Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Jones.
Hi Megan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always been an artist at heart. Both my parents are artists, my father is a gardener and musician; my mother is a drawer, painter, and glassworker. I quickly discovered drawing was not for me, nor any other form of artwork where the decisions process was left to me. Choose a few colors for this palate, the choice made me sweat. I found my way to photography in high school as we had an incredible school with a very comprehensive photography program. We had a darkroom as well! In my very first class, I had a camera that was owned by my late grandfather, and I didn’t even know how to take a photo with it, much less develop film.
As the classes went on, I could be found every lunch period, free hour, and even after school developing my film in the darkroom. I was the “Dusty student” my teacher said because somehow my film was always covered in dust. Regardless, I decided to pursue my love of photography. I had found a medium that was very literal “a photo” and thus I could bend the rules in a confined way – unlike with other forms of art where the choices were endless.
I applied to SCAD and was accepted with a hefty 50% scholarship, and moved to Savannah Georgia from Northbrook IL. I learned a lot at SCAD and with my four-year degree in hand, I left college and proceeded to flounder immediately. Eventually, I was hired to shoot my first elopement and fell in love. It became someone more frequent until I photographed a women’s elopement, and she lamented to me how she could not find a female wedding officiant. She decided to fill the void that Savannah needed and became one of Savannah’s first female wedding officiants, Savannah Custom Weddings and Elopements was born and I was the lead photographer! In our busiest year together I photographed 147 elopements!
Eventually, my success lead me to ask ‘but what do you really want to do?’ I had fallen into elopements, but I wished for more. I really wanted to be surrounded by glamour. I am obsessed with gowns and love the portraiture of weddings, so I started working on a plan. In 2017, I launched Savannah Glamour, a women’s based portrait studio that specialized in glamour, pinup, and boudoir portraiture. I was obsessed with helping women see the most glamorous version of themselves. Not as a mom, a wife, a daughter, or a friend, but as a woman who deserves to be made feel special regardless of who she is to others.
In 2020, mid-pandemic I realized I was trying to do too much, and retired from the elopement industry, shooting my last few elopements in spring of 2021, and now I work my portrait studio, which is my baby, full-time.
I also co-owned an improv troupe named Odd Lot until the pandemic, but that’s a whole different story.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road has been smooth, but I have a very strong vision that I worked at until I saw the results I wanted. I dream up exactly what I want, make a plan, and enact it. There have been bumps along the way, but I have had a lot of support by my husband, parents, friends, and community.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My business is my baby. I have worked so hard to build a brand, with no blueprints on how it’s done for a portrait studio. My studio is a by women, for women space. We specialize in boudoir, pinup, and glamour portrait sessions. We have an extensive client wardrobe.
There is no other portrait studio in Savannah that offers women this experience. From professional hair and makeup, and a glass of champagne in hand when they enter, to a seemingly endless wardrobe of options, including crowns, jewelry, wings, and more. A once in a once-in-a-lifetime portrait experience where we capture the most gorgeous photos of yourself you’ve ever seen. Our goal is to make women feel gorgeous! A lot of women tell me on their booking call “I have never liked a photo of myself before. For once, I would just like to see myself in a photo and actually like it.” I love working with these types of women, because I know we can blow their minds with how beautiful they can actually look in their portraits.
My favorite thing my studio offers besides this experience is beautiful, treasured albums. We design them in-house, and it is something my clients can hold, look through, and re-live their portrait experience all over again. We also offer show-stopping metal wall art, where they can put their favorite photo on the wall, and wake up every day to their portrait, and feel amazing about themselves!
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I do take leaps of faith in my business. My biggest one was moving my business from my home to a commercial spot on River Street. It went so much better than expected! I recently bought a space to run my business out of, and have moved on from that pricy downtown location, but it was one of my proudest moments. I signed that at least the Monday after I got married too. I married my husband, then looked at him and said, “Time to get to work” and that Monday I was signing the lease to my first ever studio!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.savannahglamour.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savannah.glamour/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SavannahGlamourVIPgroup
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@savannahglamour
