Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ella Sophie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ella, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission as a photographer is to create images that empower women. While I photograph a wide range of subjects, my guiding principles are consistent throughout. Often my clients are women owned businesses. I am able to create images for them that truly resonate with their customers. By knowing how and when to apply my knowledge and when to listen. It’s important to me that I’m considerate of my impact from start to finish. That means hiring women and marginalized folks when bringing together a team. It means sourcing materials and resources from ethical businesses. And it means creating images that help people feel good about themselves. I’ve heard from so many of my clients that they had experienced being talked down to by prior photographers. They are told that they have to advertise in a certain way. That the models have to fit a specific look. I’ve been told about the frustration of not being heard. So it is important to me to provide a space and experience where my clients can be true to who they are. Without being pushed into stereotypes and trends. And, as a consumer I’ve been keenly aware of the negative impact that traditional advertising photography can have. When I first started pursuing this career (at the fresh age of 18) one of my main drivers was creating images that would speak to a queer feminist person without judgement. I was tired of seeing the same body type and personality portrayed over and over. I wanted to create images that would give both my subject and viewer confidence. I was tired of being advertised to in ways that felt boring and obvious. I wanted to create images that would bridge the gap between art and advertising.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a commercial photographer and art director. My background is in fine art. I studied photography and art in college. And have spent my entire life deeply immersed in the arts. I bring my experience as an artist, an immigrant and a queer human to my work. Having a wide range of life experience and empathy allows me to see things from various perspectives. My work is split between product photography and portrait based projects. Including fitness/wellness, clean beauty, and other advertising projects that feature confident and diverse women. One of my specialities is working with fine jewelry. Those skills also lend themselves well to other fashion accessories, cosmetics, and glass/reflective objects. Often I will work with a client to create the art direction for a campaign. And provide both the product images and the lifestyle/model shots. Being involved in this way allows me to really bring all of my skills to the project. I love being able to work with a client to create a big picture campaign for their brand. Another aspect of my photography is architectural images. I love the technical aspects of this work and the precision required. I enjoy being able to bring those skills into lifestyle and advertising shoots. Over time I’ve really been able to take advantage of the diverse subject matter that I specialize in and can bring all of those skills into a project.
Most of my projects take place in California. But I also travel for assignments around the US and internationally. I work with a wonderful agency based in SF and LA, Brandi Moore Agency. The best part of working with an agency is knowing that I have a team that will bring additional experience and expertise to my clients. I work on projects both big and small. I’m a firm believer in supporting other creators and small business owners. So I love working with creative businesses such as jewelry designers, or interior design and architecture firms. And I will always hold space for portrait work. There is something so special about creating space for someone to show up truly as themselves. Being able to create portraits that feel authentic and honest. And, best of all, showing someone that they DO look good in photos. I love the variety of work that I create and the people I get to interact with along the way.

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

Growing my clientele has required many different techniques. There are the obvious ones – like maintaining a good website. Making sure I’m on various directories. Going to networking events and reaching out to other people in my industry. But one thing that I believe has been the golden nugget is treating each job like it will be my most important portfolio piece. Like this client is my most important client ever – yes even the small ones. By defining success as ‘did I do my best work with this job?’. That is what keeps my clients coming back to me. And referring me to others. I think as a service provider it can become easy to slip into a space of repetition. When you have many years of experience doing the work you can get into autopilot mode. But for each job I remind myself that for this client it isn’t an everyday thing. It is a special project to someone and therefore it should be treated like a special project by me as well. Each client deserves my full attention and best work. I’ve put a lot of things in place to make sure I have the energy and time to dedicate to each project. So far, this method seems to be working out well for me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a photographer is creating images that bring joy and beauty into the world. And seeing the expression on my client’s face when they see their photos for the first time. Two recent clients come to mind. First a fine jewelry designer. They came to me to photograph their collection for a new website. In the past their work had always only been sold in stores or in person. They took some photos of the pieces themselves, but hadn’t had any professional images done just for the jewelry. We worked together to nail down the brand’s aesthetic and then created still life and on model shots. I got to show them the photos in person so I got to see their reaction. Seeing how much pride and joy they felt was so rewarding. And, as if that wasn’t already perfect, a few months later I heard that thanks to the images they already more than made the money back they had spent on the shoots.
The other recent experience was with a portrait client. She is an interior designer who has been photographed several times throughout her career and has been involved in many professional photoshoots of her projects for various publications. I was referred to her by a past client for a new portrait. When we first spoke she assured me that she would be my hardest client to photograph. And told me that she will probably not like any of her photos – I shouldn’t take it personally. Her goal was to get 1 or 2 images she ‘could use’ from the shoot. When I sent her the proof gallery I didn’t get a response right away. Then a few days later I got an email telling me how blown away she was by the photos. She ended up picking 18 images for her archives to have on hand for various publication needs.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ellasophiephoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellasophiephoto/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/ellasophie/
• Other: Brandi Moore Agency https://brandimooreagency.com/ella-sophie

Image Credits
All Images Copyright of Ella Sophie, www.ellasophie.com