Danielle of Danielle Zimmerer Photography

Do you struggle with photography? If you’re a maker, you know that photography is one of the things that will make or break your sales. If you’re an online shop, your photos are the only thing that a customer can base their purchase decision off of so it is SO important to make sure your photos are a good representation of your brand.

I was so excited to be joined by my real life friend and talented photographer, Danielle of Danielle Zimmerer Photography on this week’s Live. Danielle started her business here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 2014 and specializes in wedding photography, family photos, senior portraits. She particularly loves lifestyle photography and to capture candid and authentic moments for her clients. Her work is truly incredible and the moments she captures are stunning! Danielle was the photographer at my wedding and she made the whole process so comfortable and natural feeling. I’m not great at knowing how to be photographed and Danielle made it so much fun!

Danielle’s business began so organically. She started playing around with photography in high school and kept sharing her captures. As time went on, she started doing small free lance gigs and eventually started doing weddings! She now does her business full time and also gives back so much to our small community of Steamboat Springs. Her annual “Gift of Photography” is a day where she gifts free photo sessions to families that may not be able to afford to book with her. She works with other female business owners to set up props, flowers, etc to create an amazingly fun and heartwarming event!

We’ve been so thankful to our Steamboat Community and its been amazing building our businesses in such a supportive place!

Danielle shares with us how she started on her journey, how she’s developed her business, and gives us some amazing tips on how to be comfortable in front of the camera and be able to model our creations. As a maker in business, it’s so important to show off the items naturally and in use. I loved her tip on bringing your items with you in day to day life and snapping lifestyle photos in an authentic way. She feels that any backdrop can be awesome and using a variety of backgrounds can be really cool! She also suggests playing around with different angles for your photos to give different looks and perspectives. By playing around you can get a feel for what looks authentic and interesting.

How to take better photos from a Smartphone

-Tap and hold on your subject and lock the focus to get a clearer photo of the subject. If you tap and hold, it will lock in on the focus.

-Try shooting in Live Photo mode or a short video and pick your favorite still!

Her biggest tip on makers starting out on their journey:

“Just go for it, but don’t put so much pressure on yourself. The more you put pressure on the experience, the more it will stress you out…easing into it will be better for your mental health. Give yourself some space to figure out your niche. You don’t have to figure out everything before you start.”

There were so many more amazing photo tips from Danielle. I am so glad that she was able to join me on my Live and I’m forever grateful for her friendship! You can check out her work or book Danielle:

On Instagram @daniellezimmererphotography

or her Website http://www.daniellezimmererphotography.com

Resources:

Portable tripod: Ubeesize Tripod with Bluetooth Remote