Life & Work with Eric Hennig of VAGUE photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Hennig.  

Hi Eric, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My name is Eric Hennig, and I’m a self-taught photographer specializing in wedding photography and portraits. I also am one of the few practicing a form of photography called “wet plate colodion” which is a photographic process from the mid-1800s. Each photo is made by hand and created from using 100+year-old equipment in my home studio. I got re-interested in photography about 15 years when my wife and I started a vintage clothing shop on Etsy called “Vera Vague Vintage”. Early on, we were a featured seller for Etsy and have sold clothes to celebrities, film and TV shows including Taylor Swift, Roseanna Arquette, Vogue, Peaky Blinders, The Astronauts Wives Club, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and we even have a dress on a wax figure of Virginia Woolf at Kings College in London. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The obstacles and challenges to my work have been competing with a fast-growing field of photographers. There were tough challenges during the onset of the pandemic, but things have largely resumed to normal on that front. I try to stay ahead of those challenges by continuing to strive to become better at my craft. There 

is never a time where there is a shortage of things to learn. Fighting burnout during a busy wedding season is real and by the time it is over a long break is very much needed. During that break, it frees up a lot more time to put more energy into my tintype portraits and experimenting creatively with photography. I also use this time to try to learn more techniques to be ahead of the curve next season. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work is spread across many fronts. Realistically too many fronts. Being self-employed means that I am not only the content creator but the editor, marketer, and accounting department too. The majority of my work is focused on wedding photography. It allows me to focus on 20-30 clients for an entire year, and the off-season and spare time allow me to venture into other aspects of work. The wet plate collodion portraiture is my passion, but wedding season and being the father of a 4-year-old girl doesn’t allow me to spend as much time with that as I’d like. But in the off-season, I am much more free to take in commissioned portraits. I also am responsible for the product photography for our vintage shop. It used to be a 50/50 effort with my wife, but once photography got extremely busy, she runs the shop by herself other than shooting new inventory for the site. 

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
There are too many lessons learned to put into one place. The first and foremost I guess is that the quality of your craft comes before everything else. Alongside that is having a personal and honest relationship with you clientele. People connect with authenticity, and being authentic is the easiest thing to sell. Keep creating and putting yourself out there, and people will eventually notice. There is no shortcut to success. In the beginning, you will work more than you have ever worked in your life, and most of that work won’t translate into a paycheck. After some time of putting out consistent quality, people will start to take notice, and fulling and exceeding your client’s expectations will separate you from the pack. Once those seeds are planted and nurtured it takes time for them to grow. It might seem like you’re not getting anywhere, and then all of a sudden, the fruits of your efforts will start to come in. You might even forget as to why people are seeking you out more, and then you will realize that it was the years and months that you spent on your craft that are starting to pay off. That is not a time to let up and coast though. Keep pushing through and keep trying to learn and better yourself, and you will continue to grow. Also, don’t underestimate the value in networking. It can be a natural task for some people, and others it could be the very last thing that you want to do, but many times over work comes to those who can put themselves out there and deliver. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vaguephotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victorvague/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VAGUEphotography
• Other: https://vimeo.com/vaguephotography

Image Credits
Christopher Deau Photography
Eric Hennig
VAGUE photography