We had the good fortune of connecting with Jane Beiles and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jane, what do you attribute your success to?
Well, you can never discount the role of luck, paired with hard work for any success. But I do believe something that distinguishes my brand is my genuine desire to meet my client’s objectives with every project. In-depth questions about their hopes and intentions for their own brand guide every photoshoot much more than my just my vision. In my specialty, a happy client means I’ve succeeded.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love my work photographing spaces. I am genuinely delighted to visit each new shoot site and I think my enthusiasm and fresh eyes, always searching for the features that will translate well and speak to the singularity of the location have made my photographs so well-received. Was it easy you ask? Well, I think my optimism might be inherent and my love for translating the world into two-dimensions was handed down by my artistically-talented mother and many, many Art History courses made it not so hard. However, mastering PhotoShop was by no means easy and keeping up with the rapidly-changing developments in digital photography and processing can be time-consuming and challenging. But mastering the hard things is always entirely satisfying!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, since this publication focuses on my home state of Michigan, I’ll take you to my college town of Ann Arbor. We’ll stay on campus – I love the lodgings one can secure in University buildings, but those can be in short supply, so best commercial bets are The Graduate Hotel or the Bell Tower Hotel. We will most definitely visit the University of Michigan’s Law Quad, where the law library was my favorite undergraduate study spot and the Gothic-style architecture of the buildings sets quite the “academic” tone. We would visit the UMMA, the university’s beautiful art museum where I volunteered as an intern and has since been beautifully expanded (hello, Picasso). There is more good food in Ann Arbor than could be consumed in a single week but must-trys for a new visitor would include a chipati from Pizza Bob’s, Count Twists at Good Time Charley’s, bibimbap at Bobjib, Italian at Palio (I was a server at the same location under its former name “Quality Bar” and it’s still owned by the same parent company “Main Street Ventures”) and a Georgia Reuben at Zingerman’s. Shopping stops include Bivouac on South State Street for outdoorsy-apparel and even fashionable denim – the seamstress on the lower level is incredible with jean hems and one of my favorite Ann-Arborites, the cool boutiques at KerryTown and my favorite little quirky bookstore, Dawn Treader.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout is to Kelsey Banfield Coaching. At a crossroads in life with a newly-emptied nest, having recently moved to a new town and past the decade mark in my business, I wanted to re-evaluate goals and opportunities for my career. Kelsey’s thoughtful approach to business coaching not only helped me to identify my core values for both my business and life but also sparked me to action to achieve a major bucket-list item, publishing a book. My first session with Kelsey was January 24th of this year and merely 26 weeks later in July, I was reviewing final drafts of my first book “52 Weeks: A Pictureful Planner for Inspiration & Organization”. Some amazing women from one generation down were also instrumental in bringing this dream to fruition. My daughter Hadley, a talented photographer in her own right, provided three beautiful landscape photographs from the American West to round out the images in the planner. She also took my author photo and got me comfortable in front of the lens (I much prefer the other side). Also, my two New Canaan High School senior interns were instrumental in the book’s layout and completion – I am grateful to Skylar Bennett and Mia Barlow for their amazing work compiling our first draft.

Website: https://www.janebeiles.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janebeilesphoto/

Image Credits
Jane Beiles except PORTRAIT of me and mountains are by Hadley Beiles

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