Meet Tacey Gosling-A Fantastic Photographer and an AMAZING Mom!

I am so excited to hear from Tacey Gosling on the Ask and Learn Session tomorrow night.  I don’t know Tacey very well, but from the few emails that we have exchanged to get ready for this blog post and the Ask and Learn, I know, she would be an immediate friend.  Her photography is INSANE!  Her images are so fresh, dreamy and relaxing.  I love that the first thing on her website says…”I want to be the photographer of your life”.  She “started” with Me Ra and now has a thriving business.    Please join us tomorrow night on the Soarority Forum from 5-7pm, PST for more with Tacey Gosling.  For now, I hope you enjoy this interview…

Q:  When did you start your business and what was the turning point of taking it from a hobby to a business of charging people?
Hmmm…That’s kind of a funny question because photography was never really a ‘hobby’ of mine.  Sure, looking back, I’ve always loved photos…but more their meaning, than actually ‘taking’ them…As strange as it sounds, before I even owned an SLR camera, I had a life-changing ‘aha’ moment and in a single moment,  decided to pursue photography as a career….Indeed, that is a long and fabulous story, but for time’s sake, it’s enough to say I, for several reasons (mostly health related) decided  to leave my dream job’ (one that I studied 7 years to achieve) to pursue photography.  That was in April of 2009.

I received my first SLR in the mail (from Ebay!) in May 2009….by June (after attending a Confidence Workshopwith MeRa, Brian and some incredible ladies), I launched my original blog , and then, in August of 2009, scared, but extremely excited, I had my first family photo session.  From there, for the entire month of August  I offered to photograph all the families from my son’s daycare, in order to gain some experience, and build my portfolio.  By the end of 2009, less than 8 months of owning my camera, I had photographed one ‘vow renewal’ and at least 10 family portrait sessions.  In 2010, I began charging for my work.

Q:  What inspires your photography?  What made you fall in love with photography?
Before I knew I wanted to pursue this insanely beautiful, creative, competitive industry, I loved photographing life….as it unfolded. Looking back,  I photographed all the moments that I would have regretted not capturing….which for me were the little, often tender, everyday moments that make your heart just swell (I am super-duper emotional).  Having those photos that will bring you back to that exact place in time when you felt so strongly, where your heart felt soo happy means a lot to me.  I am incredibly moved by photos…Especially photos of my children….One particular photo that sticks out in my mind (perhaps one of my favourite captures of all time) is my little girl, butt naked (about 5 I would say) twirling around (dancing, I think) in her little plastic swimming pool…with not a care in the world.  Her wet hair left a trail of droplets as she twirled, totally unaware of anything around her. *Sigh* Many people comment on my ability to capture ‘moments’, and I think the desire to capture similar moments for other parents is what inspires my work the most.

Q:  What inspires you as a person, artist?
Nature….Rain. The sky.  Tall grass, pretty fields, vast landscapes…the beach.  I’m in awe of a child’s  innocence…..A new Mother’s transformation into Motherhood…All of life’s ‘firsts’….I am inspired by this amazing journey called life….I drool over low, glorious back light….I am enamoured by the whimsy and dreamy quality of Barb Uil’s (Jinky’s) work. *I will be meeting her in two days and I cannot wait!*  I  love, love, love the photography in Anthropologie campaigns (and secretly aspire to photograph for Anthro one day…)  The incredibly talented Jose Villa inspires me…I love his colour palette.  I love his use of light.  I am soooo blown away by the incredibly giving, talented and completely infectious, Jasmine Star….…Lastly, I would say Love inspires me….Real, authentic, in-the-moment-when-you-think-no-one-is-watching love…Those are the bits that inspire me as a person and an artist.

Q:  What is one or two pieces marketing/self-promotion ideas that you can give our newbies?
Ooooh, pretty much the best marketing idea I have involves networking…but I will share more of that in our Ask and Learn session….stay tuned tomorrow night for that discussion!

Q:  If you are not behind the camera photographing fantastic people, what might we find you doing?
Hot yoga.  Chasing (and taming) my incredible 4 year old boy.  Driving my 13 year old daughter to the mall (and managing her catapult into adolescence)…Hiking my favorite mountain. Running my favorite mountain trail.  Mountain biking.  (Editing. Editing. Editing.)  Learning…I’m always learning…I love to learn.  I love wine and cheese and being with people who make my heart smile.  Boating with my family.  Savouring life.  Savouring life…yes, that about sums it up.

Q;  What is one of the best things you have done for the success of your business?
Again, this is such a juicy question that I would love to save it for our upcoming forum discussion tomorrow night…I would love to discuss this more with you all…I think sharing our success strategies is so empowering…so ladies, bring yours to our discussion, and I will happily share what has worked for me thus far.

Q:  What are the classes/workshops/DVDs/books or websites that you’ve watched or read to teach yourself photography? Were they helpful?
The first DVD I was ever given, (before I think the UPS man delivered my camera!) was MeRa’s  Refuse to Say Cheese and Behind the Green Box.  These two DVD’S were ‘literally’ my first introduction to photography…Before that, I was good with my point and shoot and hadn’t a clue what aperture meant.

Since then, I’ve spent a great deal of time with Creative Live and have invested in several class downloads, including Zach Arias, Bambi Cantrell, and Jasmine Star.  There are oodles and oodles of resources I have utilized to learn all that I have thus far, feel free to ask me more in my upcoming Ask and Learn session and I will happily share the various places I have learned from.

Q:  Can you tell us a fun back story behind this GREAT  photo!

Being incredibly influenced and quite frankly amazed by Barb Uil, I specifically intended to infuse a little Jinky into a recent family portrait session by stylizing it and planning the session with a clear creative vision.  You can ask me more about how I came to this specific vision, but suffice to say that I knew that in order to capture this boy’s true ‘essence’,  I had to capture him when he was completely engaged in something that allowed would allow me to capture a fabulous image of him in this stage in his life.  I brought a blue swatch of fabric that I normally wrap newborns with and when the time was right, I gave tied that swatch around his neck and watched him come alive…..  It was incredible!  And that is how I created this photo.

Q:  What type of camera equipment did you have when you first started shooting portraits? And what have you added to your camera bag since then?
I started with a Canon 30D and a nifty fifty (1.8).  From there, I purchased a 24-70L, an 85 1.8, a 70-200.  I upgraded my body to a 7D, but quickly decided I wanted the full frame 5D Mark  II (so I sold my 7D).  Most recently I’ve decided I love shooting with prime lenses and recently sold my 24-70 and then invested in the 50 1.2L (a yummy, yummy lens!).

Q:   How do you know about Me Ra and the SOAR! community?
I have always followed MeRa’s blog and learned of the SOAR community when the first scholarship became available; I was soooooo excited to apply…but, was sad to learn I was ineligible because I lived in Canada.   MeRa has always been an incredible motivation and source of inspiration….I was completely shocked and thrilled when Wendy approached me for this segment….I still can’t really believe I’m on MeRa’s blog!

…A BIG thank you to Tacey for sharing parts of her amazing journey and beautiful photos!  She is so excited to go into more depth with all of you tomorrow night on the Ask and Learn, so get registered for the forum and join us at 5pm PST, tomorrow evening!

Have a Super Day!
Wendy (Your SOAR Coordinator)!