We were lucky to catch up with Nina Hernandez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in a creative career or as an entrepreneur is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Last summer workin a wedding in sheer panic my camera would not focus I took the camera completely apart cleaned the lenses, did the WORKS. Still nothing. I prayed over the situation, contacted my great friend Marissa who is also a local small business photographer. She came running to the rescue with her camera for me to borrow. I learned, never to be good to ask for helps and invest in that back up camera.

Nina, 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?

I named my small photography business after where I grew up and where I am raising my littles. Texas Coastal Photography. I have two small children currently 7 and 4. My 7 year old is who inspired me to learn photography. I wanted to be able to hold on to every memory of her growing. This is when it clicked. Holding a memory through a camera lens is so meaningful. Time freezes. When I deliver my photos back to clients I always say “I hope you love the photos as much as I do” because I truly mean it. I see love in the photos.

A client once told me “I’m so grateful you inspired me to take photos with my parents” she later explained that was the last photo she had taken with them before their passing. So she holds that special memory so near and dear to her heart.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience on social media in a small town is actually pretty hard. Small towns it’s always about who you know.

I would host minis to get the younger crowd active in my photos. It was a win for me because I also got to take photos of my littles with the mini set up as well and use those to advertise.

Minis are normally cheaper and quicker for the client, who this helped a lot.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Staying active on social media, being able to post past sessions as inspiration. Having clients that don’t mind their photos being shared on social media can help a photographer so much with gaining new clients and reminding past clients that it may be time to update those photos.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Texas Coastal Photography

Image Credits

Rolando Hernandez (spouse)
Chloe Hernandez (daughter)
Hayes Hernandez (son)
Morgan Cervantes (client)