1) What is your name and what is your occupation? I interviewed Charro Benteau. Her occupation was photography.

2)How old were you when you first joined photography? How long have you worked in this profession?  She was 26 when she first got into photography. She’s worked in this profession for 17 years and counting. She started her profession in 1997.

3)Did you go to school for your profession? For how long and where did you go to school for the profession?  Yes she went to school for photography. She attended New York Institute of photography (NYIP), she attended this school for 3 years.

4)What made you start your own business?4)What made you start your own business?  She wanted to start her own business because she wanted a job that allowed her to be home with her kids because her husband was away for work. She also liked the idea of being her own boss and being able to work the hours that applied best to her.

5) Would you have done anything differently at the beginning of your career. Would you change anything about your business now?  She wouldn’t have made any changes at the beginning of her career.  She would change how much time she puts into her work, and she would minimize the amount of the weddings she took every year.

6) Besides your salary, what do you get from owning your own business?  She gets tax breaks, her own personal satisfaction, the ability to travel and make new life long friends.

7) What skills have you gained from owning your own business? Could you apply them to any other careers?  She gained excellent interpersonal skills, accounting skills, organization skills, conflict resolutions, the ability to negotiate, and the skill of time management.  She could apply a lot of these skills to many different careers at the management level.

8) What are the worst things about your job? Would they ever convince you to quit your business  Some of the worst things about her job is the amount of time she puts into her work, and where weddings mostly take place on weekends she loses a lot of weekend time. People book weddings up to 2 years in advance so she has to follow a schedule and she loses the opportunity to attend some really exciting events.  She said she wouldn't’t quit her business over these downsides but it has forced her to make some changes like scaling down the amount of weddings she takes a year.

9) What is your best memory from your career?  She did a destination wedding in Jamaica and made some really great life long friends. This was one of her favorite memories because she connected very well with her clients and it was a very emotional wedding.

10) What kind of situations do you face with your job?  Photography is a high pressure, time sensitive, emotionally stressful, and fast pace job. Its not for the faint of heart.  You have to be prepared for anything to happen, and you have to be able to come up with new ideas and think on the spot.

11) Would you suggest this career to someone who is unsure of what they want to pursue? Why or why not?  No she would not suggest this career to someone who is unsure of what they want to do because in order to do photography you have to have a passion for it. You have to have a natural talent for it, you have to love people. You cannot just pick to be a photographer, and hope it works out, you have to work extremely hard and stand out from the crowd.  She recommends working with another photographer for a while to see if this career is suitable for you.

12) What advice would you give someone who is just starting their career in photography?  She would give the advice to be consistent with your work, staying up to date with what's in style in your photos and constantly being in different workshops to get your skill level higher and to learn new techniques.

13) How did you discover this career option?  She always loved the art in photos. In high school she learned how to dark room edit with her photography/year book photo school group. Her father in law gave her a film camera and she worked with another photographer for a while and then decided she wanted to create her own business.

14) How has the job changed since you started back in 1997?  They have moved from film cameras to digital since then. Which is a massive change in both the format of how you physically shoot and how the editing is preformed on the images.  Another big change in the job since 1997 is how much she gets paid for her work. When she first started she was making less then $500 dollars a wedding and now her cheapest package is $3599.

15) How many hours a week do you work?15) How many hours a week do you work?  In wedding season she can work up to 70 hours a week, and on the off season she works around anywhere from 20 – 30 hours a week.

16) Do you have a photographer who you turn to for inspiration? If so who?  The photographer who she turns to for inspiration would be Jerry Ghionis who is one of the top 5 wedding photographers in the world. She has taken multiple courses by him which helps separates her from her competition.

17) At any point in your career did you want to do any other careers? If so what?  She recently gained the interest in a career in geology. This would involve working with rocks and minerals.

18) Does your salary allow you to live the lifestyle you want?  With a mix of her salary and her husbands income she has enough to live the lifestyle she wants. If she wants to go on vacation or for any special occasions she can always take on extra work to get the money to do these things.

19) What different types of sessions or work do you offer?  She specializes in weddings and portraits, but also does commercial work for companies like Bell Aliant.

20) Are you happy you joined this profession?20) Are you happy you joined this profession?  Yes, photography is incredibly rewarding both creatively and financially and she cant imagine doing anything else, despite the fact she has had to work incredibly hard to get where she is in the industry today. It just goes to show that hard work pays off when you’re willing to do what it takes to succeed.