Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Jowett.
Hi Heather, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I got my first camera at the age of 12. It was a prize for selling a certain amount of wrapping paper in a fundraiser at school. That camera helped me realize I had a love for documenting not only life, but places. I’d send roll after roll of film through that cheap plastic camera, taking pictures of my friends after school, and also pictures of my favorite trees.
At 18 I opened my first credit card in order to buy a digital SLR, an investment that definitely ended up paying off. Photographing my first wedding happened almost by accident. I was in Downtown Port Huron, with my camera, during Boat Night, which is basically a big party that kicks off the Huron to Mackinac Sailboat Race. I was on a friend of a friend’s boat and an older gentleman, who was also aboard, asked me if I was a photographer. I wasn’t ready to call myself one yet, and so I said “I have a camera” in an almost questioning way. He let me know his daughter was getting married in two weeks and that he’d pay me $200 to come photograph it. At 18 years old, that was the most money I had ever heard of, so I obviously said yes.
Now, it’s been 20 years since that fated boat night, and I have photographed hundreds of weddings and had an amazing career, all because I happened to be on the right boat at the right time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Yes and No. Getting to live a life where I get to have a career being creative, doing something that satisfies me on a deep level, and getting to be my own boss is quite possibly one of the biggest privileges of my life. In that sense, it’s given me a very smooth road. That being said, every creative has moments where they feel like they’ve stagnated, or that they’ve failed to meet their own standards. I think self compassion is so important for creatives, because we can be our own worst critics, but we can also be our biggest supporters and champions.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I primarily photograph weddings, though I’ve recently been falling more and more in love with in home, lifestyle family portraiture, especially as the couples I’ve photographed over the last two decades have started families and included me along the journey. I’d say, if I specialize in anything, it’s photographing love and relationships, in all their varied forms, be that the love between a couple on their wedding day, the love between three generations of a family, or the love between communities of people. I wouldn’t dare say I’m known for anything, but I’d say the majority of the people who want to work with me, do so because they’re drawn to the laid back story-telling approach I’ve honed over the years.
I think at this stage, the thing I’m most proud of is the level of comfort I feel, photographing a wedding, and the ease with which it comes. I truly feel like I’ve reached a level of expertise that has lead to a pretty unshakable confidence, that just makes everything easier. I think that might actually be my favorite piece of feedback I get on a wedding day: “You made that so easy!” Planning a wedding and getting married is hard enough. There’s all those logistics leading up to the day, and then, on the day, you get shoved into uncomfortable outfits and pushed down an aisle while everyone you’ve ever known stares at you. If you had no context for it, it sounds like a stress dream. It’s a wonder we do it, at all. The last thing I want to is have the photography be one more hard part of a wedding day. I want people to have fun and enjoy this day that they spent so much effort and money, bringing into reality.
In addition to being a photographer, I’m also a standup comedian, and I’d say that is one of the things that helps me create that sense of ease. Laughter releases tension, and people need that on a wedding day (especially if it’s 89 degrees and the AC in the barn just ain’t quite cutting it). I also have practically zero anxiety about public speaking, so if I have to direct 135 people for an extended family portrait, it doesn’t really phase me, and there’s a good chance I’m going to be able to get most of them laughing, by the end of it.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Wear comfortable shoes. Hydrate. Stretch. Bring a full change of clothes on the hottest wedding days. Find an outfit you like for wedding days, and buy three of them (a black jumpsuit, in my case). Use back button focus. Set your camera display to black and white. Go to conferences and meet other photographers. Only ask for advice from people who are doing what you would like to do and living a way you would want to live. Disregard the majority of advice from people you don’t admire. Keep moving. Keep experimenting. Break your own rules. Steal from people who inspire you and do a crummy job at what they do, until you find the spark of inspiration in it, and you become amazing at something entirely you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heatherjowett.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather.jowett/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/heatherjevryday/
