Meet Heather Carpenter | Photographer & Videographer

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

Hi Heather, what matters most to you?
I deeply value giving back to the community in the areas I am most passionate about. I believe that God gives us each gifts and talents and that we should use those to honor Him and to serve others. The most important part of my business is I donate 5% of all sessions back to either the homeless community or foster care. Those are the two that are closest to my heart.

What should our readers know about your business?
I think one of the biggest things that sets me apart that I’ve noticed is my drive to always be improving. I’ve had many people comment on how I’m always “all over the place” because I want to get THE shot every single time – whether it is photos or video. I’ve noticed a lot of other photographers tend to hang back and zoom in or don’t get right up on the stage if they have the ability and it tends to affect their photos. My funniest moment of getting THE shot was I was in Ocoee, TN doing a shoot with an artist, Becca Bowen, at the river. She wanted a photo of her in the water, so not being able to get a good angle from dry land, I jumped in the water fully clothed with my camera to get the photo. We laughed for a good ten minutes, but the photo turned out great!

Nothing is ever easy with running your own business. It’s always an uphill battle, but if it is something you love doing, absolutely do it with all of your heart. The hard work and sleepless nights are all worth it in the end. Any challenges I’ve faced I have overcome completely due to my faith. I pray constantly over my life, my clients, my business. If there is something challenging that comes up, I surrender it to Jesus and He shows up 100% of the time bigger and better than I could ever imagine or work up myself. The moments where my faith has been the strongest have been the moments where I have had the most success in my career. A year and a half ago, I got an email out of the blue from someone I was briefly in a small group with – she now worked at Bridgestone Arena here in Nashville and vaguely remembered that I was a photographer. She said their house photographer was leaving and asked if I’d be interested. After several interviews and a lot of prayer, I got the job! Working at Bridgestone in addition to my own business has been the most incredible experience. I’ve shot shows I never would have dreamed of being able to shoot. The second biggest moment was that I was shooting a cover photo for Becca Bowen for her single “Son of a Gun” earlier this year. She is also very strong in her faith and while we were setting up to shoot, a woman came up to us and asked if she could pray with us. We of course accepted and then had worship music blasting out of my truck for the whole shoot. That song ended up premiering in People Magazine using my photos – and a couple months later, my first music video I shot for it also premiered in People Magazine. The God moments are the best parts of my job. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to continue to trust God even when I can’t see what is going to happen next or how I’m going to make it through. He’s always working everything for good in ways I can’t even come up with on my own.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh geez! This is a hard question! I would probably take them to some writers rounds – The Listening Room or Live Oak are usually my go-to’s. I tend to avoid lower Broadway as much as possible just because I hate the crowds, although, that’s the biggest tourist hot spot. My favorite spots to eat are probably Pancake Pantry, FIDO, and Little Chicago. If it was a first trip to Nashville, I guess you need to do all the main tourist spots like visiting the Ryman, the Opry, the Parthenon, etc. I also would probably find some great hiking spots, because I love to explore nature much more than cities. Definitely on the top of my list though would be a trip to Cross Point Church on Sunday!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think the two biggest influences on me for following the dream of photography are my friend Jason Wyatt (a local music producer), and the girls from the band Sweet Tea Trio. I always loved taking photos of concerts growing up, but in college I interned with Jason. He gave me the freedom to try many different avenues in the music industry to see which I liked and didn’t. There was a weekend where Sweet Tea Trio was going out on the road to a show in Alabama and Jason let me tag along to get a feel for touring. On that trip, I took the terrible little Nikon camera I had used in high school and took some photos of the show. I distinctly remember sitting in a Chick-fil-a and Savannah Coker telling me that my photos were great and that I should do it full time. At this point, I was approaching a semester left in college with no definite direction still, and in that moment I decided to just go ahead and buy a professional camera. That last semester of college I took an intro to photography course, and the rest is history.

Website: www.artisanimagerynashville.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-carpenter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artisanimagerynashville

Image Credits
Artisan Imagery