Agape Love Designs: Blog-erview With Rachel of Hidden Beauty Photography

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Blog-erview With Rachel of Hidden Beauty Photography

Its Wednesday and time again for another Blog-erview!!!

Lets welcome Rachel from Hidden Beauty Photography to Agape Love Designs!!

If you are new here, find out about the Blog-erview Series,

as well as a list of previous blog-erviews {here}!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My name is Rachel Shearer, and I'm the face behind all that is Hidden Beauty Photography--however small that may be right now!

Tell us a little about yourself and Your blog

My name is Rachel Shearer, I'm a 17 year old photographer (or rather, aspiring photographer). My biggest dream is to one day be someone that people can look up to, someone that inspires! My blog is focused around my photography, but it's not your typical photography blog.... I write posts based on my personal experiences, on things that I need help with, things that I think may help other people. I base them on photography and write what I hope can be helpful and inspiring posts. I also blog about myself and my photography, it's sort of a mixture of all kinds of different things!

How did you first get involved with blogging?

I started blogging about 3 years ago, when I was in 9th grade. It was a place for me to rant my nonsensical thoughts that no one really wanted to hear, it was a place for me to act like a complete idiot. When I was in 10th grade and joined a Digital Photography class, we had to make a blog for our photography, and that's how my photography blog came to be! Since then I've just sort of grown, my posts have become more in depth, they've matured as me, my photography, and my writing has.

Has blogging played a role in the start of or development of your business? If so, how? If not, tell us how your business came about.

I've never really thought about it, but I actually do believe that blogging has played a part in the development of my business. If I hadn't created a blog for my photography class, got involved with it, had somewhere to share all my work, I probably wouldn't have progressed in photography at all. Now I have over 200 fans on my Facebook page, my blog followers keep going up, and I'm reaching more and more people, all thanks to my little photography blog! (which used to be HORRIBLE, by the way;)

How do you come up with material/content for your blog each day, What inspires you?

I take inspiration from all sorts of things, but mostly with my personal experiences. I struggle a lot, I have a lot of trials in my life, and I'm always looking for something to help inspire me to keep pushing forward. Because of this, whenever I think of something that helped me feel a bit better, I decide to write a post on it. I hope that there may be someone out there that could benefit from my posts, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to open up. And of course, I post about my photography, my business, and other updates.

What has been the most challenging moment in being a blogger?

I honestly think that the hardest part of blogging has been worrying that nobody cares about what I'm posting, that I'm putting myself out there and that I look like an idiot. I'm so scared that someone will see what I'm posting, misunderstand me, and get the wrong impression of me. I want to help people, but sometimes that comes off as me trying to boss people around, tell them I know best, and force them to live their life the way I want them to; and that's not me at all. I just want to use my pain and help someone else with theirs, and it's so challenging when I think I'm not doing that.

Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?

This blog, My Silly Life, is written by one of my best friends; she's a bit younger than me, but is so mature and wise for her age. She writes in a way that you can relate it to anything, she writes to feel better (warning: she has a playlist that plays when you open her blog). and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson is such a wonderful kind person! I've been featured on her blog, and we've been in contact. She posts about everything from fashion to family! Crave Photography, Lori Peterson Photography, and Starlit Photography are some of the photographers that I look up to. Their work is just amazing, and I love to go to their blogs just to look at their pictures!

If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?

My biggest tip would be to write about things that you're passionate about, things that you know. Posts are so much more interesting to read if you put some of yourself into it, people can tell while reading if you care about what you're writing about or not. This doesn't mean it has to be inspirational, just something you love. This could be cooking, DIY's, anything!

What Social Networks are you on?

Right now I'm on Facebook, Pinterest, and Blogger :)

What networking do you do, that you feel helps your blog and/or business the most?

I just connect with people. I've been so blessed to meet amazing people (like yourself) that are willing to feature me, advertise for me, interview me, and so much more. I wouldn't have been able to do this without them! The people you meet really do make all the difference (OH and Facebook is where I get the most advertisement)

What goals do you have, if any, for your blog/business right now and in the future?

Simply put, I want to be big! I want to grow and have people that have loved the growth. I want to reach a lot of people, I want to be one of those photographers people list in their favorites, and more than that, I want to be one of the people that is loved.

What has been the best thing about blogging so far, feel free to share any exciting triumphs or milestones you have had or reached! :)

This isn't really about my blog, but yesterday I reached 200 fans on my Facebook page, and that's just SO amazing for me! One of the most touching things has been when I write a post, and get a comment that warms my heart. I wrote a post for and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson on dating, and a girl that's younger than me commented on it. It was what I had hoped would happen, I had hoped that a young girl would read it and that it would help her, and it did! Another thing that's been amazing, is the response I've gotten to a feature week I'm doing. I'm dedicating this week (and maybe a bit more) to raising awareness on bullying and self harm. I've gotten several emails, facebook messages, blog comments, etc... about how much people love what I'm doing, and that's what I was praying would happen (that I would reach people and help).

Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

I think I just want to tell them to believe in themselves... I never in a million years thought that I would have become a photographer, gotten to where I am now in just one short year, and in less than a month gained 200 fans on my Facebook page. If you want something, go for it! I spend all the time I can doing whatever possible for my photography, I put forth the effort and I'm so greatly rewarded for it. I've been so blessed, and the same can happen for them if they just have faith! Oh, and THANK YOU FOR READING MY THOUGHTS! :)