Gals We Admire: Jamie Delaine

Wedding photographer Jamie Delaine considers it a privilege to be with the newlywed couple on their big day, which is probably one of the reasons she's so good at what she does. Find out how Delaine spends her days, plus get some solid career advice from this hardworking gal. 

Name: Jamie Delaine

Profession: Wedding Photographer

Website: jamiedelaine.com; jamiedelaineblog.com

Twitter handle: @jamiedelaine

Describe your typical work day, from start to finish

As a wedding photographer, I wear so many different hats. A "typical" day though is in the office, at my computer. I start the morning with my email inbox, answering the most urgent emails, or anything that's a quick response. Bigger projects such as album design changes, emailing photos to wedding vendors, organizing a wedding timeline, those tasks go on the to-do list for later. I try to spend some time almost every day blogging about my life or my business. A few times a week I'm actually out of my office photographing couples or, of course, at a wedding! When I’m back at the office that means backing up all the images, sorting through which ones I want to keep, backing those up, editing images for my blog and then passing on the rest of the images to my image editor for processing.

When you were a kid, what did you want to grow up to be?

As a kid, I wanted to be so many different things! I went all the way through elementary school believing I wanted to be a teacher. I think that dream died when I got to high school and I took a Graphic Arts 9 class. I thrived in that class, loved my teacher, loved the new world of graphic art that didn’t require me to be an amazing drawer, painter, sculptor—I could simply design! A few years later, this love of graphic art grew into a love of photography. 

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The people and the freedom. It is always such a privilege to be with two people on their wedding day, not to mention all their closest friends and family. I love the relationships I build with my clients throughout the course of their engagement and on the wedding day. And also, I love the freedom. As I type this, I'm sitting in my warm house, in my own office, playing whatever music I want, drinking green tea. It doesn’t get much better.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge in your profession?

Biggest challenge I find, similar to other entrepreneurs or small business owners, is a work/life balance. It's something that I feel after four years, I am just beginning to figure out. Having a separate space to work has helped me so much. When I'm done work at the end of the day, I turn off the office lights, shut the door and that’s that!

Do you believe you had a "calling" for your profession?

I have a very strong faith in God, so I definitely believe He orders my steps through every season of my life. In that way, yes, I guess you could say I did feel a "calling" to this job and I feel very much where I’m supposed to be!

What are the three most important pieces of career advice you would give to other Canadian Career Gals?

You gotta want it. I get emails all the time from photographers asking for advice and the only thing I can say is work hard. Do what you gotta do to get where you wanna go. I worked hard and I continue to work hard—putting everything I have into this business.

Surround yourself with awesome people. Connect with (in my case) other wedding photographers that are running their businesses with excellence. Buy them coffee, buy them lunch, chat their ear off, then send them a thank you card and a gift for their time. Be prepared for doors to slam, but just keep knocking.

Never lose sight of the "why." Why are you a photographer, why are you wanting to run a successful business, why are you determined to make it? What happens when you "make it"  (whatever that means to you), how will you use your finances, influence, talent to help others?