A photographer, educator and dedicated mom, Dawn Charles always knew her career would revolve around creativity and art. After discovering photography in high school and scoring her first shoot not long after, Dawn worked at nailing her art before upskilling on the business side of the industry.
With a passion for teaching and over a decade of experience in photography it felt right to start giving back to the photog community. So with that came her epic education platform.
She’s a woman we admire and we felt super lucky to score a bit of her time to chat about all things life, business and how she gets that Insta page looking so good - damm! Read on for a bit of inspo from one of our fav photog gals...
Tell us a bit about yourself, where you're from, what got you into photography and how did you end up an educator?
I'm a mom of two little girls and wife to a police officer, living in Oregon. I've always known I wanted to incorporate art and creativity into whatever career path I went down. I ended up taking a photography class in high school and fell in love with it. I decided to get my degree in photography and got approached to shoot my first wedding the summer after I graduated high school (which still blows my mind because I hadn't even attended a wedding since I was 12 years old and I had NO idea what I was doing). While finishing my degree and getting approached by friends for engagement photos, I realized I had the photography side down but needed to learn the business side. I became an intern for another wedding photographer, and after shadowing her and second shooting for her, I quickly filled up my calendar with weddings of my own.
After over a decade of learning the medium and running a business, I've learned so much that I want to pass on to others. I was so blessed to have a mentor teach me, and have always felt the desire to pay that forward. I come from a family full of teachers, and have always enjoyed teaching and helping others reach their potential. My mom was a teacher and stay at home mom, and my dad is a genius businessman and entrepreneur. I guess I kind of subconsciously combined all those things to create something that blended my passion for teaching and photography, and allowed me to create different revenue streams so I could have flexibility in my schedule and be home with my kids.
Your Insta feed is beautiful, what are your 5 top tips for creating a cohesive feed?
Thank you so much!
- Stick to a color palette (when you're shooting and sharing)
- Plan your feed in advance (I use an app called Later)
- It's ok to pull from the archives and re-edit and re-share old work
- Variety is key - space out images based off colors, relationship of subject to camera, posing, subject matter, composition, landscape, etc.
- Minimal and clean images work well when you're viewing images as a grid because your eye can read multiple images easier when there isn't a ton going on
Where did the inspiration behind your editing tools such as your presets come from?
I've always had a fascination with editing. It started in college when we were learning how to edit in class. I'm obsessed with seeing the before and after of anything, so being able to create something unique with editing was so fun for me. I would play around for hours and hours to see if I could emulate or create different looks. Over time I became more comfortable and confident with my edits and started getting approached all the time asking about my editing. Back then, there weren't many photographers selling their own presets. I saw a need in the market for something new and unique, as well as presets that were timeless, remained true to color and weren't super trendy.
What advice do you have for new photographers trying to find their own unique editing style?
I would say start by purchasing presets. Study how they're set up and how the creator used different settings to create a specific look. Play around, maybe pull up an inspiration image and see if you can emulate certain aspects (not to copy, but to challenge yourself. For example: can you get your greens to look like the greens in the example image. How did you get there? Can you get your highlights to look like the example? How? etc.). Really learn and study the software. Invest in education or watch tutorials on editing. And then try to implement all you've learned in a way that is unique to you. I recommend sticking to something true to color and timeless!
What continues to feed your drive, creativity and passion for photography?
While I'm shooting less and less these days as I focus on education for photographers, I'll always have a love for photography. I'm fascinated by the way that a thousand photographers can look at the same thing, and all see and capture it differently. I love that it's a means of story telling, and that I can create things that will outlive me. I love the community it has given me, and the opportunities it has created for me to meet new people and explore new corners of the world.
Do you have any education products you’d like to share with our community?
Yes absolutely!
I have desktop and mobile presets available at www.dawncharleseducation.com
I’m also about to launch a membership group FULL of courses on everything from editing, workflow, social media, client experience, taxes, and so much more! Keep an eye on the Unscripted app for more info to come!
Hop into our Facebook Group to join the conversation, hang with other rad photographers, share your photos from your in home sessions with us!
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