Today we’d like to introduce you to Paris Scott.
Hi Paris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I love answering this question. So how I got started doing photography and also strictly doing my business full time, its one of my favorite stories to tell because I think many many people have their own passions within themselves and I always love to tell this story as in hope that someone else doesn’t give up and really truly pursue their ideas, visions or passions. Lets first off rewind back to 2012 when I had graduated high school and started my degree in Digital Media Graphic Design, so my degree had certain classes we had to take which I had to take two classes in photography, I had not picked up an actual camera before so besides like my cheap point and shoot camera and the disposable cameras back in the 90’s and early 2000s. Everything was pretty new to me then. As I continued my degree, I was offered a job at the college as a digital media assistant and I remember having the most fun ever. I was surrounded by the most uplifting people that were big fans of always creating and having fun. I remember my photography class being one of my favorite classes, too and I never had even put any thought at the time into it being a job.
Once I graduated and received my degree, I was having a hard time finding a job and I really wanted to be independent and move out to hurry up and grow up, so I got a corporate job at a call center that was not in any ways what I was passionate about. I always had panic attacks, cried on my way to work, on my way back and sometimes during my shifts. I could feel it in myself that I was really not fulfilling who I was. Left that job and eventually got a job at a print shop doing graphic design and I found myself not loving that either, left the job with no job and was still living at home with my dad at the time. I remember looking at graphic design jobs online and getting discouraged that they didn’t pay enough. At that point, I had a pretty bad mental breakdown, my dad recommended that I could go back to school to be a licensed optician and so I just went for it, it was only two years, one national test and two-state test that I had to pass so I got a job at an optical and worked my way through school and working my optical job then I eventually moved out.
Before I received my license as an optician, I attended one of my friend’s weddings at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales and I was just looking for a creative outlet to fulfill that side of myself. I had friends who did wedding photography as a full time job, some that I had gone to school with and I just loved how beautiful they always turned out. I asked the bride, who was one of my friends, if I could bring my camera and she asked the photographers she had hired, who were a husband and wife team, if I could bring my camera and they said yes. On the day of her wedding, I kept my distance and let the photographers do their job but still took my own shots. Usually, this is pretty unheard of with photographers who are paid allowing another photographer to take photos too. Well I suppose they had seen how excited I was and throughout the wedding offered me a job with them to take on weddings but I turned it down because I was in school and working towards another degree. I legit told myself that I cannot support myself doing this. Well a few days after their wedding, the photographers had seen my photos on social media and instead of them getting upset, like most photographers would, they offered me another job with them. It really made my eyes light up and I talked to my manager at the time to see if I could take a Friday or Saturday here and there to shoot weddings and she was extremely accommodating. So I did just that and still continued my degree and eventually got my license as an optician.
Once I received my license, they couldn’t afford me on their payroll where I was currently working so they had to transfer me to another store where they needed an optician. I ended up working with a boss who was very judgemental, passive aggressive and made my job as worse as it could be and on purpose in fact. I come off as pretty different and also try to keep to myself as much as I can to avoid drama but I couldn’t take the atmosphere I was working in at the time, it was extremely hostile. I took a good look in the mirror and when I said that I actually meant it and told myself I don’t have to be here and I can pursue what I love to do which is photography. I went in, took a risk and went part time with my job, registered a P.O. box, got my business license and started a website all in the same day. I told myself I could do it every day. I ended up getting asked to be transferred to another store and the other manager who was asking for me was one of my past clients whos wedding I had photographed, one of my first solo weddings too in fact. She worked with me as much as she could on my schedule with my business and it was a serious dream because I really had no plan at the time because I knew the store I was at still wouldn’t work with me on weekends even though I was part time. I worked at my new store and also my business for a year and a half and it got to the point where my business was so busy that I was getting burnt out. I took another risk, left that job (knowing I could go back if I wanted too) and pursued my photography business. Here I am since October 2019 and I have been full time since.
I started my business in February 2018 and I will always be so thankful for this decision that I made. It is the most fulfilling and rewarding job I could ever do. Seriously when I see others who was very good at something, have an awesome idea or a passion, I always just want to tell them to go for it because its unreal how I am here today where I am at and going through Covid and the year 2020 entirely makes me feel like I am on top of the world with this business and there is no looking back.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think there will always be obstacles and that’s part of the journey of getting uncomfortable and self growth. There have been many parts where it was smooth and then others where I was definitely struggling. Really I think one of my main struggles was going full time somewhat before COVID was announced and when we had went through a lockdown. Honestly, when I went full time I was just winging it and knew that I had a lot to learn as I go forward but then that happened and I had lost some grandparents right before the lockdown and there were some other personal things I was going through to where COVID was the icing on the cake of any stress. I fell into a pretty big depression at that time.
I felt like nothing was even real for a while, it was all a huge shock to me and I was at a point where I couldn’t even take care of my well being, now that everything is moving normal (at least it feels that way in Florida) I feel a sense of growth. I honestly feel like it has all made me a better person and business owner. I felt stressed about money because with weddings these events are planned years or months in advance and I’m counting on that income coming so having to work around refunds, reschedules and cancellations on top of all my personal stuff was very overwhelming. There was a point where I had thought I needed to go back to my optician job but I was so busy that I couldn’t commit to that while running my business efficiently, which I had to shift my mindset more long term than in the now. Now for the past couple of months everything is definitely looking a lot more smooth and I have a more clear picture of my entire business moving forward. Not everything is always rainbows and butterflies but that’s the part of commitment that you have to take on when you run your own business but it’s still the most rewarding and best job I could ever do. If you constantly show up for others, it pays back in the long run.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in weddings, elopements, engagements and lifestyle couples photography. I’m known for having more of a moody and warm style but also centered around capturing personalities. A lot of people really can just look at my work and know it’s mine, which is an awesome feeling. I’m proud of my style that I have created and proud that I attract clients who are a lot like myself. One thing that sets me apart is how much I care, if there is anything I care the most about it’s making sure my clients have a wonderful experience, are comfortable and receive photos that truly feel like themselves. I really try to listen to them and really try to connect with them, it’s never about telling them what to do with a list of poses, it’s way more than that and I think that shows.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The biggest thing out of everything is actually caring and being vulnerable. I feel like I actually care about my clients and how they feel about their photos. I find this to be such a lost art in the service industry. Not everyone of course but I have paid for a service or product many times in the past and felt the other person on the other end didn’t care which made my experience pretty bland. I never want that for my clients, and I find that just caring and having empathy is one of my biggest characteristics that makes me successful. Second to that would be my vulnerability, At the end of the day I am photographing two people that might find it hard and difficult in general to open up to someone random that they might not have ever met and I get that. That’s why I try to always be calm, open and show my own faults so that they know it’s okay to not hold a high standard to themselves as being “perfect”. People tend to trust and respect you more when you allow yourself to be vulnerable and that’s what I need on my end so that their photos show a true reflection of themselves.
Pricing:
- Wedding Photography starts at $3000
- Elopement Photography starts at $1500
- Couples photography starts at $425
Contact Info:
- Email: parisscottphotography@Gmail.com
- Website: https://parisscottphotography.com/
- Instagram: @parisscottphotography
- Facebook: @parisscottphotography
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/paris-scott-photography-winter-haven
- Other: Tiktok @parisscottphoto
Image Credit:
Personal Photo by Crawford photography
