Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidemarie Burke.
Hi Heidemarie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I took photography in High School in Germany and later worked for a photographer in Upstate New York doing copy work, darkroom black & white and color and then learned to take pictures and retouching.
After that I worked as a bilingual secretary for a pharmaceutical company and transferred to their sales department.
Having skills in sales and secretarial work has helped me start my own photography business after moving to Englewood, Florida, where my husband had gotten a job with a high tech company.
Englewood was the perfect town that I had in mind for my business and I started small with doing my own marketing. I
joined the Chamber and Bay Professional Photographers Assn, Florida Professional Photographers and Professional
Photographers of America where I eventually earned the Master of Photography degree and Florida Degree of Photo-
graphic Excellence.
I do all types of still photography like families, parties and events along with weddings. I also photograph products and
restore damaged photographs as well as magazine work. I love variety and tailor my style to the needs of my clients.
I have been in business here for over 35 years, and just came back from photographing a big Chamber event.
For fun I love spending time with family, reading science reports, traveling and enjoying time with my husband and cats.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a fairly smooth road, but it was tough in the recession but made it through. I have had employees for most
of the time when in business and I had to come up with enough money to pay them. During the recession I started doing
portrait parties, which helped.
Now just before the hurricanes, my last employee left because she drive from Sarasota was getting too long with all the road construction, so I am working again by myself and I like the verity of tasks. I follow the same business procedures that I had established with my employees and that keeps things running smoothly. One of my former employees still
does digital art work for me when I need it.
I still continue my photography education through the associations and keep up with current trends and technology.
We’ve been impressed with Photographic Images, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Photography is a creative business and it is kind of a short cut to painting. Many people start out in photography as a hobby and then make it a career. For me photography is my business, I have other hobbies.
I am known for my professionalism and dependability. I answer the phone when people call and respond quickly to
requests that come via text or email. I am a 30 year member of the Englewood Chamber of Commerce and have
photographed persons here for generations.
I work mostly in Englewood and Boca Grande and have a large network of repeat clients. I am involved in these
communities.
Our big source of income here is tourism which has an ebb and flow of seasons and I am in tune with that, photographing people on vacation. I do a lot of headshots and branding portraits as well even passport pictures.
We ship orders to people that visit here and people send me photographs to restore or they bring them to me.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Family and God matter most to me and animal welfare.
That’s how I grew up and my husband shares those values with me. Exercise and time for myself.
Pricing:
- Pricing depends on the job and is reasonable for the product value that I deliver
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heidemariephoto.com
- Facebook: Heidemarie J. Burke
- LinkedIn: Heidemarie J. Burke
