We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steve Limones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steve below.
Hi Steve, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
I do take vacations! I know it may seem somewhat excessive, but I try to take at least one international holiday a year. Not only is the time away from work beneficial for a mental and emotional reset, but I find spending time immersing myself in another culture really allows me the opportunity to expand my worldview and give me a fresh perspective on life – particularly a healthier approach to work/life balance.
Steve, 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?
My name is Steve Limones and I’m a professional photographer based in Orange County, CA. Originally, I’m an actor by trade and have spent many years working professionally both domestically and abroad. While I worked solely as an actor, photography was a secret passion of mine. In 2015, I would do play shoots with actor friends, and within a year I was shooting weddings, families, lifestyle, etc. I viewed my photography business as more of a hobby than an actual business. It wasn’t until 2020 when everything stopped, that I was cooped up at home and my husband encouraged me to take an online lighting course. So I did, and the rest is history. I now work out of my own studio space in Orange County with my focus being fashion & editorial photography.
Because I’m theatrical in nature, fashion and editorial photography really speaks to me as the rules are more fluid and open as to what makes a great, stand-out image. Since there are so many incredible lifestyle and family photographers out there, my editorial focus brings something interesting and unique to my clients. My goal is to “elevate” them, and bring out their “inner model”of sorts. When a client comes into the studio, they start their session as their natural selves, and finish the session a full-blown model. I love seeing someone grow into their confidence while in front of my camera. I think my favorite part is at the end of the shoot when we show them a few sneak peeks, and their reaction is “HOW IS THAT ME!?!?” I usually respond with, “that’s ALLLL you – you look like THAT!, and they leave feeling super confident. I love it!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I think 2020 forced most people to pivot. For me, personally, I came to the realization that so much of my identity was placed in who I was as an actor, and not who I am as a person and as a creative. Since most acting jobs ceased during that period, it was much harder to find work that a) I knew how to do, and b) I was naturally good at. I attest a lot of my success to my husband, James, for how much he encouraged me to dive into my photography career. He’s the one who said, “You have all this time afforded to you right now, learn and refine your other creative skills.” And so I did. I learned how studio lighting and strobes worked. I began to devour fashion magazines and photo books to gain a better understanding of styling and posing. I also took the time to copy and emulate. I would see a photo in Vogue, and think “How can I recreate this?”, and so I tried for the sake of learning.
Once the world start returning to work, I found a studio space that I could rent, and told myself I would do a full career change and become solely a photographer. As life would have it, I fortunately was able to return to my original work as an actor. But with an active studio, there was no way I was going to leave everything I learned behind, so I now I get to use my creativity both in front and behind the camera.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I said earlier that I love the transformation process that happens to my clients. For me, using my mission statement as my North Star helps me ensure that transformation happens.
My mission statement is:
“To authentically connect, playfully create, and uniquely capture”.
I find that if I’m able to be authentic with my clients, they will in turn be authentic with me. Once authenticity is established, it creates space for vulnerability which allows us to be free and play and enjoy ourselves. And during that play, if I can challenge myself to capture my clients from different vantage points or to experiment a bit, then I’m capturing them in a unique way.
If I can stay focused on those three steps, then the rest is easy. Also, it’s important to have fun, so I should add that to the end of my mission statement: HAVE FUN! Haha!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stevelimonesphotography.com
- Instagram: @stevelimonesphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevelimonesphoto
- Tiktok: @stevelimones
Image Credits
All Images by Steve Limones