Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Liebl.
Hi Emily, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started taking pictures when I was ten years old as a part of a photography project in 4-H. I fell in love with it and would take my parent’s camera whenever I could to take photos of just about anything.
When I was a junior in high school, I started to realize I wasn’t half bad and decided to make it into a business. I started out as Emily Liebl Photography and for the most part, I was taking senior photos for a lot of my friends and that’s really what I stuck to until I graduated high school. When I got to college, I was hired by the athletics department as a photographer, and I came to realize that I loved sports photography. I continued to do this until COVID hit and that kind of put a pause on everything that I was doing.
After COVID, I had taken a step back from photography to focus on finishing up my last year and a half of college.
Upon graduation, I decided it was time to get back into photography. I did a complete rebrand of my business and Maple Acres Photography was born. While my main passion is still sports, I also call myself a lifestyle photographer, and I’ll do shoots for anything and anyone, from pets and wildlife to engagements, graduating seniors and athletes.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I would say that it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. One of the first struggles I faced was that I was young and in high school. I think a lot of people looked at me and just assumed this was a hobby and not something I truly loved. My friends trusted me and saw that I was good at this and gave me chances, but outside of them, people didn’t want a high school kid taking their photos.
COVID coming along has most definitely been one of the biggest struggles, it put a pause on everything. I lost my love of photography for a little bit and became disinterested as COVID went on and I went longer and longer without taking photos or going out and doing a shoot. Getting back into it and rebuilding what I had has been harder than I think a lot of people would expect. I’m basically rebuilding from the ground up.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a sports and lifestyle photographer. This business has been my baby since I was a high school student, and to still be doing this 6 years later is something I never really thought about when I started out 6 years ago. My main focus is sports and that’s where a lot of my passion lies, but I also love getting to do shoots for seniors, other individuals, couples, and families.
I love getting to capture the smiles on people’s faces and give them back memories that will live forever. I never want my clients to be uncomfortable or feel like what we’re doing is unnatural. I always hope that my client’s sessions are not only comfortable but that they’re having fun. I don’t want people to feel stiff and posed, it’s a time to create memories and laugh with the people they love.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can work with or collaborate with me just by reaching out.
Whether it’s someone looking to book a session, a small business that has some photography needs, or a local high school athletics program or team that’s in need of some photography, I can find a way to make it work. If people want to support me, following me on social media and sharing my posts is a great way to do that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mapleacresphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapleacresphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mapleacresphotos
