Success story: How Misty Huss revolutionized her volume photography business.
October 31st, 2025
Colorado-based photographer Misty Huss has built a thriving business rooted in community, creativity, and dedication. What started as a passion sparked by her grandfather, a camera-wielding Air Force pilot, has grown into a full-fledged photography business specializing in sports team and individual photography, serving schools and athletes throughout the state.
After being laid off in 2020, Misty turned a challenging chapter into a new beginning, diving headfirst into photography full-time. Today, she manages a volume photography operation that combines efficiency with personal connection, all while keeping the experience easy (and even fun) for coaches, parents, and students.
Over the years, Misty has worked to refine her workflow, her style, and her sense of balance. And Zenfolio has been part of that journey for nearly two decades, helping her keep her business organized, her galleries secure, and her clients happy.
Watch our behind-the-scenes interview with Colorado-based sports and portrait photographer Misty Huss:
Visit Misty’s website, hosted on Zenfolio’s NextZen platform, and follow her on Instagram.
Building a successful photography business: From part-time portrait photographer to full-time sports T&I photographer.
How did you start out in photography?
I was raised in a family that really valued photography. My grandfather was a career Air Force fighter pilot and traveled around the world, so I grew up seeing all the photos that he would take. When I was growing up, I had a 110mm camera and would save my allowance to go get the film cartridge and take it to school and photograph my friends, and then develop the film.
I started with photographing friends and our family, then doing weddings, seniors, family portraits, and sports action photography at school games. Up until 2020, I had a great corporate career and did photography as my side job. When everything shut down, most of the people in my company were laid off and I spent eight hours a day sending out resumes for a year.
One day my husband looked at me and said, “Stop. You are an excellent photographer. Go do that.” I had his full support and I literally jumped headfirst. It also happened at a time when a national company decided that they were no longer going to do the sports team and individual (also referred to as T&I) pictures in Colorado; they pulled out completely.
I grew up playing sports, and then as I had kids, they started playing sports. I coached; I became an administrator at a local, state and national level. Because they already knew me, I got phone calls from a school asking, “Hey, we know you shoot games. Do you do this as well?” So I replied, “I can,” and that literally just opened the door.
Tell us more about adding team and individual sports photography to your business.
That first year was rough. I’m not even going to lie. It was trying to figure out the processes and how best to service the teams in the schools–the first year really was a crash course in volume. After that first year, I decided to do composites [rather than photographing the team together in one portrait] because of the weather issues we have here in Colorado. That’s helped the processes move faster.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced from offering both standard portrait work and volume T&I photography?
When I started my business, I branded myself as Misty Huss Photography and figured that was the easiest way to name things. I’d had my brand for a number of years when I decided to go into the volume world. I thought “Everybody knows my name. That’s awesome.”
Then I would have conversations with people who would say, “You’re a sports photographer. There’s no way you know how to shoot a wedding or family portraits or senior portraits.” And then the inverse, “Oh my gosh, you do these great portraits, but I’m sure you can’t do sports.
What I’ve started doing is subdividing the brand. I’m taking my sports volume and corporate headshot volume work and they will fall under my mobile studios. That will allow me to have two different identities; my original brand and Mobile Studios, brought to you by Misty Huss Photography.
How has your portfolio website helped your business?
In 2006 or 2007 I started searching for a platform for my galleries. With Zenfolio, the pricing structure looked great, the ease of use was amazing, and even at that time [on their Classic platform], it still looked good to a client or someone checking out my business.
It’s been an integral part of my business for longer than I care to admit–almost 20 years. Over the years it has supported my growth as a photographer and a business owner; Zenfolio has given me the potential to grow, not just in my portrait work, but in volume.
I take the safety and security of the kids’ images very, very seriously–Zenfolio backs that. I have the ability to organize into separate galleries, to password protect and lock those down so I know that my data is protected.
With the T&I shoots, Coaches are notorious haters of picture day, so my goal is to get these kids in and out without all the waiting around. They can go right to practice and they love it. They also love that as far as the proofing and sales, it’s all online through my Zenfolio site. The parents see their kids’ pictures, buy what they want, and prints are delivered directly to the parents. Coaches don’t have to touch it, administrators aren’t dealing with packets of photos and trying to track people down. Those pieces have really helped me establish my sports business.
An additional feature that NextZen provides is being able to see how and where my clients are ordering. I know if it’s Android Pay, Apple Pay, if it’s coming through their mobile device or if it’s coming from a computer. I would easily say anywhere from 50 to 60% of my clients are transacting on the phone, from start to finish, so it’s super important that the whole process of viewing the galleries and checking out in my store provide a good experience.
Automations and workflows: Organizing a sports team and individual shoot day.
What is your workflow for organizing and creating galleries before the shoot day?
Before the photoshoot, most of the organizations that I work with give me the full list of players for the teams, team names, coaches–all the information we want to start setting up the galleries. I have everything in a CSV file, then I go into Zenfolio at a folder level, drop in that CSV and it makes all those galleries. I can set up how I want to assign the password and then it’s all in there–it takes max one minute.
It’s the best; previously I would get that list and go in and build the folder. Then I’d create each gallery–that takes time. Now it is so simple. When it rolled out, I couldn’t even control myself, I was so excited about the time it saved me.
Also, on the session day, each parent gets a card that we create using QR codes built in by Zenfolio that basically says, “Scan this, visit the gallery URL, and pre-register so that when I upload those photos, I can instantly email you and say they’re ready.” Parents love that. They’re telling me how great it is that they don’t have to wait for some big mass email, and how they sometimes miss those messages from the coach.
What is your process for a smooth sports T&I photoshoot on location?
As a volume photographer, my workflow starts well before we ever step foot on site. I have a set list of the exact things that I have to take with me every single time. I don’t rely on my brain because you can wake up late and then forget something. Then you have to become a Swiss army tool as a photographer, and that’s not fun. I’m always making sure I’m well prepared ahead of time.
With the mobile studio trailer, we roll up and unpack, plug everything in, get everything set up. As soon as our start time hits, I’ve got teams outside and we hit the ground running. At that point, we are constantly processing through the teams–working two hours, eight hours, or ten hours, depending on the size of the organization.
I used to be a one woman show, but I cannot do volume and increase my client base year over year by myself. I have this amazing group of women who will come in and help me on the big, big days where we’re photographing hundreds of kids. One woman I’ve trained to be my second photographer, and I have other women who are my assistants helping to pose and process through the kids.
My husband will be outside; he helps me set up and he’ll be outside, talking to the parents and the coaches, handing out cards with the gallery QR codes.
On these big T&I shoot days, this is a well oiled machine–I definitely can’t do it alone. Once we’re done on site, we pack up and go back home. When the session is done, then it’s all me.
What tips do you have for photographers looking to streamline posing during a T&I shoot day and stay creative?
With my littles, the younger teams, we dictate the posing for consistency and so that it moves fast on these big, big days. When we get to high school levels, we give more freedom–it gets even more fun because now we’re starting to use props.
As a photographer, I have to keep up on trends–we all know there’s a lot going on on social media. They can use chains and sledgehammers and all the things they’re seeing all over social media. I provide that here in my mobile studio trailer; it’s all right here. We are adding those props and we’re popping out 4 to 5 different poses in about a minute per student athlete.
With each kid, we’re telling them, “Hey, I need this pose from you for the team picture I’ll composite together–and then the next three or four, that’s on you.” That conversation actually takes place before they ever step into the studio.
Outside the mobile studio I have posing charts printed on thick, glossy cardstock–it’s basically a rigid poster with options for poses they can do. It shows poses that I’ve done with other athletes; the poses are all my past images. I also have that same posing chart inside because inevitably they come in and say, “I forgot.”
I change them up based on things the parents and kids love and new poses they might try. Something may have not been on the chart, but was a pose the kids naturally did, so I’ll add that in to keep it fresh. The posing charts are game changers when it comes to getting the kids in and out and still delivering professional galleries to the families.
What advice would you give to photographers taking on their first volume jobs?
I would tell people first and foremost when trying to dip their toe in volume, keep your day job. You are only getting an average sale of anywhere between $30 to $60. It takes a lot of people at that price point to have enough money to pay your bills.
While you’re developing that business on the weekends or after your job, whatever works best in your schedule–start your networking. You want to be out meeting coaches, meeting athletic directors; those are a must.
You might have been doing portrait work for ten years; this is a completely different animal. You have to think about your business differently and go about things differently. Speed and time and quality are of the utmost importance because you can be fast, but if your quality is not good, you could lose that team or that school. There’s still the old adage; if a customer is happy, they may tell 1 or 2 people–you upset somebody, they’re going to tell a lot of people.
As a professional photographer, success can look like a lot of different things. Every part and piece that is integral to what I do plays such a massive role, from my equipment to having Zenfolios as a platform; I need things that I can trust. You talk to any photographer on the planet and someone asks, “What’s the best camera?” or “What’s the best light?” and you’re going to get a lot of different answers.
The question should be, “What would be the best system for me?” That is not just equipment; it is also your website, your selling platform. I love that I don’t need a PhD to be able to go in and adjust and tweak my client-facing website. On some other platforms, you really need to have a developer’s education level; I tried once and said, “Nope, I will pass.”
That’s all part of my success at the end of the day. I measure it by two things: a parent or client comes up and says, “Thank you so much, we loved the pictures.” The second is when that client recommends me to somebody else–that’s success to me, you can’t measure it. It’s the best feeling in the world.
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Misty’s story is one of determination, growth, and genuine passion for her work. Her success goes far beyond great images; it’s about creating experiences that are simple, professional, and memorable for every client.
From managing complex team shoots to maintaining her creative edge, Misty continues to evolve her style and her business with care and true intention. As she puts it, success can be measured in many ways, but for her, it’s found in the sincere appreciation her customers have for her work and the trust she’s earned along the way.
