FHN alumni Ryanne O’Donnell looks at her models through the lens of a camera. She adjusts her positioning to find the perfect angle. Since she started her photography business two years ago, O’Donnell has over 1,800 Instagram followers and countless satisfied customers.

“I started doing photography in high school,” O’Donnell said. “It became a thing for me and blew up in the past year.”

O’Donnell continued taking photos after high school, just shooting photos for fun— and free. Once people started offering to pay her for her work, she realized that she could start her own business. However, O’Donnell took an unorthodox approach to her business. She doesn’t pay her models nor do they pay her. Their payment? Photos.

“She gets us good pictures—worth hundreds of dollars—for free,” senior Megan Crain said. “In turn, we help her bring in new customers.”  

Making photos appealing to the eye can be a very difficult task when inexperienced. In O’Donnell’s case, that is no issue.

“I spend the day before driving around looking for locations,” O’Donnell said. “Once I find my general location, I look for backgrounds that showcase the current season well.”

As with any photographer, her models need to be camera-ready. O’Donnell sends Pinterest Boards on the basic theme of her upcoming shoot to models ahead of time and together the models collaborate on what to wear.

“She sends us picture ideas of the theme she wants,” Crain said. “Then we help each other to decide what to wear to match the theme.”

Due to the girls’ opportunity in participating in O’Donnell’s modeling shoots, they have the chance to learn new life skills and gain new connections.

“I got really close to some of the girls I was [modeling] with,” senior Audrey Dickherber said. “I was able to make new friendships.”

O’Donnell’s mission is to help build up others’ self-esteem and give them a platform to express themselves on while also giving herself an outlet to express herself, as well.

“The reason I started this business in the first place is to help other people’s confidence and share their stories,” O’Donnell said.