How to Build a Successful Photography Business: Lessons from Ulla Jensen
Angela Adams talks to Ulla Jensen
Building a successful photography business doesn’t necessarily begin with a carefully planned business strategy.
For photographer Ulla Jensen, it began almost by accident.
After an injury left her with a stiff wrist and a long recovery ahead of her, Ulla’s physiotherapist suggested taking up knitting. Instead, Ulla decided that learning to use a camera might be a more interesting way of getting movement back into her wrist.
She bought an entry-level Nikon DSLR.
At the time, she had little idea what she was doing.
That first camera eventually led her from landscape photography to portraiture, from experimenting with studio lighting to opening her own full-time studio. Today, photography has become far more than a hobby for Ulla — it is a business built around connection, creativity and helping her clients feel good about themselves.
Her journey offers some valuable lessons for anyone looking to build a sustainable photography business.
Sometimes the best photography careers begin unexpectedly
Ulla’s route into professional photography wasn’t carefully mapped out.
After discovering photography during her recovery, she initially spent around a year photographing landscapes. The process became therapeutic, helping her both physically and mentally.
Her curiosity then led her to try something completely different: portrait photography and studio lighting.
She rented a studio for a day and invited friends to model for her.
One of those friends became emotional when she saw the resulting photographs.
That moment changed everything.
Within a year, Ulla had left her job, moved from Belgium back to Denmark and opened her own full-time photography studio.
It is a useful reminder that there isn’t necessarily one correct route into professional photography. Sometimes experimenting with a new genre or technique can reveal something you didn’t know you wanted to pursue.
Find what you love photographing
Ulla has discovered that her favourite subjects are women.
Her portrait sessions are about more than simply creating technically good photographs. She wants her clients to feel empowered and confident.
Her clients have come to her at significant moments in their lives — after losing weight, following a divorce, recovering from serious illness, starting a new chapter or celebrating a milestone.
Some return every year for another portrait session.
This has become a major part of what makes her business distinctive.
For photographers building their own businesses, this is an important question to consider:
What do you genuinely enjoy photographing?
Your answer doesn’t have to be a conventional niche.
Some photographers thrive by specialising in a very specific type of client or photography. Others, like Ulla, prefer variety.
She photographs all kinds of people and deliberately avoids restricting herself to a narrow target market because she believes she would become bored.
There is no universally correct approach.
The important thing is to understand what works for you.
You don’t have to follow somebody else’s business model
Photography business advice often comes in the form of formulas.
Choose a niche.
Post every day.
Attend networking events.
Build a huge social media following.
Create endless videos.
Run advertising campaigns.
Send newsletters.
While all of these things can be useful, copying somebody else’s business model doesn’t guarantee that it will work for you.
Ulla has built her business around relationships and personal connection.
Her advice is simple:
“Connection and consistency are my watchwords.”
For her, providing an excellent experience consistently is one of the most effective forms of marketing.
Happy clients return.
Happy clients recommend you to their friends.
And recommendations can be incredibly valuable for a photography business.
Word of mouth can be powerful photography marketing
When asked how she attracts clients, Ulla’s answer is straightforward: word of mouth.
It’s one of the oldest forms of marketing, but it remains particularly relevant to photography.
A potential client is often more comfortable booking a photographer when someone they trust has recommended them.
That means every client interaction is potentially part of your marketing.
The photographs matter, of course, but so does the experience surrounding them.
Consider the entire customer journey:
- How quickly do you respond to enquiries?
- Is your communication friendly and professional?
- Do clients know what to expect?
- Do you make them feel comfortable during the shoot?
- How do you present their photographs?
- Do you follow up afterwards?
- Do you make it easy for them to recommend you?
- Do you stay in touch with previous clients?
A great photograph can win a client.
A great experience can create a repeat client and generate referrals.
Your client experience can become part of your brand
Ulla’s approach demonstrates that your brand isn’t simply your logo, website or colour scheme.
It’s the experience people have when they deal with you.
For Ulla, connection and simplicity are important parts of her photographic identity.
That philosophy can be seen in the way she talks about her clients. She is particularly conscious of the trust people place in her, especially when they arrive at the studio during vulnerable or significant periods of their lives.
This is particularly important for portrait photographers.
A client may be nervous about being photographed. They may not feel confident in front of a camera. They may have gone through a major life change.
The photographer’s job isn’t simply to operate the camera.
It’s to create an environment where the client feels comfortable enough to be themselves.
That emotional side of photography can become a powerful differentiator.
You don’t need to do everything yourself
Ulla runs her business largely on her own.
She wears most of the hats, although she outsources her bookkeeping and collaborates with hairdressers and make-up artists.
Working alone gives her the freedom she wants.
But she also recognises that there are areas of the business that she finds difficult to keep on top of.
Website management, SEO, marketing, social media and PR are all areas where she admits she is often behind.
This is an important lesson for photographers who are running their own businesses.
Being self-employed doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in everything.
You may be an outstanding photographer but struggle with accounting.
You may be brilliant with clients but dislike social media.
You may love taking photographs but hate editing.
Recognising where you need help can be just as important as understanding your strengths.
Outsourcing certain tasks can free up time to concentrate on the parts of the business where you create the most value.
Keep learning
Ulla’s success didn’t happen overnight.
She describes spending many hours studying and developing her skills, particularly when she first established her business.
That commitment to learning hasn’t stopped.
Photography competitions have become one of the ways she continues to challenge herself.
She primarily enters client work, although she occasionally creates personal projects specifically for competitions.
For Ulla, competition isn’t simply about winning.
It provides an opportunity to evaluate her work, learn from experienced judges and push herself creatively.
Photography competitions can be valuable education
Ulla particularly enjoyed attending the live 20×16 print judging at The Society’s Convention.
Watching experienced photographers and judges analyse images gave her another perspective on her own work.
This is one of the less obvious benefits of entering photography competitions.
Even when an image doesn’t win, the process can help you understand:
- What makes an image stand out
- How judges assess technical quality
- How composition affects impact
- Whether your idea is communicated clearly
- Where your photography could improve
- How your work compares with other photographers
Entering competitions can therefore become part of a photographer’s continuing professional development.
The goal isn’t always the trophy.
Sometimes the education is the real prize.
Don’t be afraid to build your own definition of success
Perhaps the most inspiring part of Ulla’s story is how far she has travelled from where she started.
More than a decade ago, she moved back to Denmark as a single mother and opened a full-time studio in a small town of around 600 inhabitants.
She had only been photographing for around two years and had no previous business experience.
People told her she was mad.
She did it anyway.
It wasn’t easy. It required study, determination and a considerable amount of hard work.
But she built the business she wanted.
Her advice to photographers starting out is refreshingly direct:
“Go for your dreams, follow your intuition and listen only to your cheerleaders.”
It’s good advice, provided it is accompanied by the other part of Ulla’s message: keep learning and put the work in.
Dreams alone don’t build photography businesses.
Consistent effort does.
Find a business model that suits your personality
There is no single blueprint for becoming a successful photographer.
Some photographers want to specialise.
Others want variety.
Some want employees and a large studio.
Others value the freedom of working alone.
Some photographers love networking.
Others would rather develop their business through SEO, referrals, email marketing or personal relationships.
Some want photography to become their entire career.
Others want a business that provides flexibility around other commitments.
Understanding what you want from photography can help you make better decisions about how you run your business.
The question isn’t simply:
“What are successful photographers doing?”
It is:
“What kind of photography business do I want to build?”
Keep your clients at the centre
Ulla’s approach comes back repeatedly to one idea: connection.
Her clients trust her to photograph important moments in their lives. In return, she wants to provide an experience that leaves them feeling confident, happy and valued.
That relationship can become one of the strongest foundations of a photography business.
Excellent photographs matter.
Technical ability matters.
Marketing matters.
Pricing matters.
But none of those things exist in isolation.
Photography is ultimately about people.
If you can understand your clients, understand yourself and consistently deliver an experience that people value, you give your business something that is much harder for competitors to copy.
Ulla Jensen’s photography business lessons
Ulla’s story can be distilled into a few simple principles:
Find what you love.
You are more likely to build a sustainable career around photography that genuinely interests you.
Create your own path.
A strategy that works for another photographer may not be right for you.
Build relationships.
Your clients can become your most powerful source of recommendations.
Be consistent.
Great service shouldn’t be something you provide occasionally.
Keep learning.
Photography competitions, education and constructive feedback can all help you develop.
Know your strengths.
Spend more time doing what you do well and consider getting help with the areas that hold you back.
Don’t be afraid to take a chance.
Ulla’s career began almost accidentally, but curiosity eventually led her to make photography her profession.
Most importantly, remember that there is no single definition of success in photography.
The business you build should reflect your ambitions, your personality and the clients you want to serve.
As Ulla’s own story demonstrates, sometimes the biggest step is simply deciding to give it a try.
About Ulla Jensen
Ulla Jensen is a professional portrait photographer based in Denmark. Her photography focuses particularly on women and creating empowering portrait experiences for her clients.
Her approach is built around connection, simplicity and creating images that make people feel good about themselves.
This article is adapted from an interview with Ulla Jensen by Angela Adams for Professional Imagemaker.
