Katie O’Brien Photography, Commercial and Headshot Photographer: 2024 Year in Review

Its 11pm on Saturday night at the end of January 2024 and I am at a gas station in the suburbs of Chicago, changing into my sweats and filling up my tank to start a 5 hour road trip to Louisville Kentucky for a photography conference. I had just left a black tie gala for one of my favorite clients and had come to that event directly from photographing a 2-day conference downtown for another wonderful returning client. After 2 long days of shooting, I should have been exhausted but instead I was excited. I felt proud to have 2 good jobs in a typically slow month, grateful for satisfied returning clients and happy to be able to take time off to see friends and learn at the conference. Making a good living as a creative takes a lot of discipline but is so rewarding. After so many years in the business, people seem to know my work, but they want to know what my life looks like as a photographer. So here is my 2024 Commercial and Headshot Photographer: Year in Review.

In the morning, day 2 of photographing a conference before working an evening gala and then driving to Louisville.

First, hi, I’m Katie, owner and principal photographer of Katie O’Brien Photography based in the greater Chicago suburbs. I have been in business since July 2014 and my focus is professional headshots, corporate event photography, and portraits. My studio is in Batavia where I live just a mile away with my 2 kids (16b, 11g) and pet bunny. My style is clean and intentional, perspective photography.

2024 brought a lot of success, challenges and lessons learned. I worked with exiting new clients like Cartier, The Leo, Fettes Plumbing, Batavia Enterprises and 49 awesome returning clients like Gerber Plumbing, Qualtrics, R1, Illinois Swimming, Sen. Karina Villa, Radisson Blu Aqua, Midwestern University, the Jewel-Osco Foundation and more.

An attendee steps takes a minute to call home on a break at a conference, Houston TX.

In total, I produced 136 galleries consisting of roughly:

• 1082 headshots (not including group headshots or when a returning client has asked for “a quick headshot” in natural light at a conference, but it does include a headshot for an adorable service dog, a first for me!)

• 9 commercial branding shoots

• 8 Conferences/Meetings (spanning 1-3 days, one out of state which was one of my goals for 2024)   

• 4 Golf Outings (Including one very large $5k outing)

• 4 5k/10k Races

But some of those galleries were outside of my core business (and that’s OK, more than OK) including:

2024 St. Patrick's Parade, Chicago

• 6 times I was able to completely donate my services to local non-for-profits

• 15 Private Events, with 4 adding on a portrait studio resulting in 274 on-site portraits

• 21 Paid Bands/Artists/Model shoots

• 23 Family sessions, 7 extended family sessions, 5 newborn/milestone sessions, 5 Senior sessions

• 1 Ice Skating Club portraits

• 1 Parade (Walking in the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade with a client was a blast!)

• 1 Wedding (Here’s the thing, I refer most of these to trusted photographer friends and very rarely take them. But this couple’s photographer…get this…got a BETTER JOB and canceled on them the week before their July 3rd ceremony in Rockford. Who did I know that was free to travel to Rockford on a busy holiday weekend?? They called me desperately 3 days before on the recommendation of my sweet niece. Aunty Katie does not stand for that kind of treatment. Not only did I take the job, give them extra time, treated them like a $10k client but returned their beautiful gallery within 48 hours. You would not believe how many jobs I get every year because a bad photographer cancels or ghosts their client. Check reviews, check websites, get contracts, pay retainers.)

Curly haired woman laying down in white dress

Man in suit and tie

Detail shot of gold jewelry, white dress and flowers

Smiling couple in a greenhouse

Nicholas Conservatory Rockford IL

Couple in front of LOVE sign

Groom portrait

Couples Portrait

Full length wedding portrait

This was also the second year I ventured into speaking events and continued offering one-off classes. While I count these as successes, it is definitely something I struggle with elevating and would love to bring to the next level! Adding speaking engagements to my website is on my to-do list for 2025.

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, 2024 brought its own set of challenges, losses and hard lessons learned. I spent time chasing ideas that not only never came to be but stepping back, weren’t on my success track and I thought I had grown to know better. Increased business means more complicated taxes and I had to file an extension when I got in over my head. In March, I lost a court case from my previous studio landlord resulting in a $9k judgement against me. That month, a suspicious mole near the collarbone of my right shoulder turned out to be skin cancer and the operation put me out of work for nearly 2 weeks. Thankfully, I am in good health now, but looking back it was a rough time both financially and mentally. The summer brought some good jobs, exciting adventures (singing the national anthem with the Swedish Choir at a Cougars Game), and I stepped into my client’s shoes and hired a photographer to take my headshots. In the fall, I learned the power of spares. Once on the side of I-355 on the way home from a job with a trunk full of equipment and then a month later when one of my cameras failed on the job (RIP camera).

Headshots with Associate Sam

Not that it was new, but I leaned on industry friends more than ever. Referrals were sent and received, emergency phone calls were made and answered, best practices were discussed and I learned so much from them including how to shoot tethered which was so intimidating to me! This year I hired assistants for more jobs and sent them out on their own more than any other year in the past. What a blessing these friends and colleagues are.

So where do I go from here? What are my professional goals for 2025? (in no particular order)

• Continue using and improving on tethered shooting

• Audit my client experience and fix inconsistencies

• Add Speaking to my website and determine how teaching fits into my core business

• Consistently post blog posts and backlink from social media

• Trust in my associate photographers and allow them more independent jobs

• Update the Headshots and Events section of my website

• Look into hiring an accountant

Writing this article Commercial and Headshot Photographer: Year in Review was a fantastic exercise. The year was an interesting and full of beauty and great memories. Yes, there were some really rough times but truthfully I feel that I’ve learned so much and the growth is positive. I’m looking forward to another successful year of this crazy life.