Today we’d like to introduce you to Reagan Garcia.
Hi Reagan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew an interest in photography in high school and formally decided to pursue that passion in college. I earned a degree in photography and another in journalism. Throughout college I worked as a sports photographer and interned at CBS Entertainment in their photography department on the studio lot, all while doing freelance portraiture on the side.
Graduating during 2020, the COVID era, was a rough start to my career that caused me to pivot away from my dreams of pursuing sports photography further and pushed me into a new niche: retouching. I kind of fell into it as it was the job I was able to get in a terrible economy and I quickly realized I loved it. I spent 2 years at my first corporate job retouching a wide variety of products and subjects. I decided I wanted to further my career and found my way to working as a retouched at Mitchell & Ness (still one of my all time favorite jobs!). The company has a strong brand identity, gear for sports fans, that I resonated with, and I was able to blend a lot of my passions into one job with a fantastic creative team to back me up. I did continue building up a business doing weddings, graduates, families and more on the side, mostly via word of mouth.
Sadly, when my husband I moved to Knoxville in 2024 I was unable to keep my job remotely and had to let it go. I spent the first 8 or so months working on our fixer upper house, moving my parents to Knox and flying back and forth to weddings and other important events. Finally in spring of 2025 I felt settled enough to take a leap and attempt to build a photography business in Knoxville, after much encouragement from my husband because I was desperately afraid of failure.
Now, its been about 3 months since I started this new piece of my journey and it is going exceptionally well! I am learning so much about how to market a small business and I have the immense pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people and getting to tell their stories through photography!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The process of starting a business has been smoother than I expected! I am still learning every day and struggling a bit with imposter syndrome but more than anything I have learned it is important to show up consistently and put in the work, the results will come.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have done a bit of everything! Photographers are often told to “niche down.” That may be good advice for businesses specifically but as a creative person I love having the opportunity to shoot multiple different genres of subjects.
My first photography passion was sports. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of being on the sidelines or a secret spot and getting “the shot”. I spent much of my time honing that passion and I did intend to pursue it full time until I realized it just didn’t fit the overall lifestyle I wanted to pursue.
I also had the opportunity to intern with CBS Entertainment in their photography department on the studio lot. Entertainment photography is a whole other world, and it is SO fun. Getting to watch how things are made and come together and getting to experience how photography played a part in the storytelling and the engaging with viewers was incredible.
I have always done portraiture as a side gig, mostly through word of mouth referrals. This year is the first year I decided to turn it into a legitimate business and I am so glad I did!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think there are two major things I am seeing. Photography is more accessible now than ever with the advancement of technology. This is both a blessing and curse. Photographers have incredible new tools at their fingertips and there is no formal training required to carry the title “photographer”, but that has resulted in the industry becoming oversaturated with people who just want to make money rather than honing and using a skill that may result in income.
Second, the rise of AI is not slowing down and makes it easier to edit, but also easier for the public to put out fake images that are perceived as real. This is going to be an interesting change as it takes off, and I am curious to see if it is ever regulated.
Pricing:
- Family Session: $250+
- Grads: $250+
- Couples: $250+
- Weddings: $1800+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reagangarciaphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reagangarciaphoto
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reagangarciaphoto
