Damini Fulmer of Damini Photography

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Contact Details

Interview Details

Recording Date: Saturday November 11th
Recording Location: South Burlington
Episode Length: 35:28
Episode Number: 39
Show Notes Link: vermonttalks.com/damini-fulmer-of-damini-photography
Short Link: vermonttalks.com/39

Transcript

Becca Hammond: What’s new 802? I’m Becca Hammond and you’re listening to Vermont Talks. Vermont Talks may include graphic or explicit content. Listener discretion is advised.

Becca Hammond: Welcome to Vermont Talks, Damini Fulmer. Yes, thank you. Thanks for having me. I’m so excited. Okay, so it is November 11th of 2023 and this is actually my four-year anniversary episode.

Damini Fulmer: Oh my gosh. Congrats. I’ve been doing this for four years. It seems wild to me. That is wild. That’s awesome. Welcome, Damini. Damini is the owner of Damini Photography. You work in mental health and also are working on your masters in social work and you’re a dog mom. Thank you. So first things first, where are you studying for your masters? So I’m doing my masters online through Simmons and Simmons is in Boston. So yeah, it’s awesome that I just get to do it virtually and it’s working out.

Becca Hammond: Very cool. Cool. And second most important thing, what kind of dog do you have?

Damini Fulmer: The cutest, but I’m biased. He’s a mixed, he’s mainly blue healer, but he’s like a little bit bigger slash taller than like your average blue healer and a lot less athletic. But he’s sweet. Yeah.

Becca Hammond: I grew up, I had a blue hero growing up. Does your dog get very squeaky when he gets excited or she?

Damini Fulmer: He does. Yeah, his name is Memphis and he kind of gets squeaky, but more so he barks a lot in the evening. He is so loungy in the morning. Like I’m up and going and he’s still laying around and then in the evening he gets crazy when I’m trying to relax, but it is what it is.

Becca Hammond: He’s a night owl. Yeah. Oh, that’s so funny. Yeah, they’re very vocal dogs. That’s what I remember the most about that dog is, oh my God, he would get so loud. So good. That’s such wonderful personality. Okay, cool. So we’re here to talk about your business. So how long have you been working at Dominique Photography?

Damini Fulmer: Oh my gosh. Well, I have only been doing this for about a year and it just, I’ve only been doing this for about a year and it just feels kind of wild because it’s becoming more real and real. But also I’m having a little bit of imposter syndrome. I’m like, oh my gosh, this is like my business and yeah, so that’s how long it’s been going.

Becca Hammond: Yeah. Very cool. So I’m guessing, just guessing that you’ve been taking pictures for longer than a year and you decided to make a business out of it.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, I sort of was taking photos. I kind of, this is kind of a cliche story and probably very classic for most photographers, but I picked up my parents’ camera here and there growing up, kind of picked it up, put it down, but never really stuck. And then after college, so I’m like, what, three years out of college now, which is also weird. But a little bit after college, I was in my first apartment with my still current boyfriend and I was working in mental health as I was and I was like, I need a hobby.

I need something Yes. And then I still had the camera that my dad gave me, picked it up and it finally kind of stuck. I was really nervous about it. But then yes, ultimately just kind of turned it into this whole business. It’s very cool.

Becca Hammond: Photography is such an interesting thing because like point and shoot, you get that love for taking pictures with a point to like really easy. And then you get into the massive amount of settings and like there’s a lot to professional photography and editing is massive amount of work. There’s a lot to it. Like it’s easy to like, oh yeah, I just pull out my phone and take a picture, but it’s, you know, to take a very good picture. There’s a lot to that.

So bad respect to you for putting in that effort. I’ve dabbled, but I always get totally frustrated when it comes to editing. There’s just too much going on and I get bored. I just want to take, I just want to point and shoot and then be happy and then be done.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, it’s definitely such a process and I have absolutely like drowned myself in all the information possible and just tried to like really dive into it in the past year. And so it’s been a big learning curve on multiple different levels, you know, like building relationships, learning the editing, learning the camera in general. That was the first step, of course, kind of building my own website, all of that. So so many steps, but I’m really loving it and it can be very tedious and long and a process, but it’s going well.

Becca Hammond: That’s good. That’s great. So what, what was the first thing they said, you know, I think I could make a business out of this. When was that moment when you were taking pictures where you said, oh, I mean, maybe I could do more than just take pictures.

Damini Fulmer: That’s a great question. Well, kind of touching on like how I began with this too, I picked up the camera, as I said, in the apartment. And I was too nervous to even like walk out my front door with my camera.

It’s like, oh my gosh, I can’t do this. But we had our dog, Memphis. And then I was like, well, he’s a moving subject.

I’ll just bring him outside and like practice with my camera. And I think I did that enough where I was like, oh wait, I really, really love this. And then that’s when I really started to like, like I said, drown myself in all the information of research and TikToks and seeing other people’s pages.

And I’ve had past like friends and people in my life that have photography businesses. And I was like, oh yeah, that’s also a thing. And I could do that.

And one evening I literally just like went on my computer and made my little Pixie website, or Pixie set website. And it was probably like terrible then. But yeah, that’s how it got started. And I don’t know if there was one moment really, I guess is what I’m getting at. But I just kind of put some thought into it. And it was like, well, I’ll just give this a shot and see where it goes.

Becca Hammond: And moving pictures are so there’s such an interesting like every field has all of these branches off of it. And photography in particular, like if you specialize in taking like headshots, and you’re someone who takes high school graduation photos, it’s so different than someone who does sports photography or taking pictures at concerts, like just the change in the settings, the lighting, you can’t move as much when you have it set to like a lower, the time if it’s going to have those shutter open for longer, which there’s so much to that that like learning one thing and really getting into it. And okay, I can actually take a good picture at dogs mocks. Like that’s such a nice feeling, I can actually feel like you’ve accomplished something. And also I decided, Hey, I can share this with people, other people in the other pictures taken because, man, a lot of people can point and shoot, but a lot of people can’t point and shoot will.

Becca Hammond: So there’s a lot of people who can benefit from good photography businesses. And because there’s so many different pieces and parts and different positions you can be in, you can really market yourself to whatever your passion is. So do you have a specific like genre or favorite subject? Or what do you would you be the most happy to take a picture of?

Damini Fulmer: I love this question. So I have done a few weddings and a few of those I’ve like second shot for. So I’ve been like the second photographer. And I’ve really started to love that. I also am still learning it just because that is such a big undertaking, like it’s somebody’s whole wedding day. So I’m kind of learning what aspects of weddings that I like still, whether it’s kind of small, medium, whatever that means or bigger weddings, which I think I’m kind of going towards smaller weddings.

And, you know, the style within that. So with weddings, I’m still learning it. I do really love it. I’m also really expanding like currently in Boudoir work. Oh, cool. And so I’ve just done a few sessions. Like it’s, I’ve just done a few sessions in a studio. So I rented it out. And it’s actually a studio space off Salon, Vermont in Wilson. And they had this space before like COVID and they were renting it more.

And then I think put a pause to it and then kind of got it back up and going. So if you’re a photographer and you need studio space, that’s a great resource. Anyway, so that was an awesome place just to kind of get the Boudoir work started. And I know that will mesh really well with weddings as like a lot of brides like to do bridal Boudoir. So that’s really exciting me.

And then on like the total other spectrum, I guess, partially, I’ve done a lot of seniors for senior photos. And I love that as well. Because sometimes mentally, I’m like 17 still. And so I just get to like hang out and chat and take their photo and normally they come with like their mom or something. And yeah, it’s just like a fun time. And it’s nice to, I guess, have those sessions where you’re, you know, posing them and it’s a little bit slower in some ways.

But then I like the fast pace of weddings in a lot of ways too. So that’s where I’m at right now. And I’m kind of just turning the corner, it feels like, into niching down a little bit, or knowing what I want in the future. But of course, in the first year, and this past year for me has been trying like a little bit of everything and figuring that out.

Becca Hammond: Right, you have to try to know what you actually like and what you enjoy. You have to have some weird sessions, like, oh, this feels, this may not be the best, or this is the best, this was the most fun I’ve had.

That’s really interesting. I feel like but Boudoir shots, I don’t know. Photography is such a weird feel. I don’t know how many photographers there are, there seems to be loads of them, but there’s so much opportunity and just different styles, because you can be in the exact same niche, but be totally, totally different styles and people, people find you and people love that.

Yeah, and yeah, I can see weddings being really interesting because you get candid shots, you get all the moving, you get all these aspects of people partying and having fun. And then you also can do, okay, hold still, let me pose you. Yeah. Do you find posing people, is it fun for you? Are you getting comfortable posing people? It always feels as someone who’s been posed, but has never posed someone, it always feels a little like stiff, like what do I do? I don’t quite know.

Damini Fulmer: I really, really love, of course, like the candid shots and I know it sounds cliche and corny as well, but I love those moments and I really love that aspect of weddings overall, just being able to really capture the story in the day and then as for posing, I don’t mind it. I am always learning, so still learning it in a lot of ways, but I am becoming more comfortable with it. And so I enjoy it because I then get those in between moments, it’s not so much about the pose for weddings or seniors or whoever. I guess with Boudoir, you’re posing them and really trying to get that pose, so that’s a little bit different. But yeah, I’m getting comfortable with that and I do enjoy it, but like I said, I really like those candid moments. Yeah, that’s kind of where I’m at in the posing and everything. Nice.

Becca Hammond: Yeah, it’s definitely a skill because that’s, you kind of had mentioned like getting a business and building relationships. That’s definitely part of it for photographers, like how can I convey this and make people comfortable because the last thing you want is someone like super stiff and awkward looking and they’re wedding photos, like you don’t want that, no one wants to look awkward. So definitely an hour of, okay, we’re gonna build rapport and I’m gonna be nice to you and not, you know, it’s funny because there’s this like level of photography where I’ve heard about, I’ve never witnessed a photographer like this where they get like really, I am the artist, I know what you need to do, you must listen to me. And it’s interesting because most people I’ve met are not like that. So it’s always like, how do you get to that point where you’re just like, ah, I am so good that you can never, you can never tell me anything and how dare you come through my frame.

Damini Fulmer: Like it’s just such a fun, like you’ve got to build rapport with people and I mean, it’s the same with every business. Yeah, yeah, and you’ll hear me like in my sessions, I’m always like, oh, how does it feel to, you know, put your arm here, are you comfortable with that? And they’re like, I think so, I think you’re supposed to pose me and I’m like, yeah, but is it comfortable? Does it feel natural?

Becca Hammond: And they’re like, oh, yeah, yeah, or you get there and yeah, instead of just like, do this, do that. Yeah. Okay, am I doing it right?

Damini Fulmer: I’m a robot. Yeah. And I’m very much like always asking, I think that kind of comes from like working them into the health field too. I’m like, does this feel comfortable? What if, can I touch your hand and put it here and like all of that?

Becca Hammond: So that’s, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, that’s probably makes it very nice to work with you since you can approach people in a kind and respectful way versus I would be so awkward. Like, can you, can you put your arm out? Oh, I’m sorry, can you put it down?

Like, that’s funny. Definitely it are like taking someone’s picture and not being scared of because, you know, obviously you’re taking their picture, they want to look good, you want them to look good. And the last thing you want to do is say something that makes them feel like they’re not doing it right, but you also have to guide them. Like that’s a real balancing act of just keeping it, keeping it light and happy.

Damini Fulmer: I think it’s also just like about communicating completely and entirely like the whole time. So if I pause, I’m always just being so transparent and being like, you’re doing great. Like I’m just messing with my settings.

Totally on my end, whatever. So I’m just like always trying to communicate and tell them what’s going on. And I try to do this in like different realms of my life too, of course, just trying to be like, yeah, this is what I’m doing or here’s why. Yeah, that’s kind of my mindset around it. And just so they’re not standing there like, okay, what do I do? What am I waiting for? Yeah, nice.

Becca Hammond: So do you have any, are you doing winter weddings? Do you have a favorite venue yet?

Damini Fulmer: I don’t know if I have a favorite venue or if I can say I have a favorite one. I live in Milton and so I second shot a wedding at the barn, McQuam, barn in Winery there. And so that was really fun and beautiful and it was like really close to my house. So at the end of the night, I just had a quick drive home. So maybe that’s why that was my favorite.

Becca Hammond: But yeah, I don’t know if I have a favorite. It’s hard to pick something the most beautiful. It’s just kind of a vibe thing because everything’s so beautiful here. I’m sure there’s wedding venues that aren’t that great, but most that I’ve seen in Vermont are just so idyllic and beautiful.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah. And again, like I haven’t done so many where I do have a favorite, but they are all so beautiful. And so I don’t mean to like name drop one and not the other, but yeah, they’re all beautiful. And then as for like going forward, I do have one winter wedding, but it’s going to be in New York. And I’ve got, well, it’s my boyfriend’s family, but I’m just calling family. I’ve got family over there. So that’s kind of why I said yes to it because I can just stay with them after it’s really close to them. So I’m excited for that one other than that, not so much or other than that, I don’t really have like other weddings until next year. And that’s kind of why I really picked up on doing the studio work as well. Right.

Becca Hammond: Which makes sense. I have talked to one other photographer who said basically the same thing that like wedding season is a very, you know, specific thing in Vermont. And most people don’t get married in the winter here just because it’s one, it’s cold and all the venues are outside. Like it makes sense that you would want something to do during the winter months that are freezing outside. And yeah, I just don’t know that many people have gotten married in the winter. The more I think about it, it is beautiful, but I feel like it’s probably a lot more work.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, no, definitely more work. And I feel like there’s probably more like winter elopements because it’s just a smaller crowd, not necessarily a smaller like Like situation to plan or anything, but just a smaller crowd and having guests come to a winter wedding sounds like a big, big undertaking.

Becca Hammond: Oh yeah. Just keeping our clothes clean. That’s what I think of. I’ve lived here forever and I just think, oh, the salt. You know, like men walking in from outside and getting salt on their nice pants. Like just nice shoes or whatever you’re wearing or freezing if you’re wearing a dress. I have been to a wedding where I was freezing, wearing my dress when I had to go outside.

Damini Fulmer: So I hate being cold and like not being able to warm up. Like, yeah, that would be awful.

Becca Hammond: This is why we have a studio. So which what was the studio called again in Welleson?

Damini Fulmer: Can you just? Yeah, no. So it’s just like a studio like room slash space in Solon, Vermont. So the studio space itself doesn’t have a name. I don’t think but you walk in and the studio is like right in front and then to the right is their salon. And they just own that whole, you know, section of the building or whatever and rent that part out, which is nice. And yeah, it’s just kind of closed off from the salon. And then there’s like a hallway with bathrooms and everything.

Becca Hammond: So yeah, it’s a great space. Right. Yeah. Well, that makes total sense for Boudoir. You kind of need a little bathroom to change it and get ready and everything.

Damini Fulmer: Well, there’s like a little changing area in the studio. It’s a very like big space sort of. So yeah, it’s super nice, but then just to have those options is perfect.

Becca Hammond: Yeah, that’s really cool. And it’s nice that it’s in the city. Not that Mellon’s very far outside of the city, but some people, you know, if you have to go 20 minutes, it’s a lot for people who come just to be in the city. That’s a lot for them. Like, whoa, this is this is rural Vermont. They drive up to Mellon. Right. Like, oh, I’m outside the city.

Damini Fulmer: No, I grew up in Maine and everything was 20 minutes or more to get to. So being in Milton, I’m like, oh, this is great. I’m so close. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, 15 or 20, I guess. But yeah, it just feels close. So it’s good.

Becca Hammond: And there’s it’s definitely grown up in that area. I lived in Georgia for a while and Mellon was the closest you could go to like a real grocery store or a restaurant.

So it’s actually not that rural, but it’s not in the city, which is also nice. Definitely nice. Very cool. OK, so let’s talk gear. What kind of gear do you have currently currently?

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, I my main body is the R six. And then my second is the RP. Sorry, Canon R six and Canon RP. And then I’m just working with my 85, 35 and 50 millimeter. And then I think they’re all 1.8.

Yeah. And the 85 and 50 are like the older EF mounts. So I have like the adapter and everything. The 35 is just the R or RF mount. So yeah, are those all mirror mirrorless?

Becca Hammond: Oh, cool. They’re both mirrorless. So much lighter. Yeah. I’m really happy that that technology is coming into itself because it’s so much lighter and they’re very slick.

Damini Fulmer: Yes, absolutely. And I love the quality and everything. And it just feels like a really good start. Cool.

Becca Hammond: So when you go to shoot a wedding or any other event really, do you bring both bodies with you or are you strapped?

Damini Fulmer: I bring both. I bring like all my gear, but I’ll normally just have like my R six in my hand for most of it. And then I’ll have like my my second body with me. But I haven’t really had both like on me at the same time, just because I don’t know, actually, I think just because I’m starting and I’ve been like the second shooter more than like having my own weddings. And so I’m not feeling like I need to like go back and forth like crazy or anything. So yeah, I mean, I’ll definitely like have both and then probably be, you know, strapped on with both going forward. But yeah, that’s just kind of my routine so far.

Becca Hammond: Yeah, lots of stuff to carry with you. Do you bring a tripod when you go out or are you always shooting by hand?

Damini Fulmer: I’m always shooting by hand. I have like my little tripod in my car normally. But yeah, I just don’t really put my camera on the tripod for anything.

Becca Hammond: Right. Well, a lot of times if you’re depends what you’re shooting, right? If you’re shooting something like a soccer match where it’s like you’re looking at this one area, oh, yeah, it makes more sense.

Becca Hammond: But I feel like if you’re doing candidates and you’re just kind of positioning people and getting a right shot at the moment, you kind of don’t need the tripod. Tripods are such an interesting topic with photographers because some photographers are like always bring your tripod. Like just always have it with you. And other people are like, I literally never use a tripod.

Damini Fulmer: I never use it. Yeah, because I want to be like my camera to be accessible and to be like at the angles that I need and not on a tripod.

Becca Hammond: Right. It’s just too much work. Like you have to move it around and everything or take it off the tripods. Yeah. Just adds an extra layer of complication for what you’re doing.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, absolutely. If you’re shooting like shots of the lake with like high exposure, you know, like really, really long camera shutter speed. Why can’t I think of what that term is? What is aperture?

Aperture. Like, yeah, yeah, like that. It makes sense. But for shooting people, probably makes less sense. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool.

OK, so. Where are you originally from? Yeah, so really originally I was born in India and then I was adopted as a baby. But I grew up in Maine. So I grew up in like central Maine. If you know Maine, I say like outside of Augusta. And if you don’t know Maine, I’m an hour north of Portland because people will sometimes be like, oh, yeah, I totally know. And others are like, huh.

And then I say Portland and they’re like, OK, yeah, sure. So yeah, that’s where I grew up, where I’m from. And then I went to school in Rhode Island originally, like college. And then I didn’t love it so much. So then I transferred and ended up at UVM.

Yeah. And so that’s why I’m here in Vermont. But I again, transferred and then I went abroad and then I came back and then there was COVID and I was stuck in my apartment. So yeah, then I was like, well, I feel like I haven’t really been here.

Why not stick around? And my boyfriend is from Vermont originally, like his whole family is. But he also grew up in Maine, like right near me. Yeah. So yeah. Well, 30 minutes away, probably 30, 45.

Becca Hammond: So right near me. Close enough. Yeah, close enough. And we actually connected near the end of college. We didn’t know that we grew up near each other or anything until we met. But then we had the connection to Vermont and decided to find an apartment and stay and then we got Memphis and then we were like, well, we need more space because we are like spilling out of this tiny little apartment. And rent is too high in Burlington. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah, really cool.

Becca Hammond: We moved out. That’s great. Glad you’re here. Thank you. And welcome. Thank you. We get a lot of transplants in Vermont, but it’s we’re all very inclusive. Like we are happy to have people move here. It’s good for us. It’s good for everyone who wants to come here.

Right. Vermont’s a nice place. Like we tend to be pretty down to earth and low key. And just it’s funny. I met someone from New York recently who talked so fast and I tend to talk faster than a lot of Vermonters. I was like, whoa, you guys go at like mock one and we’re just kind of chilling.

Damini Fulmer: And it’s so funny. I think when I’m nervous, I talk fast, which probably sounds pretty average or normal, but other than that, I don’t actually know. I don’t think I’ve paid attention to how fast I talk or if I talk any certain way.

Becca Hammond: Now, I’m like in my head about it. I’m sorry. I know you’re going to be listening to the podcast like, oh no, am I going too fast? No, you’re going at a great speed. It’s just always interesting that people who’ve moved here, like certain people from like Connecticut, they go fast. A lot of people, there’s just a certain speed and then they come to Burlington and we’re almost rural, but not quite. It’s enough of a city that it’s Vermont’s one city. That’s so funny.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, that’s so funny. That’s cool. So many differences, even though we’re like so close sort of, you know. I know.

Becca Hammond: Yeah. Well, there’s this whole New England vibe, which we fit into the New England vibe. It’s just funny because parts of New England are so busy. Like that said, they’re just, they’re so close to the cities that they’re just very, very busy. They get a lot done really quickly. Yeah. Like, whoa, slow down.

Damini Fulmer: Grab a breath.

Becca Hammond: And we’re also just happy to meet people. I think that’s one of the other things. Like I walk around saying hello to people. Do people say hello to each other on the street in Augusta, Maine?

Damini Fulmer: I guess. I mean, I feel like Maine is also very, very like warm and welcoming and kind. I’m not really walking around the streets of Augusta too much. But yeah, people are always really friendly. I feel like and yeah, similar to Vermont. I also love like my neighborhood. But I also love my neighborhood that I’m in right now. It kind of is a representation of both places. Like we’re always waving and talking and it’s just nice to be in that environment. Yeah.

Becca Hammond: It’s nice when your neighbors are decent people.

Damini Fulmer: And it feels like home like Maine too. So yeah.

Becca Hammond: Yeah. Oh yeah. We definitely get a lot of. Maine’s funny because it’s just so much bigger. But it feels the same. And it’s funny because I feel this dip when I go in New Hampshire, I’m like the trees are different. But when you get in Maine, it’s like the trees, the trees are not all just pine trees in Maine. When I feel like everything in New Hampshire is some sort of fir tree. Like I can tell the difference. It’s like, oh, this is really rocky and fir trees. Yeah. And then you get back into Maine, especially Northern Maine. And I’m like, the trees are bigger, but it feels like for more.

Damini Fulmer: That’s so funny. It’s so true. I love that drive across to you from, you know, here to home or back and forth or whatever right across the mountains. It’s beautiful. And yeah.

Becca Hammond: Yeah. And there’s so much just green space too. It’s, I mean, you get some billboards, but not, it’s not bad. Like it’s definitely not as bad as it could be if you’re down a little further self in some of the bigger areas. Yeah.

Damini Fulmer: Well, it’s funny. You mentioned the greens too, cause like relating to photography, that is like one of my biggest challenges and probably most photographers challenges is editing like the greens and being in Vermont. It’s like green, green, green versus maybe Maine or just somewhere else where you’re probably around other bodies of water or more like you can go to the ocean. And around here, I’m like, okay, I’ve got to, you know, go to this field

Becca Hammond: and make sure my greens are right. Oh yeah. That’s going to be interesting with editing. I never really thought about that because it is, it’s all green. There’s not really, at least on the summertime, you get green or you get gray, like that white gray, wintery, everything sort of dead.

Half the year you get that you got this little blip of bright orange color, but for the most part it’s green gray. And there’s not, how do you balance that? Is that hard? Do you have to do like white balancing? Yeah.

Damini Fulmer: Um, more like in my experience. Um, so far it’s really just about kind of maneuvering that in the like post-processing. Of course there’s all the in-camera settings to, you know, manage your white balance and, um, all of that. Um, but then it’s kind of that after post-processing where I’m like, okay, I got to kind of make sure it’s not like totally different from, um, like my other stuff and make it representative. Um, and all of that.

Becca Hammond: It’s definitely interesting to think about because I’ve seen, and I’m not knocking anyone’s style. I want to say this. I’m not knocking anyone’s style if you love the like overly fluorescent kind of brightness, which I think a lot of smartphones have really gotten to this point where they’re kind of like overdoing some saturation on colors.

I’ve noticed it in Vermont specifically when you, when you mentioned that this is opening bells in my head, the greens can look like fake, like super bright to the point of this looks like almost like when you watch, uh, Technicolor films like old school. Oh, what is it called? Why is this not coming to me? The yellow brick road. Wizard of Oz?

Wizard of Oz. What? Everything that’s colorized and you’re like, this looks so fake.

Oh, God. Everything’s just like weirdly fake. Almost like being in Disney World and all of the plants are fake. Oh, yeah. Something looks a little off. That’s, that’s interesting. Cause that’s a skill, I think for, especially in this area, if you can keep your greens looking like they actually do versus we’re now in fairyland and everything’s like this weird lime green color.

Damini Fulmer: Right. Well, I’ve definitely like, um, had challenges with that and I have like my moments where I’m looking on my Instagram, um, cause that’s like my kind of main portfolio right now. I’ve got my website and everything, but I’ll just kind of be like on my Instagram and I’m like, Oh my gosh, everything’s too yellow. I hate everything. I have to delete this. I have to restart everything. And like, I just spiral.

But, um, yeah, I get to that point and then I’ve got to like put my phone down and be like, okay, no, because I liked it. It was good. I posted it for a reason. Other people like it. I’m going to just like go do something else and I come back and I’m like, okay, that’s not terrible. So it’s always like a back and forth challenge. But then like the next day I’ll be like, Oh, this is great. Look at what I’m doing.

Becca Hammond: Hey, hey, oh, and there’s so much to looking at something on a digital screen with a printout. It’s a little different looking on your phone though, like late at night versus Oh, I’m out in daylight looking at my phone.

Like you can get totally different perspectives of that same exact picture just based on, Oh, like my blue light filter was off and now cause it was dark and I didn’t even realize and now it looks totally different to me in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot to be said about keeping your whole because social media obviously drives like half the world now and especially for photography. That’s I’m sure the first thing everyone goes and does like, Oh, it’s your photographer.

Let me look at your portfolio. They go to Instagram and scroll through and well, it’s not like, you know, it’s obviously not the most high quality images because I’m pretty sure they smush them. I think they truncate the image data.

Damini Fulmer: Yeah, definitely kind of messes it up a little bit, which sucks, but it is what it is. And like, I think Instagram too is a great like quote portfolio. Maybe I shouldn’t even say quote, but a great portfolio. But then also, yeah, people go to it to be like, Oh, who is this photographer too? Because you’re on there.

Becca Hammond: And it’s like an impression of a style.

Becca Hammond: And you’ll hold. Yeah. It’s interesting to think because I’m not a social media guru. I’ve been slowly learning this stuff over the years, but one photo versus how the photo looks on your page. Like you get this whole impression of a person based on just seeing 20 images really quickly versus, Oh, I’m going to look at every single individual image because people are just, no one has the attention span to look through 20 images and be like, Oh, I really appreciate each one. People just, yeah.

They just glance at this wall and they’re like, Oh, that’s the vibe. Okay. And like, that’s it. So I can totally appreciate looking back because I do this with my own stuff. I look back and I’m like, Oh, no, I don’t like this anymore.

Like, why did I do this? And the way Instagram works, it’s not like you can go in and just like swap one image out. It breaks your whole, you know, you’ve built this whole like system of images. You can’t just go in and delete one without changing the way the entire page looks.

Becca Hammond: It’s amazing. It’s amazing seeing how creative some people have gotten with those feeds too. We’re like, I’ve seen photographers in particular, like somehow get their color scheme to shift across the images. Like it starts with like all greens and then it shifts through the seasons in this very like satisfying way. And I’m like, wow, like it just blows my mind.

But that’s it. I’m like, wow, I would be immediately like, Oh no, I did something wrong. I posted a green picture when I should have posted a blue picture.

And now it’s off. That’s funny. Yeah. It’s become a huge thing. Like there’s, there’s a lot to be said to, especially Instagram marketing for photography in particular. Yeah. So what is your Instagram name, your handle? So people can find you.

Damini Fulmer: Oh yeah. Um, my handle is just Dominique photography. Um, and my name is spelled kind of funny. I guess it’s, so it’s D A M I N I and people always say it wrong, but, um, I said it wrong.

Becca Hammond: It’s, it’s okay. I said it wrong.

Damini Fulmer: Oh my gosh. No, you nailed it. So it, Dominique, like Dominique without the EEC. Yes. I really like that. That’s how I like to, like tell people. Um, but yeah, that is just Dominique photography. And then my website link is, um, in my Instagram. Um, and then yeah, that’s like the best way to kind of, you know, reach me at first. Um, and then my website will be in there and then you can email and, um, kind of inquire through there. Awesome. Cool.

Becca Hammond: And I think we’ve pretty much covered most of the stuff I wanted to talk about today. Is there anything specific that you’d like to talk about?

Damini Fulmer: Oh my gosh, not that I can completely think of. Um, but I just, yeah, thank you for having me on here.

Becca Hammond: And you’re very welcome. This has been a great conversation. I love talking about different hobbies and things.

Damini Fulmer: I love it. I’m probably going to like go into my car and be like, oh, I should have said this or I fumbled on that, but I am so grateful to just kind of get my voice out there and connect with you and, um, yeah, just be a part of this. This is really exciting. Yeah.

Becca Hammond: And hopefully people reach out to you after listening to the show. It’d be awesome. At everything that you just mentioned, all of your links are going to be included on the show notes page. And if you remember something that you forgot to include, let me know. We’ll include it on the show notes page. It’s going to be at VermontTalks.com forward slash 39. And I think this is going to be posted on Tuesday or Monday the 13th of this month. Beautiful. And awesome. Thank you so much, Dominique.

Damini Fulmer: Thank you. Coming on the show. I love being here.

Becca Hammond: Thanks so much for listening to the end of the show. Subscribe to VermontTalks on your favorite podcasting platform. You can find me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all over the web. Contact Becca at VermontTalks.com if you’d like to be interviewed or if you know someone who should be. Thanks so much to Jason Baker for creating the show music. The views and opinions expressed by the guests are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of VermontTalks. Any content or statements provided by our guest are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, anyone or anything. And that’s what was new in the 802. Have a great day.