Today we’d like to introduce you to Renee McDaniel.
Hi Renee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved art and the first thought of being a photographer came while I was in high school. I fell in love with the photos from the National Geographic magazines my parents had. I’d see the photos of beautiful lands and people outside the US and I thought to myself “I want to go here. I want to be a photographer for National Geographic”. Honestly, I never shared that thought with my parents, because it seemed just kind of “out there” and I had no idea how I’d even get started. So I went to college, got a degree in Family, got married and went to work for a social service not-for-profit as a case manager. During these times, I learned just how much I loved listening to other people’s stories, good, bad, hard, ugly, beautiful, all of it. The love of learning about others and their goals and trials would come to shape my journey later in life.
During my adult life, I decided to save up for my very first DSLR. Once I got it, I took photos of everything, trying to mimic the images I’d see online and on Pinterest. My close friends let me practice taking photos of their kids and families and I enjoyed that, but every time, I came back to their stories as my favorite parts. Once my daughter was born, taking photos of her became my obsession and I loved trying new ways to use a documentary-style approach with photographing her. At the same time, a good friend of mine worked for a chiropractic office and they needed new photos for marketing their business. She recommended me, and after meeting with the business owner, I was hooked. Learning about their business’s stories, and how I could use my education and background in psychology, to help a business market their services, to help their potential clients and customers have a better life was like the icing on the cake for my photography. I put my listening skills to good use and was able to pull ideas and concepts from what they told me about their business into the creation of their images. And my clients loved it. I realized it was an under-served market for photography, and that small businesses needed to show up with professional-looking images to stand above their competitors and reach new clients and new markets. I realized with my unique background combination of creativity and psychology, I could create unique images that small business owners could use to gain new clients and reach new markets.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As with any journey, it’s not been easy and carefree. I am purposefully part time, meaning that I have no intention of leaving my full time job. Learning how to use the education and training I’ve taken for business, photography, and marketing and shrink that down to 5-10 hours a week has been challenging. Also, networking can be difficult at times, because when I’m at my full time job most business owners are meeting for lunches or other activities to network. Learning to balance all of that with my obligations as a wife and mother has been a big lesson too. I’m doing this to help our family reach goals and to show my daughter that she can do literally anything she puts her mind to.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a brand and product photography for female-owned small businesses. I specialize in helping them confidently show up in their marketing with images that actually feel like them: authentic, grounded, and strategic. I am known for bringing creative ideas for capturing their brand, so they don’t end up with the same “laptop and coffee mug” photos that all their competitors have. I absolutely love connecting with my clients, letting them know they’re not alone in figuring this whole marketing “thing” out, that running a small business can be hard and rewarding at the same time. I love the friendships I’ve built with my clients, and how they trust me to create photos they can use to market their business. I also love helping them figure out how to use their photos, what to say with the photos when using them on social media. Because it’s not just about having great photos, but it’s about using them as well.
What are your plans for the future?
In the next 3 months, I’m planning to beta-launch ways to help business owners update their content without having to book a whole brand photo session. While doing some extensive market research with small business owners, I found 1 common thread was many business owners are running out of content after a few months of having a brand photo session. But they don’t have the time or money to invest in an additional brand photo session, all for about 20-30 more images. Often, the solution was to buy stock photos online, but they hated that because it was time-consuming to look for photos, and then it felt disingenuous, since they were “generic” stock photos. So I am creating a service where small business owners can book a “stock photo” session with me, where they get original images, curated specifically to their brand, for marketing their service or any upcoming launches. It’s a session they won’t have to attend, but they go through my established process, so we create images that are branded specifically for their business.
I’m also working on creating “Content Play Days” where a small group of business owners get together at a location and they work with me to create content for their platforms with other small business owners. I hope to beta test this in the Fall, with a full launch in mid 2027.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reneemcdanielphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneemcdanielphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reneemcdanielphotography
