Florence McCall Photography

At the beginning of the year we were excited to partner up with Jackson portrait photographer Flo McCall. Over her twenty years of photographing the various characters of Jackson Hole and Teton Valley, we asked her to turn her lens to the animals of Teton County Animal Shelter.

Flo has a distinct style of photography and she helped highlight each animal in need with a close and loving eye to the details.

We at Lens and Leash want to thank Flo for donating her time and talent to helping these adorable animals find their forever homes.

Lens And Leash: When did you get started?
Flo McCall: 1995, when I moved to Jackson 23 years ago.

Lens And Leash: What was your goal when you started the company?
Flo McCall: To have a successful photography business back then. So I could support myself and have a full time career. I was focused on portraits and sports advertising at the time. That is how I got started with Stio, Cloudveil and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Lens And Leash: How many people work for your business and how do you choose who becomes a part of your team?
Flo McCall: One right now but I have multiple contract assistants. How I decide if they become apart of my team is if they are enthusiastic, learn quick, think on their own and flexible.

Lens And Leash: What do you want to convey to potential clients?
Flo McCall: That I am 100% customer service oriented and that I want to satisfy their needs. If they are not happy I will do everything in my power to make sure they are happy with the end result. I want to create beautiful images that they will love always and want to have on their walls forever. I am focused on portraits 100% in my business now.

Lens And Leash: What makes you stand out compared to other photographers?
Flo McCall: I think my willingness to focus on portrait work and not doing a ton of variety of things. I am focused on working with people so I get really good at that and people know that when you hire me, I know how to work with people in any situation. Also my willingness to make sure my customer is 100% happy.

Lens And Leash: What is your style and what do you like to photograph most?
Flo McCall: I love to photograph people and my style I think is focusing on the eyes and the face with beautiful light with a hint of the background.

Lens And Leash: Do you have a favorite project you have shot and why?
Flo McCall: I have quite of few that I love. I love doing the athletic portraits that hang at Gym 22. I love doing the project that I started with Spring Creek Animal Hospital, photographing the employees and their dogs. I loved doing the Jackson Hole Land Trust portraits that I did when I first moved to town. It was portraits of all of the landowners. That was awesome! They were all done on film. Then I also did a really cool project on Teton Valley, which I just put away. It was photographing all of the personalities of Teton Valley when I moved here 25 years ago. And I loved that too because I got a grant from the state of Idaho, from the art foundation and I did this very cool project where I photographed it and it was all in black and white. I had a big showing and then someone bought it and installed it in the hospital for 20 years! I just loved that! So those are my four favorite projects.

Lens And Leash: What has been your favorite location to work at so far?
Flo McCall: I think it’s not necessarily a favorite location, it’s more like a favorite time of year. Even though it is freezing cold in Jackson, December is the best time to photograph, cause the light is so low on the horizon. So no matter what time of day you photograph it is beautiful. The light is easier to work with, lower and it is warmer, not temperature wise but color wise and pretty shadows. So wherever I go that time of year the light is always low on the horizon. That has taken me years to realize though. I can go literally right outside my studio and it is so gorgeous in December. January I can already tell that the light has changed significantly and I kind of wish I could have December light again. No matter where I am in the world it’s just gorgeous with that low light.

Lens And Leash: Over the last 23 years what changes have you seen in the photography industry?
Flo McCall: The change of digital and the change of social media. Which it makes it look like everyone can take a quality picture when in reality you can’t because when the image gets to be bigger than one inch by one inch it looks terrible.

Lens And Leash: Where do you see your business in the next few years?
Flo McCall: I would like to see it where I could travel to do portrait work all over the world.

Lens And Leash: What gets you most excited about the businesses future?
Flo McCall: The potential that I could get better and more dialed in and deliver a strong, unique and beautiful image.

Lens And Leash: Biggest thing you have overcome?
Flo McCall: Surviving financially in the business world.

 

Lens And Leash: What inspires you?
Flo McCall: Beautiful light and people’s personalities.

Lens And Leash: What is your favorite camera?
Flo McCall: The Hasselblad camera. Although I don’t use it anymore it is still my favorite camera.

Lens And Leash: What is the one thing you have to have on all of your shoots?
Flo McCall: My experience that I have had for the past 20 years.

Lens And Leash: Do you have any tips for aspiring photographers?
Flo McCall: Marry rich, ha ha 🙂 Photograph what you love and people will eventually hire you for it. Don’t conform to what everyone else thinks. And keep trying, eventually you will get there.

Lens And Leash: Do you have any pets?
Flo McCall: I do have a dog and cat I love more than anything. Dash and Kitty. Dash is an Akbash adopted from PetFinder and Kitty is a Tuxedo cat adopted from The Animal Adoption Center.

Lens And Leash: What is your favorite day of the week and what do you do on that day?
Flo McCall: I do a sport or exercise and I would say Friday is my favorite day.

Lens And Leash: If you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Flo McCall: This is totally cheesy but I was driving home with my kids last night after dance and the two kids are in the back and we are all playing Miley Cyrus “The Climb.” We were singing and screaming it so I will have to say “The Climb”.

To book a session with Flo or to view more of her portfolio, please check out here website and Instagram.