Who's in the Crew? - Spotlight on Mary Denman

NAME: Mary Denman - https://www.marydenman.com/
https://headshotcrew.com/marydenman

WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Greenville, South Carolina, USA

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SHOOTING HEADSHOTS? I started shooting headshots on the side for authors several years ago, at a large writing conference. I mainly shot natural light headshots and did all the event photography as well.  Because it was at the same campus year after year, I pushed myself to see new angles or locations on the campus, and create new event images and images for memes. I strove to capture the essence of the conference in all my shots.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE TO SHOOT? I love event photography because of the interaction with the subjects. I'm excited to do events again once it's safe. Portraits and branding also get me excited because of the creative factor, as does collaboration!   Now that my 5 kids are grown (I homeschooled until recently), I am building my business. 

WHAT IS YOUR LIGHTING FOR HEADSHOTS? Flex-kit.....I love the control of the light from the flex. 

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE SPACE YOU SHOOT IN. DO YOU OWN IT? RENT IT? OR LIVE IN IT? I rent an amazing space at an old textile mill in my area. It was built in 1924. It's 1,100 square feet with 17-foot ceilings and 14 feet of that is windows!  The floor is the original concrete that I sealed and it is gorgeous. I have a couple of different areas to shoot in, including a recycled pallet area that acts as the wall and floor, for a rustic look. 

WHEN DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER PH AND THE HSC? Back in the day when I was a writer and shot the writing conference, my husband found a Youtube video of this guy talking photography and working with your subject. He said, and I quote, "Hey Mary, this guy does what you do," referring to how I interacted with my subjects. Yep, "this guy" was  Peter Hurley.  Shortly after seeing the video, Todd suggested I go to a photography conference since I had attended a lot of writing conferences.  I flew out to Austin Texas for Imaging 2017. I already had Peter's book on Headshots, and I remember the moment I saw him on the Canon stage. I stopped dead in my tracks and couldn't believe it was him! I got Pam's attention because I saw her Headshot Crew T-shirt and I met Peter later that day.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO JOIN THE CREW ONCE YOU FOUND IT? Immediately! Okay, within 3-4 hours. 

WHAT IS ONE THING ABOUT YOU PEOPLE WOULD NEVER GUESS? I have a degree in Civil Engineering and learned to code in Fortran on a Mainframe. Love those invisible characters! 

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOU? I love teaching and helping others. Once I learn it, I'm ready to teach it! I love helping other people soar.