Blossoming KSA student photography business

KU photography student Isabella Armitage founded a thriving child and family photography business during the course of her bachelor’s degree.

Isabella Fleur Photography showcases an impressive portfolio on its website and Armitage uses Facebook and Instagram to advertise her services to parents with young children in southwest London and Surrey.

“I started doing family photography because I had experience working within schools with young children. When I started BA photography I was in need of a job and looking at working for school photos companies. I realised that I could do it myself and went from there,” said Armitage.

However, after coming to this realisation, she wrestled with a lack of confidence in the early stages of building her portfolio.

She said: “One mental barrier that I had about the photoshoots was a fear of my age. I would often worry that I looked too young when I turned up at photoshoots and that people were judging me about this. I realised that actually nobody cares so long as you provide the service they are after and just stopped thinking about it.”

For other students thinking about setting up a business Armitage has this advice: “I would advise students to start off cheap and put the price up once they feel overwhelmed by the amount of work that they have.

“My half term photoshoots sold out in three hours last month and so I put my prices up. I think a lot of it is about confidence and feeling as though your ability is worth the price, which is something really hard for young artists.”

Armitage encourages those in pursuit of a photography career to save a portion of the profit to put toward investing in higher quality equipment to match the quality of your work. The KSA loans room is an accessible hub for students to rent equipment that is out of their budget for short periods of time.

Debbie Ellen Tucker left an outstanding review on Facebook, noting that Armitage’s photos “really do capture the moment and are amazing […] I will forever recommend you to everyone!”.

Armitage said: “Kingston University has been really helpful at helping me to start up a business. We have an entire module this term dedicated to building a professional presence through making a website and growing an Instagram account. This really pushed me to keep improving.”