We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Vanessa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie Vanessa below.
Stephanie Vanessa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I think a lot of people that have this problem where people they know personally will not support their business, or share, or like, or comment. I don’t know if it comes from their opinion on the quality of the product, maybe they just aren’t into what your selling, maybe they don’t want to share your work because they don’t know how you are as a business. I’m super fortunate that my mom and my boyfriend are my #1 supporters. They share my work even when I’m not around, they have gotten me clients, they have given me very useful business advise. I don’t have to ask them to do what they already do, and I love the support system they provide. I can’t say the same for other people in my life. But I learned to just be proud of myself and confident in my work and the rest will follow. Different type of photography styles/work is like music, what I provide might not be for everyone, and that’s ok! Thats what makes creative work so fun. Different perspectives, different tastes. I love it all regardless.
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
My name is Stephanie, I’m a 29 year old portrait photographer in Central Florida. I am pretty much self-taught with the exception of an intro to photography class I took while I was at Valencia, and of course what other creatives have taught me on my way here. My business is PHOTOxSTEPH (Photo by Steph) that I created a few years ago to give my photography a name but I have been behind the camera since 2014. I provide portraits of all types, family, graduations, birthdays, lifestyle, and editorial, and helping businesses build their brand image. Before these sessions, I work with my clients to really get an idea of what they need. Sometimes it’s posing guidance or just outfit ideas based on what they like. With businesses, it’s really coming together and getting a good idea of how they want to represent themselves to the world and making it happen. I think the best thing to experience is having a timid client and then by the end of the photoshoot they are posing themselves and SERVING! I really just aim to make my clients feel good and find that confidence that they already have within. I think what sets me apart from others is my personality and ideas I get. I love to push myself creatively and try new techniques while shooting or editing to really fit whatever type of photoshoot we are doing.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I was always kind of lost when it came to what I wanted to do with my photography. I found myself dipping my toes in all sorts of styles to then keep narrowing down my interest and focus my energy on something a little more specific. In doing that, I spread myself a little too thin. I had been taking event photos for almost 2 years, I was undervaluing myself and getting underpaid (or not paid at all most times), and I just lost interest in photography creatively. I didn’t feel comfortable calling myself a photographer and I felt like I didn’t really even know who I was anymore if I wasn’t one. At the beginning of 2022, I realized that I needed to focus on my health. I was exhausted… all the time… by everything! I’m really good at not wanting to let people down so even though I was exhausted, I was still taking photos I didn’t want to be taking, staying up late to edit, sitting in meetings that lasted hours, planning future shoots I didn’t want to be a part of all because I was too scared to say something. I didn’t want to choose to be unhappy. I finally took a step back from everything at the beginning of the year. I went out with friends I was too busy to hang out with, I went on trips with my boyfriend, and I got to figure out what I wanted my photography to look like. I made a new website, planned shoots I had been wanting to focus on, and had energy to do all of it. The first few months after that were probably the most profitable my photography had ever been, and I don’t regret that time I took to figure it out.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Honestly, the most rewarding is when people react positively to what I spent a lot of time on. When clients get really excited about the final product, especially when they were super shy at the beginning of the shoot. When they share all of the photos and find this confidence they always had. When models get excited about a published photo, especially if it was their first one. I feel like that excited/happy feeling makes everything worth it.
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