Today we’d like to introduce you to Michae Allen.
Hi Michae, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
So to start, I don’t live in Orlando anymore. I lived there from 1998 – 2017 and then moved back to South Florida. Because I’d lived there for so long, I have business relationships that bring me to Orlando about once a month.
I’ve always been into photography, even before I knew it was ‘a thing’. I actually took a photography class in middle school and developed photos in a dark room! I would always volunteer to be the photographer in groups I was in and I really enjoyed taking photos. In 2010, I made a friend who was a photographer but she’d become disillusioned with shooting so she gave me all of her textbooks and gear. I worked hard to understand and get a grasp of photography on a higher level and I would say I officially became a photographer in 2012.
Since then, I’ve done lots of different work and my passion is plus size boudoir. I love working with people and revealing to them their beauty. I am still evolving as I am now dabbling in video and I can’t see my life not having a lens to look through.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The art part has been a blast, the business part has been a struggle. I think like most artists, I believed that great work was enough to bring customers in the door and that isn’t the case. A few years ago, I began working with a business coach and that has opened my eyes and mind to understanding what it takes to make a business grow.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My specialty is plus size boudoir and I also love to work with metallic bodypaint. I knew that people understood me and what I was about when they would reach out to me to tell me about plus size events or share images with me that they think I would appreciate. Two things make me different. First is that people feel comfortable around me. So, despite the fact that the work can be sensitive and clients can feel exposed, they aren’t worried because I put them at ease. The second thing is that I want to work with plus size women so I put care and thought into the work. They also understand from my work that I care about them and their presentation.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Right now I am reading a book called, She Sells by Megan DiPiero to supercharge the business side of my…business 🙂 I used to spend a lot of time on CreativeLive when I was learning and currently, I follow a lot of plus size cosplayers because I want to create more of that work.
Contact Info:
- Email: curator@asharpphoto.biz
- Website: www.asharpphoto.biz
- Instagram: instagram.com/asharpphoto
- Facebook: facebook.com/asharpphoto13
- Twitter: twitter.com/asharpphoto
Image Credits
Images captured by A Sharp Photo
