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

Chelsie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I do not charge licensing fees, or charge more for a shared shoot between multiple businesses- nor do I charge extra for my clients to share digital images with their clients, vendors, suppliers or even publications.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I like to say I’m a photographer/videographer by accident. I started by doing random video and photo shoots here or there for people I knew and currently run a full-blown photography and videography business that I absolutely love! It’s an honor to spend one day creating life-long memories on a wedding day, the next capturing an entrepreneur’s passion and another furthering a non-profit’s reach.

There is beauty in everything; I get such joy out of stopping little moments of time and packaging it up into memories that can invoke a feeling or action.

I partner with businesses to communicate their story primarily for the purpose of online sharing. The best part for me isn’t the opportunities for creative expression, rather its the important role of learning about my clients’ businesses and creating visual content for them to share with their followers.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Treating my clients exactly how I want to be treated. What is good for my client is ultimately good for my business. I bill hourly and allow them to determine what is the most valuable use of the time they spend with me. This looks like: an interior designer hires me to shoot a kitchen; it could be as simple as a couple wide angle shots to go side by side the before shots, but it could also be a half-day shoot with a mixture of horizontal and vertical images, wide angles and perfectly curated vignettes, lifestyle images of the designer in the kitchen, images highlighting specific brands (tile, countertops, appliances etc), headshots of the designer and team and stills for stop motion videos! Basically, I approach it as their time, and it seems to make them want to hire me time and time again.

I believe when you own your own business, people want to work with you because its YOU first. Making it enjoyable and easy is sometimes just as important as perfect imagery.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m not an imposter and we’re all doing the best we can, on a journey to continue to grow and connect. When I was still very green, I simply charged what I felt I was worth at the time, which helped me not feel like I was an imposter! It used to be uncomfortable to even call myself a “photographer” or “videographer!”

I was way more comfortable with a simple “I do photos”

Early on I learned to not let fear of others having more experience or education get the best of me. I feel its important to look at it like there are TONS of great photographers and videographers out there and its important to not compare. Cheering others on has only ever helped me in my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: chelsielopez.com
• Instagram: @chelsielopezproduction

Image Credits
all mine :)