Photographer and Maple Grove native Paul Weaver. Photos: Paul Weaver
A freelance photographer creates a coaching platform for fellow creatives.
A photography education and mentorship program with global reach has local roots. Paul Weaver says his senior photo session with Maple Grove’s well-known Sandy Jones Photography sparked something in him. He realized there was a way to turn his creativity into a full-fledged business. Like many budding photographers, the class of 2011 Osseo Senior High School alum got his start shooting portraits of friends before gradually building up a client roster for senior photo shoots and weddings. “Then I feel like that led me to branching out and shooting in the music industry, which led me to shooting commercially,” he says.
As a freelance photographer, Weaver is self-taught. “I think I created The Freelance Photographer out of something that was missing in my own journey when I first started,” he says. Weaver leveraged his economics degree from the University of Minnesota and his real-world photography experience to develop the courses that would evolve into The Freelance Photographer, a platform that offers coaching, community and mentorship to budding freelancers. “I always tell people it’s easier to be creative; it’s more difficult to be business-minded,” Weaver says.
Paul Weaver leads an in-person freelance photography workshop.
Weaver has always been interested in the business side of his creative pursuits. Post-college, he hosted a beginner photography workshop that quickly sold out. Through trial and error, Weaver identified that teaching technique wasn’t where his passion lies, and in 2018–19, he launched his first online course to share his insights on pitching and pricing. “That’s where it kind of blew up during [COVID-19],” Weaver says. His subsequent virtual workshop, How to Land Brands as a Photographer Without Leaving Your House, saw traffic jump from 40 attendees to thousands within months. “It resonated with a lot of people,” he says.
In 2023, Weaver and his business partner, fellow Maple Grove photographer Cole Hennen, decided to pivot The Freelance Photographer from a course to a program. “You throw a course at somebody—especially a creative—most people aren’t going to go through the entire course because it’s like self-based/self-study, and it was lacking the community and live coaching aspect,” Weaver says. By the end of 2024, he says it had gained a lot of traction. “And that’s when VSCO discovered us.”
VSCO, a photo and video editing app, acquired The Freelance Photographer in July 2025, and Weaver assumed the position of director of education. Weaver says there’s a lot of synergy in the merger. “We’ve always been focused on the business side,” he says. “That’s why VSCO acquired us, because [business coaching] was a missing element of their ecosystem.” Weaver says that the creator-led nature of The Freelance Photographer also drew VSCO’s interest. “People want to learn from people who have done it before,” he says.
The Freelance Photographer
Instagram: @thefreelancephotog
