meet Audrey Woulard

The next few weeks on the Savvy blog we will feature women who inspire us.

We are thrilled to kick off our "Inspiring Women" series with the talented Audrey Woulard.

Thank you for joining us Audrey!

How long have you been a professional photographer?

I'm in my 7th year

Did you start off as a success or spend some time figuring it all out {how to make the money}?

No... I didn't start off as a success.  I wasn't one of those photog's that instantly had people beating down my door as soon as I hung out my shingle.  It took a few years for me to figure out me as a photographer.  Once I was able to do that...it trickled down to the business part.  I will say once I figured out ME, the business came quite quickly.

When you first started photography, did you have a mentor that was instrumental in your success?

There were two people that really gave me invaluable advise during  just casual conversations. Lori Nordstrom and Catherine Huch.

Honestly, how do feel about being in a field that is so saturated in photographers?

That’s a hard question for me.  On one hand, when I came into the business, it wasn't as saturated, and I was able to really find my voice in a room that wasn't so crowded....so I can say I really don't have any feelings on it.  On the other hand, because I work with so many photographers starting out, I see them struggle with the oversaturation...so it bothers me at time when I see them struggle to find their voice.

How do you think someone can stand out in this business?

Its important to play on your strengths and things that only you can do, or offer.  For the most part, many photographers think that it is a product, prop, or action that will make you stand out in a crowd.  I tend to think one should look inward for that "thing"...because once you do that, you will find something that can't be duplicated because it is exclusive to you.

We'd love to hear your top 5 list of advice "to inspire" other photographers... Im not sure how inspiring these will be for others, but these are some things I do that tend to inspire me!

1. Watch people.  Watch the way people interact with each other even when you're not photographing.  If you do it enough it will be a blueprint in your head on how people intertwine with each other.  I find watching siblings interact with each other when I am at the grocery store, resturant, or even Target inspiring.

2. Frame things in your head.  If your driving in the car, look at a stop sign and frame it in your head.  Just look at things and compose it as if you were taking a picture.  It will give you a new perspective on composition...

3. Allow yourself to inspire yourself.  Many times new photographers look at other photographers work and they begin that evil comparison game!  If you compare yourself to yourself...you will see just how much you have grown as a photographer.

4. Look at furniture design magazines.  Not only will it give you a new spin on color coordination, but the composition in a lot of furniture pictures is very inspiring.

5. Take pictures of just things with a regular camera.  Sometimes the technical aspect of photography can suck the life out of you when you're at a photo session.  If you start to take pictures of just leaves, flowers, shoes, etc with a point and shoot...it will give you a new perspective!

We all have our special family traditions for the Holidays, will you share with us a few of yours?

We have what we call Family Day in December and that is when we exchange gifts.  On Christmas... we tend to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and we don't exchange gifts on that day.  We do this because of the over commercialization of Christmas.

Please help all of those photographers struggling to keep up in this busy season...how do you maintain a "happy" life during the Holidays?

I found over the years that Holiday cards were the biggest time sucker for me, so when I stopped doing them back in 2006.. I haven't been happier!!

What's on your Christmas list? rest!

And lastly...have you even started on your Christmas Card? :) No.. Im weird.. I never send Christmas Cards, or any card!

Thank you so much for joining us!

To see more os Audrey's work, visit her website or follow her work on facebook.