Hello my lovelies.
Welcome to another episode of THE AUDACIOUS BABE PODCAST – Conversations About Family Photography With Claire Batey. So good to have you here. Hope you’re all well and you’re having a wonderful day.
Today I am really excited to introduce you to my good friend Claire Batey from Unscripted Photography. But before we dive into this interview, today’s episode is a bit different to the norm. This interview will be a 2-part episode. So I will share with you the first part of my conversations with Claire today and then have part 2 next week. We had such a good time chatting and I think all of the chat was very valuable and fun, so I didn’t want to edit it down and cut it into just one 30-45min long segment. But then again no one has time to listen to a 1.5 hour long conversation 🙂 So I’ve decided to turn it into a 2-parter instead.
Background info:
Claire and I have known each other for quite a few years now, she was my first British friend that I’ve made when I came over to the UK back in 2011. We have worked together in our former full time jobs in marketing and have become good friends over the years, before we both even turned our passions into businesses. She is an Essex Girl and used to live in Leigh-on-sea (one road down from me) but has moved up north to Northumberland in 2013. However, we’ve always stayed in contact. So naturally, when I was thinking about starting THE AUDACIOUS BABE and this podcast, I simply had to interview her. We both started our photography journey at different points in time, I started in 2012/2013 whereas Claire launched her business in 2015, nevertheless she has always been interested in photography and loved taking pictures all her life. But she will tell you all of her beginnings in our interview.
I decided to call these two episodes “Conversation with Claire Batey” as this is how the two episodes will be like really. We just got on a call and had a chat about photography. We cover loads of topics. In this part 1 we will chat about Claire’s photography journey and she will share her story how it all got started but then we also dive into some marketing tips on what she did to get noticed in the beginning and throughout her business years. Then we go on about time management and how she tries to juggle her busy family life with her business life. And we’re having a laugh about the horrors of the never ending to do list.
It was an absolute pleasure having Claire on the show. I hope you enjoy these two episodes as much as I had recording them. She is one hell of an audacious babe, don’t you think?!
If you have any questions for Claire, she is already part of our online community, so just head over here and join us! I’m sure she is more than happy to answer any of your questions!
Below you will see some examples of Claire’s wonderful work as well as a few background information PLUS all her social media links where you can find more of her.
Enjoy, my lovelies!
Magdalena x
Name: Claire Batey
Business Name: Unscripted Photography
Website: www.unscriptedphotography.co.uk
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/unscripted.byclairebatey
Instagram: www.instagram.com/unscripted.byclairebatey
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/unscriptedphotography
Short Bio:
I’ll be frank. Well, I’m Claire actually. But I always find it awkward when someone asks me this. As I suppose it’s still not really sunk in that I’m doing this photography thing for a living now. Heck – it’s too much fun to be work right?!? So about me. Where do I start?
My tagline is: Capturing {the beauty of} the EveryDay
And literally, that’s what I strive to do. And that’s what I’ve tried to do from the very moment I started Unscripted Photography.
I’m primarily a family documentary photographer, that also captures weddings for fun, family loving couples through imagery and film.
I have always had a love for photography. I was ALWAYS the one with a camera at school, whilst travelling, at the night club. Capturing everything. And I never really liked to pose people. I just loved capturing atmosphere and stories. A vampire then one day knocked my beloved camera (AKA the Beast) on the floor at a Hallowe’en party one day and it was full on busted. And so I took quite a considerable amount of “time off” from taking photographs and I missed it. I had various point and shoot cameras but I couldn’t get on without a viewfinder. And then one day someone had a DSLR for sale at work and my good friend Magda (AKA Miss Rise & Shine) told me what lens I should buy for taking photographs for my blog and so I bought a Nikon D5000 and a 50mm 1.8 (which I still use) and I was off. Taking pics of cakes at that time! And annoying my husband. Then Harry arrived. My muse. And after a little while of not know what to do with this small thing that mostly sucked on my boob failing to get milk for hours on end and when not doing that mostly just laid there looking at me, I started to take photos of him. A lot of photos. And then as the smiles started, the facial expressions and then the movement – oh bless that rolling, crawling ball of squishiness that used to military style crawl up to my legs and tug on my jeans, I was totally in love with capturing his days. EveryDay he was different. He would discover something new, get bigger, get stronger. So I felt compelled to capture each development.
Then, like so many other Mum-togs out there, friends started to see my pics on Facebook primarily and asked if I could help them to capture their families.
So after a failed crack at a cupcake baking business (f**K that for a packet of chips – a lot of work for no reward), hubby said, “this photography lark is totally your calling”. So after a lot of thought, I agreed. And Unscripted was born.
I immediately started with booking in a session with a beautiful family and I knew from the outset that I wanted to deliver both photography and film. So that’s what I did. So it’s been two years now doing both simultaneously during my documentary sessions. I really feel the film helps to embody the moment. And especially with children, whilst the photographs can tell a story in one frame, they don’t always deliver the movement so clearly – and that’s where the film comes in. Movement can totally deliver Emotion. And I have also discovered that when the men are hard to persuade to book a session – it’s the films that grab them.
So after a year, I started being pestered to book weddings. I didn’t want to shoot weddings. Yuck – the pressure. But I gave in and shot a wedding for a friend of the family and I LOVED it. So then I did another and I loved that one even more. And before I knew it, families who had booked me for family work started to book me for weddings. Then the commercial work started to come in for creative headshots, videos, product photography even.
So I don’t know where this is all going, but I’m totally enjoying the ride. And what I love is that I haven’t changed my style or my branding. I’m still Unscripted. Anyone who books me knows that I capture moments and I don’t pose. At the moment Unscripted Photography is part time whilst I look after my little man and my big man, but hopefully in a couple of years I would like to go full time and really push this baby forward. I’m very entrepreneurial, simply trapped by lack of time, certainly not lack of ideas. So I don’t see whey I can’t make this work. I don’t plan on hanging up my cameras for many many years – this is definitely my road to retirement and I LOVE LOVE LOVE working for myself. It’s just so much fun. Every element. Even the admin. Because it’s for me and no one else. And heck – I get to do podcasts now. Check me out ;o)
3-5 fun facts about yourself:
- My first car was a Ford Capri and her name was Helga
- My first and only pet was a gold fish by Sarah and she was eaten by my brother’s goldfish called Moby
- I have a golden streak in my hair and it’s 100% natural – my Dad said it was from rusty sperm, whilst friend’s parents at primary school used to ask my Mum if she died my hair.
- One of my biggest gripes is that they don’t do mayo in UK McDonalds!
- I’m guilty of eating chocolate or cake behind Harry’s back so he can’t see, but tell him that he can’t have any sweet treats when he tells me he’s hungry!
