We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monnyca Gammel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Monnyca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
In my life, I grew up knowing to not take risks and stay on the safe side. Life can be so unpredictable and when you take a risk, you normally don’t always know the outcome. Growing up, I knew that working a 9-5 job would be the best way to go when it came down to my career. I gave this a lot of thought in 2017 when I graduated high school and soon came to realize that a 9-5 just wasn’t for me. I felt that there had to be more I could do with my career. I thought to myself many times that there is someway I could turn a passion of mine into my full-time career. I always took pictures on my phone, but I wanted to do more with photography than pursing it as a hobby.
When I graduated high school, I gathered my graduation money I was gifted from my family and invested in my very first camera, a Canon Rebel T6. Immediately after I received my camera in the mail, I started to read the manual and look up videos on Youtube. I went into more detail to get ready for photoshoot sessions by researching how to direct a photoshoot, different angles, lighting, poses, and started to scout locations. Along the way, I had so many people tell me how I should rethink my decision on starting my business, that photography is meant to be a hobby, that you can’t make a living as a photographer, and many more negative comments. Although, I really felt I should do something different with my life than what everyone was telling me to do.
Soon after purchasing my camera, I sat down one night and started to think about a company name for my business. I wanted to make it official and start to grow my company to pursue this dream of mine. I wanted a name that would capture some sort of meaning towards moments in our lives. Moments come and go and we only live in them for a certain amount of time. Furthermore, that was where the “Flash” came into the name because certain moments are so quick. However, once you capture those moments, it’s not just for that one second, it’s a moment to last forever. This is where I came up with the name “Flash Moments Photography”. Ever since I started my company, my life has consisted of being spontaneous and taking risks because I’ve learned that if you live on the safe side, are you really living? Life is about taking chances, doing the unthinkable and creating your life the way you want.
Monnyca, 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 am a 25 year-old professional freelance portrait and event photographer. While working on creating memories for my clients, I am a full time student at the University of Houston-Downtown, studying to receive my B.A. in Communication Studies, Media and Public Communication, and a minor in Digital Media. Ever since I was 2 years old, I loved dance and ended up dancing for about 12 years. From becoming a tiny dancer to being a competitive dancer, I started to compete in pageants along the way which put me more and more in front of the camera. Throughout my dance career, we needed to have photoshoots and headshots taken, so I was always in front of the camera. Once I was about to hit my 13th year of dance, high school started which is where my dance career came to an end and my curiosity for photography began.
My creative eye for photography started in 2015 as I would take pictures on my phone of my family members and different nature pictures. Around that time, I bought a polaroid camera which grew into a love for an aesthetic, old timey look to my photos. Throughout my high school career, my photography passion grew more and more. When I was about to graduate, I wanted to get my senior portraits taken. When I did, I asked my photographer about her line of work and how she got into it. This made me love the photography/creative industry even more because I started to realize how everyone has their own style and way of working. This turned into pursuing photography as an amateur in 2017. Speed up to 2023 as I have had 6 years of experience as a professional photographer. As I will be graduating in 2024, my passion and love for photography has drawn me to pursue my work as a full-time photographer.
From 2015 to 2023, my line of work in photography has changed drastically, consistently, and slowly. At one point, I wanted to be a photographer who created photos with an aesthetically, old timey look like from old photos that would only come out in black and white. However, I decided that for me to bring in more clients, I needed to modernize my work using my own creative twist to make a certain style. When capturing images for my clients on their special day, I create photos that shape each and every moment I capture for them. I personally do not always like to edit each photo exactly the same because some photos can be a different moment and I like to emphasize those moments when editing. Taking a look at my work, I go for a certain style that not only aesthetically tells a story, but comes out looking mystical, dreamy, colorful, bold and sets a special tone for my clients special day. Every individual, couple or family has there own preference for there images and I take that into account when I edit the photos. Furthermore, at the end of my sessions, I ask my clients how they would like their photos to be edited. I have my way of creating and editing there special moments, but I want to make sure of any do’s and don’t’s that they’d prefer when I edit there images.
As a photographer in Houston, TX and anywhere else my clients take me for their special day, I shoot mostly anything your heart desires! In my line of work, I shoot newborns, little ones, couples, maternity, birthdays, seniors, families, small to large parties, Quincearena’s, Sweet 16’s, elopements, small weddings, and so much more. Besides the regular work I shoot, I have separate pages consisting of a more intensely, bold aesthetic for my Boudoir Portraits and Cover Art Portraits for Artists. I love to try new ways to shoot, to travel, create new kinds of work for my clients, and create a relationship between my clients to have the best experience possible.
Every single creative sets their own style and/or aesthetic for their work. Not only is there a certain tone to all creatives work, but there is a work ethic and how they communicate with their clients. I’d say what sets me apart from other photographers/creatives is the way I direct my sessions, how I edit and make sure my clients 100% are satisfied by the results. When a client sends me an inquiry, I always make sure to ask my clients for any inspiration ideas and/or photos so that I know what look they would like to go for. Once it hits session day, I set a tone throughout the session to make sure my clients are comfortable and are feeling confident. Normally, I direct my clients when it comes to posing and I make sure they like how the images are coming out. On top of that, I make sure to add in any poses they would like to see in their final gallery besides what I have in mind for their session. I always take into account that yes, I create my very own art, but these are my clients personal, special moments that I am capturing so I always make sure it is to there liking and moments they will always want to look back on forever.
Portraits are not the stopping point for me in the line of my work. I would like to progress my work further into becoming a videographer in 2024 so that my clients have both options when booking with me. Not only will my work consist of photography and videography, but Flash Moments Photography will add a chic and trendy clothing line full of merchandise created by me. I want to use my clothing designs to emphasize the moments in life and motivate others to achieve success.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
When thinking about the mission for my clients, for my journey and for my company, I instantly think about just making my clients happy and capturing these special moments for them to look back on forever. Life is full of twists and turns, but when you have your special day or special moment, those turns come to a stop and that’s where I come in. When I think about what drives my creative journey, it truly comes down to my supporters, my clients and the love I am shown from my loved ones. I am someone who has lived with depression and anxiety since my sophomore year of high school and it has become an on-going battle I still try to face to this day. When I go to a session or event, those depressive thoughts come to a stop as I capture so many happy moments of my clients. I become so happy and filled with joy because they’re happy. When I sit down and am ready to start the editing process, I will literally sit with a smile on my face looking and editing all the moments I shot of my clients.
I constantly think about what more I can do, offer and provide my clients because I want them to be the most satisfied with my work and my services. My work and my clients mean so much to me and it brings me so much happiness to provide the galleries I send them. For me, the photo shoot sessions or events are not just that because life goes-on and those moments only happen once in a lifetime. For instance, you only turn 18 once and that is when you officially become an adult, so why not capture those moments for you on your special day. Some people may call photography a luxury to go and have your photos taken, but honestly, it can be thought of as a necessity because these moments only happen so rarely or once in a lifetime. Your one purchase for your session or event, is a one time purchase for a lifetime of captured memories and moments.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My social media audience was built quite slowly. I did not know much of anything when I started my company and social media page. I was still learning the ropes of photography at the time when I made my account, so all I really would post was nature photos. All I knew was to just go for it when creating my company, but “where do I start?” was the major question and conflict I kept running into. I had a small circle of people who knew me and would help spread awareness about my company, but it was still slow coming for my company.
Within the first few months, I finally had my first client for a little girls 10th birthday. I made sure to let them know so that they were aware that I was a beginner photographer, but they took a chance on me anyways. The entire session was nerve-racking, but so much fun capture her special day. After that day, I realized how precious photos are and how life changing it can be to have be able to look back on those photos forever. Once I started to gain more clients and booked more sessions, I started to post more and more. However, for some reason my company was not going anywhere or being seen on social media. At the time, I was starting college so my life was already a little hectic. The visibility on social media continued to be the same over a 3 year time span. I would make a couple posts every month when I would have a session, but it was never anything more than that. I realized, I had to step up my game and try out something new because clearly what I was doing was not working for me.
I asked around and researched ways to grow on social media which all came down to creating my own niche, staying consistent, having referrals, being visible on most social media platforms, giving my audience a reason to follow and want to see my content, and giving my audience a reason as to why my work is worth purchasing. I started to update my website, create an easier way to contact me, and created my authentic style that makes Flash Moments Photography. I am still, to this day, trying to find the kinks in spreading the word about my business. At some point, businesses and creatives are seen and heard by different ways which is how their company is found out, but you just have to find what works best for you. All companies are different and are directed towards a certain audience, so you have to find what suits your business the best for people to see what you have to provide.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://flashmomentsphotography.mypixieset.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flashmomentsphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flashmomentsphotography.mymoments
Image Credits
Profile Headshot taken by Jessica Nguyen Photography