure it out.  

GM: Challenge us/ Give a creative charge.

CG: Find beauty in the smallest moments. It can be hard to do when we are running around all over the place. When I slow down, I notice great spots to take photos. Or I notice the flowers that are blooming that weren’t yesterday. Find where your inspiration really takes off. Pause at that moment. Your life can be put on hold for five more minutes. Just sit and embrace and actually let yourself feel. 

GM: How can we follow what you’re doing?

CG: You can find me on instagram @caitlinlouiiisa and on my website. There are sometimes blogs that go up there, but mostly not from June to September (high season!)