We recently connected with Kristin Camfferman and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Like a lot of other photographers, I first picked up my camera when my children were little. As I watched them through the lens of my camera, I developed a desire to capture the little moments that we often pass over as life gets busy. By far, my most meaningful project has been telling the story of my 3 daughters through beautiful images I hope they will treasure forever. The seemingly simple things like a favorite toy in tiny hands, jumping on the bed in overly loved pjs, messy fingers in cooking experiments or even itty bitty tippy toes stretching to reach something just out of reach. Nothing that would seem overly exciting if you looked at just one image, but when put together over the years, tell the story of the extraordinarily ordinary moments and things that hide just a little bit of magic.
Kristin , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Kristin and I run a Family and Portrait photography business out of Castle Rock, Colorado. I have been photographing friends, family, and now clients for nearly 12 years now. I fell in love with photography as a when I was very young watching my dad develop film in the dark room. If I close my eyes now I can still remember the smells, sights and sounds of that tiny room so long ago; watching images appear like magic and being in awe of the whole process. When I became a mom I wanted to capture a little of that same wonder and awe I felt all those years ago sitting in the dark room for my own girls. I picked up my camera and decided to learn as much as I could about how to truly take beautiful images. I have taken countless hours of classes and even more hours of practice shoots, all in an effort to master the art of photography. I never stop learning, in fact I still take countless images along with as many classes, tutorials, and articles as I can get my hands on related to my craft. Techniques and technology are always changing and there are always new things to learn.
I have truly fallen in love with the art of capturing not only beautiful images but in capturing a piece of others stories as well. In my client work, I am always striving to capture that connection between my clients and the ones they love, to freeze a bit of that magic that is uniquely theirs. There is nothing wrong with the traditional family images where everyone is looking at the camera, but there is something truly magical about the way a dad looks into the eyes of his daughter or the way a mom snuggles her son. In clients I have repeatedly shot over the years, seeing this connection year after year as families grow and change lets me know there is magic in those little moments.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Without a doubt overcoming perfectionism and comparison. I am sure I am not alone in doubting my own abilities and comparing my work to others I see around me. I spent several years looking at other photographers work and feeling as though I wasn’t quite good enough to compete. It has taken me several years to learn that I don’t necessarily need to compete with others in that way. Don’t get me wrong, Colorado has a lot of very talented artists, but I can stay on my own path and on my own journey and photograph individuals in the way that feels authentic to me. I am still my biggest critic, and I will always have things to improve upon and grow into, but I have things to offer that are uniquely mine. My sessions are all about my clients story, setting down my own perfectionism and comparison has allowed me to better capture my families.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
For me my best source for clients has been my returning clients. I had several repeat sessions year after year and as those sessions grew so did word of mouth about my work. I have used social media as well, but I have stepped away from a lot of that, as word of mouth seems to be working well, at least at this point in time. Not to say I don’t use social media to get my name out there, I do, but it just isn’t my main source of new clients.
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