Meet Austin Connoyer | Wedding Photographer & Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Austin Connoyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Austin, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
I’d say the most important lesson my business has taught me is to always be open to opportunities and never be scared to reach out. A large part of how I’ve built my business is by having a community over competition mindset. I’ve never met a single person who got to where they are all by themselves. So many people in the wedding industry worry so much about competition, that they don’t realize getting to know and working with people in your field is nearly always a win-win. We have so much to learn from each other and in a personality driven industry, we all set ourselves apart from each other in one way or another.

When you have the opportunity to help someone in your field or just listen to a new point of view, I would always suggest taking it. As a photographer, I know I have my strengths and weaknesses and I will tell you I have learned so much just from reaching out to other photographers or other vendors that were willing to just get to know me and vice versa. If I were to give any advice to a new photographer starting out, it’s to find like minded people in your field and just try to get to know them or even see how you can help them. Reach out without expecting anything in return. I think cultivating those relationships is much more important than a referral you may get here and there.

The other big thing is don’t be afraid to ask for help. Nobody in this business starts out knowing everything, I mean I didn’t know a thing about wedding photography when I started. But I reached out for help and ended up finding some amazing mentors and friends that really made me who I am now.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what I’m most proud of as far as my photography goes is just the joy and comfort I can bring out of my couples in their wedding photos. A huge part of that is really just getting to know all of them over the course of the year before their wedding. I really pride myself on being a photographer that gives my couples a great experience the whole year and not just the wedding day. I love meeting people in general, so given the opportunity to become friends with these amazing people is really a huge blessing. By the time their wedding day arrives, we’re so comfortable with each other it really does make it easy to get beautiful pictures of them having fun together.

I can definitely tell you it wasn’t easy getting there. I was a sports photographer before I tried out weddings and you couldn’t have two more opposite subjects. It was such a challenge learning lighting, posing, composition etc. when it comes to weddings. These were all brand new to me as I was just used to capturing the action. It really just took a lot of hours learning through any resource I could. But really the biggest thing was my mentors giving me an opportunity to just go out there and start shooting, that experience was just so valuable.

I’m still learning to this day and I probably won’t ever stop, but one thing I have grown comfortable with over the years is knowing who I wanted to be as a business owner and as a wedding photographer. Once I realized that I should be building my business around my personality and what I wanted it to be instead of trying to follow what everyone else may have been doing, I learned to love my job even more.

As far as my brand and story goes, I honestly just love people and that’s what I base my brand on. My couples deserve someone that is going to be there for them all year and get to know them so they have no worries when their big day comes. Most of the time it gets to the point where you really have a friend photographing your wedding and I really love that. Getting to know my couples is easily my favorite part of the job and so that’s what I really like to stress through my business.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well I only moved here earlier this year so I can definitely try my best! I am a huge live music fan and I think it would be impossible for a friend to come visit Red Rocks and not see a show out there. We would definitely want to visit the Art Museum and then go see the new Meow Wolf exhibit. I’m a big wine person so there are definitely some wineries we would go to. This might be a bit biased since I work there a couple nights a week but Deep Roots Winery is such a cool spot and they have some great food! As far as Dinner, I really like Linger. Then afterwards go to PS Lounge because I love a good dive bar and it’s the best one in the city. If it was a first friday, the Art Walk on Santa Fe is really cool! We would of course have to go out to the mountains and get some beautiful views. The Lost Gulch Lookout in Boulder has such a great view and then maybe St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a big shoutout to Jeremy and Melisa Keltner of Your Story Studios. From the very beginning, they have mentored me and let me be a part of their business as I was still learning how to grow mine. They showed me how to create something that I am proud of and truly just how to be a decent and giving creative in this field. Without them, I would not be where I am today so I want to give a huge thank you! Also all my family and friends have been amazingly supportive of me especially as I’ve moved to Denver this past year and started a new photography business from scratch. So thank you to all of them for helping me push through the ups and downs of running a business.

Website: www.austinjphoto.com

Instagram: austinjamesphoto

Facebook: @AJPhotographyDenver

Yelp: Austin James Photography

Other: The Knot: Austin James Photography

Image Credits
Austin James Photography