Life & Work with Eliza Zarr of Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliza Zarr.

Hi Eliza, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My photography journey began around 10 years ago as I headed into college. I grew up around my dad’s camera equipment, he’s always had an eye for photography, and my best friend asked me if I could borrow his camera to take photos of her and her boyfriend. I knew the basics, but for some reason had this itch to look up YouTube videos to really learn what it took to set the camera up and take a great photo. I left the shoot feeling so fulfilled, and that quickly spiraled into me asking friends to model so I could practice. Fast-forward a bit and photography became a side gig while I also waited tables through college. After graduating, I moved to Manhattan and landed a job for a restaurant group. Admittedly, I moved with 0 job and 0 plan other than to make things work. When I saw the listing looking for someone with photography experience, restaurant experience, and a degree in marketing, I knew I struck gold. I managed the social media for 7 of their restaurants and captured every seasonal menu change. This job pushed me creatively and was truly just the best. Eventually though, I moved back to Phoenix and began working for a marketing agency based out of LA with a desire to diversify my marketing experience. Part of my role was to manage and produce content shoots for our clients. I immediately fell in love with producing content shoots, and continually found myself wishing to be behind the camera capturing the moments. Long story short, two years passed, and I bet on myself to make it work. I’m a huge believer that you can make anything you want to happen for yourself happen, so I figured let’s try this freelance thing out. My one year as a full-time photographer lands on September 15th and I get so giddy any time someone asks me what I do for work. How cool that I get to say I’m a photographer?! This year has forced me to grow in basically every direction. I’ve captured photos for the most wonderful clients in so many different markets and categories and love being able to say “yes” to new opportunities.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge has been to take the leap to making photography my sole focus. It’s really scary to employ yourself, so I give major props to anyone that does. As soon as I learned to trust myself though, I realized that everything falls into place, and you’re often rewarded for risk taking.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in portrait photography. While I dabble in just about anything, my current focus is on brand and lifestyle photography. If you’re a family, expecting a child, have a newborn, are releasing a new product line, a restaurant with a new menu, a grad, need headshots or a branding shoot for your business, newly engaged, or are having a wedding, I’m your girl. I think eventually I will niche down, but due to my agency experience, I actually really like being able to dabble in different types of shoots. Again, having experience in marketing has helped me tremendously, especially on brand shoots, because I know what it’s like to sit in the shoes of the creative director, producer, and social media manager. It’s allowed me to have such a unique perspective and understanding of what exactly the brand is looking for, and I think it definitely sets me apart in the industry.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Personally, success for me is defined by a couple factors. Definitely client satisfaction, and then I would say a full schedule. Referrals are super important to me as well!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elizapaigephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizapaigephoto/

Image Credits
All photos including my headshot are my own.