Meet Lindsay McOien | Commercial + Brand Photographer

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

Hi Lindsay, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
To me, the most important factor in any business is relationships. Whether that be the relationship you have with your team, the relationship with your clients/customers, or honestly even your relationship with yourself. Of course, you can’t please everyone, nor should you even try to, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t have good relationships with the people around you.

Behind every business is people, so in order to be good at business, you need to be good with people. And if you’re not good with people, then hire people that are good with people. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the people around me that supported me and trusted me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Honeslty, one of my biggest hurdles when I started doing photography professionally, was narrowing down my focus. If you take a look at my first ever business card (back when I was a freshman in college), it’s me holding 10 different art tools and gadgets. I used to want my own HGTV show, I thought I would refurbish furniture for living, I used to paint murals, at one point I wanted to be a fashion designer, then eventually I got into advertising. I’ve tried it all! Once I finally narrowed it down to photography, I was still being told to narrow it down further. This was really hard for me. I didn’t want to be put in box, I didn’t want to be told I could only photography one thing. I know it wasn’t true, but it felt like it was what I had to do for the rest of my life and I needed to make the decision yesterday if I wanted to be successful.

After sorting through the advice, picking what I liked and didn’t like, plus my own expeirence, I eventually came to the conclusion that there are benefits to narrowing your focus and finding your ‘niche’, BUT it doesn’t mean you have to live in a box either. I’ve been able to let my style and personality shine through rather than just extreme specality in one specific category. And now, that’s why people hire me. From fashion to products to fitness and lifestyle, if our brand values and overall styles align, then that’s the golden ticket! Just because you hire someone who is strickly a fashion photographer for your fashion line and they are the top in the world, that doesn’t automatically mean they are the right fit for you. It’s about finding the perfect blend of experience, style, and personality.

To me, photography is about capturing emotion in the blink of an eye and telling a story in a single frame. With commercial photography specifically, its all about showing off the brand or product and making the viewer feel enticed. My style of photography is a blend of commerical and editoral. So I love clean and crisp images while allowing the artisitic nature of humans and life to shine through. Dare I say messy and clean at the same time? haha. That’s the beauty of creating art for a living!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Coming from Minnesota, Arizona was a huge change, but I absolutely love it! Everywhere you turn the landscape is gorgeous. The mountains and palm trees and rainbow-colored sunsets, makes me smile.

When visiting Arizona, one of the common tourist spots is Sedona, and rightfully so! However, there are also some great shops and restaurants right in Phoenix. I recently went to The Rose Garden cocktail bar which was adorable. My husband and I love to hike around the Phoenix Mountain Preserve or go mountain biking at the Estrella Mountain Regional Park. If you’re looking for something a little more dreamy, the Desert Botanical Gardens are beautiful or grab a bit to eat at The Farm at South Mountain. Or lastly, my favorite is swimming at 9 pm at night during the summer!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As mentioned earlier, the people I surround myself with are so important and helped me to where I am today. There are so many people along the way that I owe a huge ‘thanks’ to! All the way from my boss at my first high school job, to professional mentors in the early stages of my career, to fellow industry friends today. And can’t forget about my other friends and family as well. Honestly, even my clients, that’s what gets me out of bed every day is knowing I get to work with some kick a** people! At the end of the day, I think successful people are those that surround themselves with others that love and support them.

Website: www.lindsaymcoien.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lindsay.mcoien

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-mcoien

Image Credits
Header Image: Katie Pope Headshot with Camera: Sarah Dovolos Remaining images are mine.