Today we’d like to introduce you to Angie Kiser.
Hi Angie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My portrait photography journey started about 18 years ago when I was pregnant with my oldest child. I wanted to learn how to get my camera off of auto and start controlling what I was doing with my first DSLR camera. My college degree is in Graphic Design, which aligns with my love of art and creating beautiful visuals. I quickly became fascinated with portraiture and all the creative ways to capture subjects using lighting, marrying that with my Photoshop education. Fast forward 18 years, and I am just starting my journey in my 5th commercial studio; you will find me excitedly creating beautiful portraits for my clients, including high school senior portraits and newborn and family portraits. I love experimenting with lighting, finding creative backgrounds and set ideas, and continue learning new techniques and skills.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Initially, I didn’t go into photography for a career; it was an outlet to feed my creative side while capturing precious memories of my family. However, once I dug deeper, it became a big part of my life, and I started doing it for family and friends. My hobby quickly turned into my new career path. Being creative-minded, I struggled with charging money for doing something I loved. Still, I quickly realized it was an expensive hobby, and I would need to be able to not only pay for my equipment but get paid for all the time I was spending with each person/family, and eventually a studio and all the expenses that go along with that. Finding a balance is still difficult, as I have four very busy and active kids. When you let one ball drop, they all come down, and you have to pick it all backup and start over again. Pursuing photography as a career would be fantastic and easy simply because I love doing it! That is not the case. The business side takes much more of my time than the photography part; being a one-man show, a lot goes into everything, from studio management, editing, marketing, maintaining websites, and so much more. I still need to work on balance, managing all aspects of my business, and having a clear vision of what I love doing most because I love so many genres of portraits!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a newborn photographer, a high-school senior photographer, and a family photographer (although I don’t focus mainly on families much anymore). I love photographing women and high school girls and helping them see how beautiful and unique they all are. Women are especially critical of themselves and must be able to show them beautiful portraits. It lights me up and feeds my soul to help make people feel beautiful and capture them in a way they possibly haven’t seen themselves before. I love studio lighting and all the ways you can create dynamic images using different lighting techniques, which are different from natural light photographers only and take time and experience. Through the years, I have been published in several senior photography magazines, created an ad for my professional printing lab, and was honored as one of the top newborn photographers in Minnesota and one of the Top 100 Senior Photographers several years with different publications. However, I feel the most proud seeing clients fall in love with their images and how happy they make them!
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The most essential characteristic that makes anyone successful is perseverance! Just keep going, keep pushing, keep learning and growing. If you fall, get back up and try again!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.linabell.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linabellphotos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LinabellPhotography
Image Credits
©LinabellPhotography
