Janet Kwan has not taken a direct path to where she is today. In fact, she didn’t aspire to do photography full-time! After years of now doing interior and lifestyle photography full-time in Toronto, though, Janet is creating a path for herself while working with clients she loves.
In this intimate chat, we learn about Janet’s career path, her views on investing in gear, her process with clients, and the value of building her own network.
Trust me, you’ll want to follow Janet on her journey as she makes waves in our industry!
(All photos by Janet Kwan)
Want to jump to certain topics? Here are some highlights:
0:50 - Hear about Janet’s journey to an unexpected career that is thriving today! “I never really thought of myself going down this path to become a photographer. It wasn’t in my plan.”
2:50 - Learn about how Janet’s experience with photography on the “back-end” helped give her insights that serve her commercial work today.
6:15 - With a mix of clients, is there an overlap in the process, workflow, and needs of interiors, lifestyle, and product photography? Hint: it’s all about having a plan!
11:00 - Learn about Janet’s hacks for on-location styling and time-savers!
14:35 - Hear the ins and outs of Janet’s process for a shoot once she arrives on site. “The first thing I like to do is take a tour.”
18:29 - Janet talks about how to determine the order of shooting each room in a house. “That is such a good question because I struggled with that when I first started.”
22:23 - Janet discusses the value of a shot list before a shoot, and how she communicates it with her clients. “I don’t want to be taking photos that I think are amazing but maybe for them they’re not able to use them.”
26:11 - We talk about pricing structures. Janet and I discuss what we each do, and how we got there.
34:04 - What things do we learn with time? Janet and I go over the things that we, as photographers, learn with experience.
35:53 - Learn what Janet shoots with and what she’s loving. We talk about mirrorless cameras and making the switch, tilt-shift lenses, tethering options, and lens focal lengths! “I actually just got a new camera.”
52:31 - Janet shares how she started offering consultations and who she’s been working with. “I learned that idea from a local photographer years ago.”
54:19 - Janet speaks to the power of building a network, both in general but also with fellow women of color. “Building that network is so important.”
Thank you so much for your time, Janet!
If you want to see more of Janet’s work and connect with her, you can find more information at www.janetkwan.com, on IG at @janetkwan, or on TikTok at @janetkwan.
Until next time,
xo
Natalia