UK Enterprise 2020

100 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Best Contemporary Lifestyle Photographer - South East England Since the age of 11, Carolyn Lewis has had an immense passion for photography. From an early age, she was setting up mock fashion shoots with friends at school, she later went on to complete a GCSE, A level and a degree in photography. Throughout her career, Carolyn has not only built an impressive portfolio of work, but also consistently achieved positive reviews for her remarkable photography and positivity. We profiled Carolyn Lewis Photography to find out how Carolyn has captured beautiful moments for countless local families over the years. Jun20360 After leaving university, Carolyn started working for other photographers and studios, including a few months down under in Melbourne, then put her career on pause to start a family. In 2005, she started Carolyn Lewis Photography. Today, Carolyn works closely with various families either in her studio, or on location to achieve contemporary lifestyle portraits. After a session, customers are provided with an environmentally friendly USB stick with all of their best images from the shoot, allowing them to print using whatever format or size they require. Carolyn was a trailblazer in this space, and has been providing high resolution, non-watermarked images as a standard offering to her customers from day one. Having earned the trust of an amazing client base, Carolyn has been able to see many families grow over the course of 15 years. From bump to baby, toddler to teen, she feels honoured to have been able to capture such precious memories. In addition to family portraits, Carolyn also offers photography packages for some of the local pre-schools in her area, as well as product shots, corporate work and on occasion, architectural images. All you need to do is take a look at Carolyn Lewis Photography’s social media presence to see the endless positive reviews people have left. What’s been the secret to Carolyn’s extraordinary success over the past 15 years? It could be her total transparency in everything, in addition to her utter dedication to achieving the best results each family deserves. Or it could be Carolyn’s wonderful work with children, particularly those on the autistic spectrum. At SME News, we believe it is a cumulation of the above, as well as the dedication and hard work Carolyn pours into her business that makes it so niche. During her 15 years of trading, the biggest challenge Carolyn’s faced has been the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, following the ease of lockdown, Carolyn is able to work again and bookings are slowly picking up. Another benefit she puts down to having such an amazingly loyal client base. With the UK slowly but surely returning back to a “new normal”, Carolyn has envisioned what the future could hold for her business. One of her passions is to work closer with children with special needs, particularly those on the autistic spectrum, who may not have the opportunity to visit the studio. One of Carolyn’s daughters has Aspergers, and it has given her a wealth of practical experience about how children like this operate, and therefore how to get the best results whilst ensuring they feel safe and secure in her presence. If Carolyn doesn’t achieve the results she was looking for that day, she will often go back at no cost to try again. Priding herself on creating a safe, fun space which allows children to express themselves, has also enabled many families to achieve the unexpected. Families with autistic children have tearfully acknowledged that Carolyn’s photographs are the only images they have ever managed to get of their child. This is a huge accolade for Carolyn, and the opportunity to give that pleasure to other families out therewho have struggled to get professional images of their children is incredibly rewarding. Carolyn believes that every family deserves images which perfectly captures their children’s personalities and their family dynamics. Going forward, this is what the best contemporary lifestyle photographer for South East England hopes to achieve in the years to come. Contact: Carolyn Lewis Company: Carolyn Lewis Photography Web Address: www.friendlyphoto.biz