We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carina Chavez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carina below.

Carina , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

In short, no. I think starting my business when I did was the right move.
A girls trip to Glenwood Springs in January 2021 would start the movement towards my business, unexpectedly. My friend had brought her camera and she let me use it a few times and after that, I was sold. I knew I needed to start somewhere so I saved up and got my Canon Rebel t7.
I was working at a job in an office that wasn’t bad at all. I was making a good income, had a couple work friends, and had my weekends to myself. But I also wasn’t happy. I also knew I wanted to have a family within the next few years and wanted to be there for my kids the way my mom was there for me and my sister. She was a single mom who raised her two daughters by herself while working and starting on her own business. I guess you could say entrepreneurism is in my genes.
I’m not sure starting earlier would’ve been the right move. But possibly going full-time a little later might have helped, but not as much as you might think. I had been taking on clients while still working full time at the office but when I left my job to go full time, about a week before Halloween 2022, it was nice to be able to have the holidays free and I even got to ski more frequently. But by March 2023, I was pregnant with my baby girl! Any woman who’s been pregnant knows the major toll the 1st trimester takes on your body. I can’t imagine trying to work a 9-5 job with how exhausted I was, so kudos to all the wonderful pregnant women who do. I salute you!
So my first full year as a full time photographer I was also pregnant with my first child. Having the freedom to sleep in, go to my doctor appointments, and work without having to worry about using up my sick days was a huge relief!
I don’t know if there ever really is a good time to make the jump into full time work when you’re starting your own business. But like with life, if you wait for everything to be perfect before you start doing the BIG things, you’ll be waiting you’re whole life. I am very happy I am my own business but it is very hard to create a barrier between work life and personal life. During my busy season I am up until 2 or 3a almost every night trying to get work done but then remember I have a 1 year old who will be up by 7a, and I need to get some sleep.

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.

I’m a photographer in Colorado and I specialize in couples and wedding photography. But I also have clients reach out for boudoir, headshots, family, and senior photo services as well. I wanted to be able to provide clients with beautiful work but without a huge price tag. Not to say my services are the cheapest or everyone else is overpriced but I believe what I offer, with that price, is worth the investment.
I describe my work as modern romanticism with some documentary thrown in. I like to help create the moment a little during couples sessions and some weddings. I like to call them ‘plandid-candids’. A feature I take pride in is, I provide all the best photos and this includes some black and white versions as well. My contracts will always provide a base number of photos but 99% of the time I am way over and glad to give you all the memories from that day/session. My editing style has changed just a little since the beginning but now I feel my photos show more warmth and connection, which is important to me. I can only hope I continue to hone my skills moving forward.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I don’t believe I’m the only one who does this but it has helped me – One of the benefits that I offered at the beginning were 24 hour sneak peeks from our sessions as well as the amount of photos I provided. But because I have gained more clients now, I’ve changed it to 48hr sneak peeks, but that hasn’t slowed down any kind of communication for me.
Also, the number of photos I provide is always more. For example, a contract may list that the client will receive “15+ images with their sneak peeks in 48hrs” and I usually send 30+ sneak peeks because I’m purely too excited and want to share them with you! And lets say the contract says you will receive 90+ final photos, I usually end up sending a minimum of 110 or more.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Yes – we are human beings as well.
Usually a creative person turned business owner, it’s usually hard to ‘turn off’ the work light and yes, we provide you with a service we love, we try to communicate with you even outside of typical work hours, and some will even bend over backwards sometimes to make sure you feel comfortable. But we are human and have our own lives as well.
This has been a generally hard year even taking out everyone’s own issues. Personally I’ve gone through my own hardships that involved a family separation, death of loved ones, and my mother had breast cancer, beat it, and now is working towards getting a new kidney! I’m not saying everyone has something going on but we are also human and we do need a break so we can continue to provide you with our services (that we love) and don’t drive ourselves into the ground.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://CarinaCPhotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carinac.photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carinacphoto

Image Credits

All photos taken and edited by Carina C Photography