We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Purvee Patel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Purvee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name of my company is The Little Photo Den. My husband took me and my first born out to have a picnic at this beautiful waterfall on my first Mother’s Day and I remember sitting there with my family, wishing someone could follow us around a take pictures of us so that we could all be captured in the photos for this beautiful memory in this gorgeous location. It sparked the idea into me that I could do that for other families, create memories for them. When you become a parent, you take thousands of pictures but the person taking the pictures never gets to be in them in a proper way (selfies don’t count). When I became a mother, my little family unit became my everything and my memories with my family became so important to have. I wanted to provide a “den of memories” for others to have and cherish. The Little Photo Den came out of wanting to have a cozy, relatable name for my company,

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Photography has been a core part of most of my life. It started in high school, back in the days of film and SLR cameras. I spent countless hours in darkrooms developing my photos throughout college and taking photography classes. I was drawn to photography because of the creative control you could have with a camera and how an image can move you to feel emotions deep within yourself. I also loved how I could capture the beauty of a moment and tell a story with a single image. Twenty five years ago, I didn’t actually think I could make a career out of being a photographer, so it was a hobby for a long time while I worked as a teacher. I loved being a teacher and working with children but after having my own kids, it became clear to me that I needed to make a change. During the pandemic, I took classes online about business and photography and started The Little Photo Den. It was a risk to start a business a year into the pandemic, but it also seemed more important than ever to do it for myself. I am 3 years into my business and am proud of what I am establishing. I was fully booked last fall and had 90% repeat clients. I also started a school segment of my photography business. Instead taking traditional school photos of kids with boring backgrounds and stiff smiles, I capture their true expressions and smiles in an outdoor setting or with a modern background. I’ve received so much feedback from parents about how much they love these photos of their children! I love it because I still get to work with kids.

Lifestyle photography is about capturing emotions and expressions. It’s not about looking perfect and posed with everyone smiling at the camera. While I do pose my families, I direct them to interact with each other so that I can capture their natural interactions and expressions. I love working with families! I get to meet some amazing families and take photos of them in beautiful locations in the best light. I have so much fun capturing the relationships and connection of family members together and telling each families’ story through my images. My lifestyle newborn photography is similar except I get to be in a family’s home, which makes it even more special, because it’s their sacred space where they spend their time together building their family unit. It’s the best job ever! I love giving families timeless images for them to cherish. I take great care choosing and editing the images I provide,

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

One of the most important journeys in my life is taking my abuser from childhood to court. After having my children, I knew I couldn’t be silent anymore. One day while both of my kids were taking a nap, I called the police and said I wanted to report a crime that began 25 years ago. A police officer came over and took down details and everything unfolded after that. The detectives I worked with after that initial day took me seriously and it was a hard and long journey with lots of pain and tears but well worth it when I got to have my day in court and my abuser took a plea deal and had to go on the sex offender registry. I’ve never felt so empowered and I think that journey gave me the strength to seek out and do things for myself, like starting my business, which happened later that same year. I basically knew from that point forward, I could handle what comes my way and having that sense of self assurance is a powerful motivator.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal in my journey is to spread joy and love. I capture families connecting, laughing, being their most authentic loving selves with each other. I feel that with each photo I take that portrays love, joy, happiness is positive energy sent out into the world. And each photo that is shared is just sending more of that energy out into the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelittlephotoden.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thelittlephotoden
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelittlephotoden

Image Credits
Photos by Purvee Patel