Hi! My name is Stacey Herrera. Here's a little about me for those of you who may not know...
I was born and raised in Ridgecrest. My hubby and I have been married for 27 years and we moved to the Tehachapi area in the early summer of 2015. We have 3 amazing children. Elijah who is 25, Alexia who is 24 and our little surprise James who is 6! I obtained multiple business degrees while my older kids were in school and was blessed to be a stay at home mom for many years. I am a licensed nail technician by trade and have had a very successful business doing nails off and on for 20 years. However, I will be focusing only on my family and my photography business currently as we adjust to a new little one in our family. I never dreamed that my photography business would grow into what it has and I often simply shake my head at how crazy busy my business has become. It's sooooo much fun and even more fun to be a blessing to others capturing their memories for them
How did I come to start a photography business?
I have always loved photography but became more invested in it as my family grew and time/money allowed for me to learn more about taking photos. I hear all of the time from my customers that I have such a skill with my camera and am so great with people... I still don't believe it and am always doubting my abilities as a photographer. In fact most days I don't think of myself as a photographer. I just really REALLY love taking photos. My camera is my 3rd arm and I am never ever without at least some form of a camera.
While I know very well that there are numerous choices of photographers here in our small town and the surrounding areas, in my business I strive to offer a more affordable and attainable photography option for families. I don't intend to undermine any of the amazing talent in my field I just like to run my business a little differently. I firmly believe that word of mouth is huge and if you work very hard, are affordable, and approachable you will be successful.
Why are your photo sessions so cheap?
When my little family was young and growing we could have found a way to come up with $80 for family photos once a year. That is the reason why my price is so low and includes the copyright release. I want my customers to come back again and again not because of my skill, which will change constantly with learning and growth, but because they know that they are getting a fantastic value!
Weekly I hear from people how very much they enjoyed their sessions with me and that they really wished that they hadn't waited so long to have family photos done..... Some haven't had photos done for 10 years or more!!!
Why don't I edit my photos?
The truth... I absolutely can't stand sitting in front of the computer. I want to be out in the fresh air capturing memories! Instead of taking images and then altering them on the computer I instead shoot manually, utilize filters, and I am extremely careful about my lighting sources. I work very hard at capturing every single image as creatively and sharply focused as possible at the time of capture. I can assure you that this is not an easy task. There is a surmountable amount of pressure to know that I can't "fix" an image in photoshop. I can certainly see that editing can be a good thing but I just choose to try and capture exactly how people look in the moment with the gorgeous light that comes naturally through my lens. To me, cameras have very large brains and if you pick them apart and study how all of the pieces work, you can find all of the elements to make a natural looking photo that happens in the camera itself without having to alter an image. I get asked, "What about this image, or that image? Those are edited, right?" No they are not, I can assure you that I do not have in my possession any version of Photo Shop or Light Room. I do not want anyone to think that I just think I'm so amazing that I don't need to edit... That's not it at all.
Thanks for listening and may God bless you and all of your dreams as he has mine!
Stacey
I was born and raised in Ridgecrest. My hubby and I have been married for 27 years and we moved to the Tehachapi area in the early summer of 2015. We have 3 amazing children. Elijah who is 25, Alexia who is 24 and our little surprise James who is 6! I obtained multiple business degrees while my older kids were in school and was blessed to be a stay at home mom for many years. I am a licensed nail technician by trade and have had a very successful business doing nails off and on for 20 years. However, I will be focusing only on my family and my photography business currently as we adjust to a new little one in our family. I never dreamed that my photography business would grow into what it has and I often simply shake my head at how crazy busy my business has become. It's sooooo much fun and even more fun to be a blessing to others capturing their memories for them
How did I come to start a photography business?
I have always loved photography but became more invested in it as my family grew and time/money allowed for me to learn more about taking photos. I hear all of the time from my customers that I have such a skill with my camera and am so great with people... I still don't believe it and am always doubting my abilities as a photographer. In fact most days I don't think of myself as a photographer. I just really REALLY love taking photos. My camera is my 3rd arm and I am never ever without at least some form of a camera.
While I know very well that there are numerous choices of photographers here in our small town and the surrounding areas, in my business I strive to offer a more affordable and attainable photography option for families. I don't intend to undermine any of the amazing talent in my field I just like to run my business a little differently. I firmly believe that word of mouth is huge and if you work very hard, are affordable, and approachable you will be successful.
Why are your photo sessions so cheap?
When my little family was young and growing we could have found a way to come up with $80 for family photos once a year. That is the reason why my price is so low and includes the copyright release. I want my customers to come back again and again not because of my skill, which will change constantly with learning and growth, but because they know that they are getting a fantastic value!
Weekly I hear from people how very much they enjoyed their sessions with me and that they really wished that they hadn't waited so long to have family photos done..... Some haven't had photos done for 10 years or more!!!
Why don't I edit my photos?
The truth... I absolutely can't stand sitting in front of the computer. I want to be out in the fresh air capturing memories! Instead of taking images and then altering them on the computer I instead shoot manually, utilize filters, and I am extremely careful about my lighting sources. I work very hard at capturing every single image as creatively and sharply focused as possible at the time of capture. I can assure you that this is not an easy task. There is a surmountable amount of pressure to know that I can't "fix" an image in photoshop. I can certainly see that editing can be a good thing but I just choose to try and capture exactly how people look in the moment with the gorgeous light that comes naturally through my lens. To me, cameras have very large brains and if you pick them apart and study how all of the pieces work, you can find all of the elements to make a natural looking photo that happens in the camera itself without having to alter an image. I get asked, "What about this image, or that image? Those are edited, right?" No they are not, I can assure you that I do not have in my possession any version of Photo Shop or Light Room. I do not want anyone to think that I just think I'm so amazing that I don't need to edit... That's not it at all.
Thanks for listening and may God bless you and all of your dreams as he has mine!
Stacey
