We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Hampton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My dad was a professional photographer who traveled the world. I was born with the “eye” but fell in love with the art at a young age. I learned on my dad’s old Nikon equipment from the 70s and developed my film in a darkroom. My favorite part was watching the image appear on the photo paper submerged under the developer; it was like magic. I studied photography in school as well as training from my father. For many years I was a hobbyist and enjoyed travel and architectural photography. I dabbled in nature, wildlife, and scenic.

Although I was born in Dallas, my father’s career moved us to Southern California, where I primarily grew up. I then moved to North Carolina, where I met my husband. We decided we wanted our son to grow up around a family, so we moved back to Texas in 2018.

My husband/business partner urged me to pursue making photography a business after watching me shoot for fun for friends and family for an extended period. He helped push me to turn a lifelong dream into reality, and along the way, we discovered a shared passion for art.

Covid hit right after we launched Hampton Moments, our portrait side of the business, as well as Hampton Digital Solutions, our real estate/drone photography side. We decided to soldier on, although the timing seemed less than desirable.

It has taken us longer than some between the pandemic as well as being “new” in town. We had our family of course but no friends or community at the time.

Building this company has uncovered a love we didn’t know we had, has bonded us as a couple further, built us a network of amazing people, and turned clients into friends. We feel extremely blessed.

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

Our primary focus has been our Seniors and our creative shoots.

We are in year 2 of our Senior Ambassador program, in which we chose a team of extraordinary graduating seniors to represent our company, and in return we provide them with a fun-filled year of photoshoots, it’s also a way for them to bring us other clientele in exchange for commission. It’s a huge win-win for all.

This last year we have been highly published now both here in the USA as well as internationally. We have been published in calendars as well as made covers. We also scored our 1st big production Hollywood actress shoot, which we did in Downtown Dallas, one of our absolute favorite places to shoot.

While I am the lead photographer, Jon is a second shooter when it comes to things like weddings and events. He is an extremely talented editor as well as creative designer. I’m incredibly lucky to have him; we back ideas off each other all the time and have lists of creative shoots we are envisioning.

We just released our first series of stock photography, which is printed on canvas and sold at my favorite small business shop in Ben Wheeler, Rusty Water Revival!

We are growing and trying to expand our brand. In addition, I teach photography as well.

Next up, plans are coming to fruition on an event venue/Airbnb and more in Forney, so we are amped to be part of the small business community of Dallas/East Texas.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Honestly, word-of-mouth! We have been extremely fortunate to meet so many wonderful people and build lasting relationships with so many of them. They say “A client will become a friend faster than a friend will become a client” and that definitely holds true. We’re so grateful this vessel has brought us so many friends and like-minded entrepreneurs. We definitely go the extra mile for our clients and the majority of the time is rewarded with repeat business and referrals.

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

Definitely the quality of our work, our personalities, and the ability to work with in the constraints of our clients needs and budgets. We have base packages, yes, but we’ve always provided the option of custom packages so we can help more people, that way everyone wins! The clients get a knowledgeable and talented team that they can afford so they don’t have to sacrifice budget or quality.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hamptonmoments.com
• Facebook: hamptonmoments

Image Credits
MJ, Sam, Hunter, Brook & Caleb, Ambassadors; Ross Nadia Makayla & Paige, Kricket, Michael Hyatt