Celebrating 18 Years of Business!

May 17, 2023 in LOVEe, For The Pro's, Editorial, Commercial

Today marks 18 years of business. Wow. What started as a little dream of being a photographer and working for myself, has turned into four separate but connected businesses. It has also required me to show up – every day – for 18 years; it has taught me tenacity, resilience, and just how believing in yourself (and more importantly, those around you) can lead to creating such beautiful things.

I’ve always been an advocate of collaboration and building the businesses over the years has happened very organically because of it. I’ve been so lucky to have such talented artists come through our studio doors and be a part of the work. I’ve been even luckier to have retained such incredible talent for so many of these years. The work that we create together is what I am endlessly proud of.

So, where are we now? At Year 18, here’s an update on all of the things we’re doing at our NE MPLS studio:

The Restaurant Project™: This is the youngest but fastest growing branch of our business. Over the last 6 years, TRP has grown into a collective of photographers, creatives, videographers, brand builders and content strategists who make marketing easier for restaurants and food brands. This year, we're working to refine our processes, make space for artistic exploration and develop a few new packages to offer, particularly for businesses in the startup stage looking for a one-stop creative shop. We're very excited for what's to come here—for our clients and our team!

Rivets and Roses: Our wedding photography studio currently features the work of four AMAZING photographers. As Melissa, Jess, Ben, and Tara embark on this year’s wedding season, I am so excited to see the work that they will all create for our clients. Every season I am endlessly inspired by their work! Our mission at Rivets is to support all couples getting married. With PRIDE month coming up in June, our studio will be rolling out information on the ways that we are continuing to support the LGBTQ+ community. I am so very proud of this work and the impact it is making for our clients.

Eliesa Johnson Photography: I’m still rolling along with this work! Eliesa Johnson Photography encompasses all of the editorial and commercial work that I personally lead. It’s a beautiful place where I get to go on assignment with just me and my camera or even better, a large production crew of the best freelancers around. There are some very exciting projects I’ve been working on that I can’t wait to share once they are released!

Photogen Inc.: This is the original company; the foundation of it all. It has been steady and strong over the years. Photogen Inc. is the space where I come to photograph luxury weddings, which have taken me around the world. I am so grateful for these opportunities! Photographing weddings is still something that I greatly enjoy and it grounds me. I have had the pleasure of working alongside some of the absolute best wedding vendors, who are true artists in their own right! While I only choose a select few weddings each year now to photograph, I am always excited to see where each season will take me and the amazing couples and families I get to spend time with!

What are my hopes for the future?

To empower our clients

To support our artists

To create iconic images

To continue to have longevity in our industry

Zoe Francois | Bake from Scratch Magazine

May 18, 2020 in Editorial

Right before Covid-19 really hit here in the United States, I was just coming back from maternity leave. I was eager to get behind the camera again (I still am) and the first photo shoot I had scheduled was with the one-and-only Zoe Francois. I am lucky enough to also call Zoe a friend, but this was the first time she was officially in front of my camera and it was a joy!

Here’s the thing about Zoe Francois. She is wildly talented, incredibly driven and also just as fun as she seems to be from her follow-worthy Instagram feed and blog, Zoe Bakes! Bake from Scratch Magazine featured Zoe in their current issue for their Bakers Profile article and we spent the day in her home kitchen…ahem, amazing office. Zoe’s smile is contagious, which made my job extra easy and of course her food is absolutely gorgeous! A big thank you to Editor in Chief, Brian Hart Hoffman, for being a part of this shoot, all the way from Birmingham! We had a blast!

Client: Bake from Scratch Magazine

Editor in Chief: Brian Hart Hoffman

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Talent: Zoe Francois

Assistant: Melissa Hesse

BEHIND THE SCENES

Mpls / St Paul Weddings Magazine | Spring / Summer 2020

April 13, 2020 in Editorial, Fashion

A lot has changed in the last six months, let along a single day right now in our world! On the bright side, I have some new work to share that is rolling out on newsstands. Last fall I photographed the fashion editorial for the Spring / Summer 2020 issue of Mpls / St Paul Weddings Magazine and I love the energy that these image have!

Our goal was to create images that focused on movement and motion with the dresses. We photographed this shoot at the new Backspace Mpls studio and had a dream-team of talent on set! Besides our crew, talented photographer Michael Spear joined our team to assist for the day and he took some stellar behind-the-scene photographs with his film camera. They are so cool, make sure to check them out below!

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Editor: Emily Howald Sefton

Style Editor: Madeline Nachbar

Creative Director: Michael Norseng

Deputy Creative Director: Kim Jackson

Talent: Katherine Preston, Arquette Agency

Hair & Makeup: Fatima Olive

Assistant: Melissa Hesse and Michael Spear

Post Production: Hunny Digital

BEHIND THE SCENES//

Images by Michael J Spear

A Guide to Being a Freelance Photographer During COVID-19

March 18, 2020 in For The Pro's

A Guide to Being a Freelance Photographer During Coronavirus

The latest update to this blog is May 18th, 2020.

As freelancers, we are use to being nimble, creative and flexible, which I believe are all things that are going to help us get through this time. In all of my research these past few days, there is an overarching theme: Be ready in 3-6 months to work really, really hard.

Let me start by saying that I’m not an expert at being a freelancer during a pandemic. I’m also not a lawyer or giving legal advice. I am also not a certified public accountant and am not offering accounting advice. The rules are being written by the day and by the hour. Information and decisions keep changing, so what is true as I publish this might not be true an hour from now. I encourage all of you to keep up to date and make your own, informed decisions on how to run your business best. With that said, this is my attempt to put together some ideas and thoughts that might be helpful for us all. On March 18th, I hosted an online conversation that can be seen here where the following information was talked about and discussed — and a place where we could all come together for group therapy. I’ll be continuing to host these every Wednesday at 10am CST. Register here for April 15th conversation.

Like I said, I don’t have all of the answers, but I do know that if we come together as a community, we are always better. Without further adieu, here is The Guide to a Freelance Photographer during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

***Click here to listen + view the full group talk on March 18th!***

FEDERAL RELIEF RESOURCES FOR FREELANCERS

Payroll Protection Program:

This is a loan in which you can receive 2.5x your average monthly payroll over the last 12 months and portions of the loan are forgivable. The purpose of this loan is to make it possible for you to pay your employees, independent contractors, rent, utilities, and insurance premiums.
If you use the funds to cover the approved costs, the loan amount will be forgiven.
No personal guarantee is required.
April 3rd: Small Businesses + Sole Proprietors can begin to apply.
April 10th: Independent Contractors + Self Employed Individuals can begin to apply.
8 Week Window: When you receive this money, an 8 week clock begins. You must use these funds within this amount of time. If you use the money for approved expenses, the loan will be forgiven. After the 8 week period, the money is converted into a note (loan) and you will have 10 years at no more than a 4% interest rate to repay. You also have 6 months with no interest or principal payments. You can think of this as a line of credit for cash on hand.
Commissions, Tips, Health Insurance Premiums, etc. are all included in your payroll. Independent Contractor Payments are not included if you are the owner of the company claiming 1099 contractors on your payroll.
You must apply for the PPP thru your bank. Some people are having quicker response / success from smaller banks, so I encourage you to reach out to your banker. Here is a link to the PPP Application Form and you will also need to prove additional payroll documentation, which your banker can help you out with.
Learn more about the Payroll Protection Program in this article and I'd suggest checking out this podcast!
Here’s a great article, specifically for Sole Proprietors & Independent Contractors and the PPP Loan.
Paycheck Protection Program: Loan Forgiveness Application from the SBA

SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan:

This loan is offered directly thru the federal government. It’s similar to the Payroll Protection Program, but instead of using the funds only towards payroll expenses, it also can also be used to help with costs related to supply chain interruption due to Covid-19.
If you use the funds to cover the approved costs, portions of this loan may be forgiven.
A $1000 per employee and up to a $10,000 advance, which is likely to be considered a grant, is also available within 3 days. You may qualify for more than this - the initial money is just to help you right away!
This is a 30 year loan with a 3.75% interest rate.
Personal Guarantee is required for this loan
You must apply for the EIDL Loan through the sba.gov website and here is the link!
Here is a great article to show the difference between the PPP and EIDL loans!

Confused as to which loan to apply for? You’re not alone! Below is a graphic to help explain the difference between the two loans and I also encourage you to read over this Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act, put out by the US Senate.

MINNESOTA : PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

This is new - and fantastic - for those of us in Minnesota! The state just opened up unemployment assistance to independent contractors and self employed individuals!

Before applying, I encourage you to read this *super helpful guide to applying!
Apply online for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program!

THE STATE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY

For those of us in Weddings and Events:

Clients are hoping to postpone rather than cancel events all together. Vendors are needing to stay flexible to reschedule.
Predictions are that most of us will make a recovery within 6 months and that everything will fully normalize within one year.
Connect with your network - if you are booked on a rescheduled date, have the right people your trust ready to send referrals to, who know will represent your brand well on your recommendation.
This could go two ways:
- (1) Bookings into 2021 could be affected because people are not planning right now for the following year; OR
- (2) Bookings will be double, because people are going to be ready to celebrate when this is all over.
Going forward for a while, expect smaller budgets and group sizes.
Don’t lower your rates but stay flexible with people.
The good news is that people will continue to get married and have events. Eventually.
We are thankfully not in the middle of peak wedding season as this pandemic is happening.
People will always hire a photographer.

For those of us in Editorial and Commercial Photography:

Everything is on hold / we’re just in a holding pattern.
Clients are currently planning on moving forward when this is all over.
If you had a job booked, it seems like editorial and commercial clients are paying kill fees.
Clients are being conscious of their vendors: a large corporation will probably be just fine after this, but the small, independent business partner you have might not. How can you work together both keep cash flow alive and support small business?
Magazines will still be made. Some editorial publications have worked ahead enough for 3-5 months, others only for 2 months. Online content will be updated regularly.
Editorial and Commercial work fully intends to continue to hire photographers, instead of relying on stock photography, when we’re all safe to resume.

BE PROACTIVE DURING THE PANDEMIC

Simple Things:

Do not work if you are sick or at risk to expose anyone else to COVID-19.
Don’t panic on social media. The messaging you put out right now will say a lot in this next year.
Focus on creative work for the first 90 minutes of your day. I bet you’ll feel happier and more productive!
Update your websites, portfolios, etc.
Reach out to our clients, letting them know that we will be ready when they are.
- Is there a way you can help them from afar with imagery?
- Encourage your clients to postpone vs. cancel.
- Remember that we have to keep moving even though it feels like the world is not.
Be conservative with your money.
- Do your taxes and get your finances in order. It will make it easier for you to get relief offerings if that happens and you’re eligible. Knowing where you stand with your money might be hard, but could not be more important right now.
- Check in, respectfully, on outstanding invoices.
- Call your bank or mortgage company to see if they can defer payments or refinance to free up cash. People are having luck with this!
- Seek legal counsel as to legal issues surrounding contract? (you might be able to take a loss on any income / jobs lost during this time on your taxes for 2020 — maybe…)
- Look to see if you have any business interruption coverage in your business insurance policy. If you do, it’s usually under the property clause.
Stay collaborative. Outside of 6 feet.
- How can we be there for each other during this time, both locally and nationally? Who can we connect with to send referrals to, if needed, as things re-book?
- Test Shoots / Get inspired - if you shoot food, what are you cooking in your house? How can you do some personal projects while you’re at home?
- Meet with your team. Even if you don’t have an ‘official’ team, we all have our people. It’s in our nature to stay connected and it is good for us all. Technology is incredible right now.
We can learn something from all of this.
- Plan for the future and create a plan that can make your business more sustainable through harder times.
- Fallout will happen again. Maybe not in the form of a global pandemic, but markets can crash; things can happen. What if you got injured or sick? Be ready!
- It might seem insensitive to say right now, but it’s a hard truth of being a freelancer. You need to have enough to “weather the storm” when you’re in business for yourself. Build up that savings!
- The rules are still being written for relief efforts of COVID-19. Write to your representatives if you believe in something, change is happening now!
Even after this all dies down, COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere.
- Consult a lawyer about any contract addendums or changes that might need to be made as a result of COVID-19 and to protect yourself for future photo shoots. (There’s a link below for some legal resources).

GET READY TO WORK — REALLY HARD

Things are going to be different for a while. It’s not just going to go back to ‘business as usual’.
You may have been comfortable, now everyone is uncomfortable. With this comes growth.
Cash flow isn’t going to be there right away for our clients, and people are going to be very conservative with their money as they recover their losses. We’re simply going to need to work harder for our money. This applies to everyone.
There might not be much help right now, but when the work is there, double up. Work twice as hard in 2021 to recover your losses from 2020.

RESOURCES

Photo Industry:

ASMP: Safety While Shooting Guide - lots of useful information on policies and procedure guidelines!

ASMP: COVID-19 Info Hub

Mental Health:

National Alliance on Mental Illness

CDC Article: Managing Stress and Anxiety

Coping with Stress During infectious Disease Outbreaks

Pollen Midwest - Are You Okay? Campaign

Corepower Free Online Yoga

Financial Support:

Two Types of Loans are available, you can ONLY accept one of these loans. Read about their differences here:

Paycheck Protection Program + PPP Application Link - You will need to apply directly thru your bank - local banks are the way to go!

Paycheck Protection Program: Loan Forgiveness Application from the SBA

SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan:

Apply via the Federal SBA Website - $1,000 per Employee and up to $10,000 advance grant is available

Forbes: Who Qualifies for Federal Paid Sick Leave - Freelancers are eligible!

Format Photographers Fund - giving away $25,000!

Facebook Small Business Grants

Federal Disaster Relief Program

COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources

Artist Rescue Trust - 3 Months of $500 grants available for artists

Minnesota Specific Links:

MN Unemployment Website + GREAT PDF on how to fill out the application for Self Employed / Independent Contractors

Springboard for the Arts Personal Emergency Fund

90 Day Extension to pay Taxes

Reece Law + The Creative’s Council: COVID-19 Resources, including free downloads for contract addendums

As information continues to change, I’ll do my best to keep up with these helpful links!

Brightwater | Fall + Winter 2019 / 2020 Look Book

December 16, 2019 in Editorial, Fashion

This last spring, I had the true pleasure of photographing another look book for Brightwater Clothing! Many of you might remember last year’s spectacular photo shoot and this year’s roundup was just as fantastic! Shop owner Bill Damberg and his team brought together an amazing group of people to be a part of this project and I am, once again, thrilled at how this turned out. We even had some super idyllic snow fall JUST as we were about to wrap - it was the perfect moment for sure.

Below are some of my favorite spreads from the look book, which is designed by Bethany at Grayscale. A big thank you to everyone who was a part of this shoot!

BEHIND THE SCENES//

Mpls / St Paul Magazine | 2019 Best of Restaurants

March 12, 2019 in Editorial

I am SO excited and SO proud of the March issue of Minneapolis / St. Paul Magazine! This month features the 2019 Best Restaurants and as always, we were thrilled to be a part of this story. Fifty restaurants are mentioned in this package, but we photographed six for the feature. This included The Lynhall, Café Alma, Union Kitchen, The Grand Cafe, Lat 14 and In Bloom. We are personally big fans of all these restaurants, so it was a pleasure to create these images that the magazine used in such a big way!

Diana Scanlon worked along side us to style the food in many of these images and her pink gloves were a theme in our behind the scene photos! She’s also the genius behind how we got that gold fork to look so perfect on the cover! Of course, the MSP Art team of Kim Jackson and Mike Norseng also played an incredible role in the design and ideas of the feature! I love how these images turned out and hope you do, too!

BEHIND THE SCENES//

Liam //

January 07, 2019 in Portrait

I love taking a portrait of someone. It’s a moment and time in their life. I also love the challenge of making a picture that truly shows who that person is. Liam James Doyle has been an assistant on our team for a good few years now, but even more than that, he is an incredible photojournalist. Mark my words - this man is going to do incredibly big things in the world and I can’t wait to see what that is! When he asked me to photograph him to update his portrait, of course I said yes. I absolutely love the energy of how these turned out and to me, they are perfect!

LOVEe

Year Twelve

October 20, 2017 in LOVEe, For The Pro's

“I’m hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That’s what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glowed. I think that’s from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.”

— Jay Z

September marked my twelfth year of business and in many ways I feel like all of our companies are hitting their strides. It's been a great year. I also will always refer to my brands as 'ours', because my team and our clients have everything to do with our success. It's not just mine - it is all of ours.

I was lucky enough to be photographed by Nate Ryan a few weeks ago and I was reflecting a bit on who I am now and where I strive to be. Nate's work is some of the best and he's also a person who has just about as many shoots as I do per week. His hustle is real and it has been exciting to watch his work grow over the years. He's refining it, he's perfecting it and he's making it happen - and it's so good. That consistency and discipline is key to being an artist and a freelancer. Back to my point - it has been a while since I updated my pictures and I wanted to be able to look back at these and remember who I was during this time. I didn't want them to be a quick Instagram photo - I wanted an official portrait. I wanted something strong and powerful, with a true sense of self, because that is what I feel at year twelve.

In many ways I still think of myself as a girl with her camera. But I am also a woman who is 5 brands strong, who works with the best team of dedicated people, who can look around the city and celebrate the success of other artists who have passed through our studio doors and ultimately work to create progressive and consistently strong work for their clients.

Right there, that word create is the magic I am talking about. It's my goal to make a well established body of work that is iconic. It means gathering inspiration from the world, but not directly copying work that has already been done. It means pushing the boundaries and being brave enough to believe in our ideas. It means collaborating with the best and always learning from my team. It means listening. It means doing what I believe in and also not giving a fuck about the bullshit.

A friend recently borrowed me a book about a photographer named Edward Curtis. He became popular in the 1900's for his work documenting American Indians. While reading the pages, there is so much I can relate to, but this is one of my favorite lines:

“I want to make them (American Indians) live forever. It’s such a big dream I can’t see it all.”

— Edward Curtis

Looking to the future of what is next in life and businesses, there is so much more to come. I can't wait to see what that holds.

LOVEe

ELIESA JOHNSON // New Brand Identity!

September 16, 2016 in LOVEe

Brand identity work by Dschwen

I am super excited to share the new identities of all of our companies! This is our eleventh year of business and as our work and businesses grow and become more refined, so do our brands. Last year, we took on the big project of updating all of our websites and this year brought along the next phase of that project, which was to unify all of the brands. We worked with the brilliant mind of David Schwen of Dschwen to bring this all together and I am SO happy with how it turned out! Each company still has it's own individual presence, while still feeling cohesive with all we do here in the studio.

The new logo for ELIESA JOHNSON was inspired by how I sign my prints. The old logo was my full signature, but how I really sign my work is simply with an 'e'. I love the simplicity of the logo and can't wait to roll our more design elements and portfolio books with this! You'll also notice that we have new fonts, which are easier to read on the site!