Finding Your Photography Style with Sophie Lea

Photographers will learn that style is not something you choose or copy from Instagram, it develops naturally from shooting a range of subjects and paying attention to what feels right in your own body. Sophie Lea also shares how becoming a mother reshaped what she focuses on in a session, from chasing only happy expressions to capturing the full, messy range of family life.

Sophie Lea has been a working photographer for almost 20 years, starting in a commercial studio in Sydney before building her own family, maternity and newborn business. In this episode she talks about the long road to developing trust with clients, the moments in her life that changed how she shoots, and why she tells new photographers to stop comparing themselves to other people's work.

About Sophie Lea

Sophie Lea is a family, maternity and newborn photographer based in Sydney, Australia, known for a relaxed, warm and intimate style. She spent around a decade working in commercial photography studios before starting her own business, and now also runs workshops, retreats and her own podcast.

Key takeaways

1. Style develops, it isn't chosen

Sophie explains that style comes from within, not from scrolling Instagram and trying to replicate what other photographers do. She encourages new photographers to shoot a wide range of subjects, weddings, events, newborns, and notice how their body reacts, with excitement, fun or dread, to guide them toward what fits.

2. Let your life inform what you focus on

Becoming a mother changed what Sophie wanted to capture, moving from chasing only smiles and joy to valuing the full range of a child's emotions, including crying and frustration. She now believes these honest moments are just as worth photographing, and even putting on the wall, as the calm, happy ones.

3. Give yourself time to build trust with clients

Sophie says you can't fast track the trust that lets clients hand creative control over to you. It took years of consistent work before her clients stopped sending Pinterest boards and started saying, simply, tell us what to do.

4. Extend your shoot times when you can

Leaving the studio let Sophie stop rushing clients through 45 minute slots and move to two to three hour newborn sessions. That extra time became where most of her relationship building happened, during feeding, settling and simply being present with the family.

5. Trust your gut around clients

Sophie shares a story of staying at an uncomfortable shoot for too long because she felt she had to, as a young employee, which ended badly. She now says photographers can choose who they work with and should leave a situation the moment something feels wrong.

6. Reflect honestly instead of just blaming clients

When a shoot goes wrong, such as clients not being ready on time, Sophie asks herself what part she played, for example whether she communicated timing clearly beforehand. She warns against the echo chamber of photographers agreeing that everything is hard, which stops any real problem solving.

7. Find one honest sounding board

Sophie recommends finding at least one person, inside or outside the industry, who will challenge you rather than simply sympathise. She notes that people closest to you, like family or partners, sometimes resist your growth because it changes the relationship they are used to.

Favourite moments

"I think minimizing distractions is really important."

Sophie Lea

"Developing is probably a better word, because at least that sounds like it's coming from within, instead of externally."

Sophie Lea

"How did we end up here is always my question. How did we end up here, and what part did I play in this moment?"

Sophie Lea

"Sometimes the closest people to you don't always want you to grow because that means change, and they love you the way you are right now because it all makes sense in their life."

Sophie Lea

Listen to the full episode

Watch the episode above, or listen to Finding Your Photography Style with Sophie Lea on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keep reading:

• Top 5 tips for capturing authentic emotion during motherhood photoshoots

Ready to put this into practice? Unscripted is the all-in-one app trusted by 1 million+ photographers, with 50,000+ poses and prompts, client galleries, contracts, invoicing and a photography CRM. Try it free.