Meet Amanda Highbarger | Family Photography and Photography Educator

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

Hi Amanda, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
I think the biggest misconceptions are around the amount of work it takes, and the vision and talent that you do have to have to be a professional photographer. As far as amount of work- its so much more than going to a session for an hour and taking the photos. That is honestly the easiest part of the gig. The fun part! Getting to play with a family full of fun kids for an hour is a dream but the “work” is for hours before and after the session. Prepping the clients, styling the clients, location scouting, back end office stuff like taxes and invoices etc. Then hours (usually 6-10 per session) of editing the gallery and sending to your clients for review is a lot more work than I think it appears to be on the outside. I find it to be the most rewarding work I could ever do and I am blessed to work for myself and serve so many wonderful families, but its still a lot of work and long hours. Its also a lot more than just pushing a button on a nice camera and as a photography educator I can attest to how much hard work photographers have to pour into their craft coupled with their vision and talent to bring it all together to make this life altering art that is family photography. A photograph is the one thing that gains worth over time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a family photographer of White Pine Photography, and I am based out of southwest Missouri, but I travel a lot and get to take on sessions across the country. I am also a photography educator and the teacher of The Prosper Course which is an amazing online course for photographers to learn how to edit, run sessions and their business like they have always dreamed. Teaching photography is as big of a passion to me as being a photographer is and I have taught almost 1000 students so far.

My photography style is client led, lifestyle sessions ran with intention and purpose based off of each family’s unique story. I love what I do because I get to show mom’s how beautiful they are as they snuggle their kids, and laugh with their spouse. No posed “say cheese” moments happen at my sessions. I have emotive images in my galleries, mixed with fun and joy and it fulfills my artists heart. I started doing photography after a decade in pediatric dentistry and for a few years had to juggle both full time jobs and it was hard. A lot of late nights editing until it was time to leave for my daytime job and I finally decided to take the scary leap of faith and quit my secure job as a dental assistant and chase my dreams. I have never regretted that choice and have grown so much in the last couple years as a full time photographer. I teach retreats and workshops and my online course and that has provided me with opportunities to travel and meet new people all while doing what I love. I juggle all this while raising my beautiful family of 5 kids with my husband and I feel so grateful to be able to do what I love and for all I have accomplished.
What I want people to know about my brand and story is that serving others with either my art or by teaching has been such a blessing for me- to see how much photos mean to a family and is giving them a lifelong gift that they can look back on and remember how their kids hands fit into theirs, how they looked when they smiled with their missing teeth, or how they were once able to hold them in their arms- its priceless.

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?
I live in a pretty rural small town area so there is not a ton to do around here but one of my favorite things to do is to hike around local parks and visit small businesses in the area. I love to pour back into locally owned small businesses just like my own. I would recommend The Grotto for a meal, and Charity Fent’s for dessert! Both are delicious and locally owned places that my family visits every month. We would definitely go to Jelly Bean’s to shop local for cute kid clothes. I would want to take her to see some pretty views at Table Rock Lake and we could hike some of the local trails. I love that this area is full of flea markets and I love to frequent them and try to find unique pieces for my client closet or quilts for sessions.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have always said that I am the face of White Pine Photography and my husband is the heart! I would never be where I am as a business owner without his unwavering support, his eagerness to help me get to the next level in my journey, and his sacrifices to help me be able to travel and chase this dream while he holds down the fort at home. Any wild or crazy idea or plan I have- he fuels it. Encourages it. Lets me know that not only should I do it, but it is crazy I haven’t done it yet. It would have been easy for him to ask me to choose a path when I was working full time and doing my now career late at night after work so that he could have a more attentive wife during that time- but he saw my passion for photography and how happy it made me and he cheered me on.

Website: www.whitepinephotos.com

Instagram: @whitepinepics

Facebook: White Pine Photography

Image Credits
Headshot- Locke Photography