Today we’d like to introduce you to Belén Fleming.
Hi Belén, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
This past fall of 2021, I quietly celebrated 5 years in business as a photographer and business owner. On the inside, I was dancing like a wild woman, arms up in the air, music blaring loudly to any Gwin Stefani song that lights you up. My heart was exploding with colorful confetti and drenched in puddles of gratitude. It just wasn’t the right time for a party, with other people…yet..
The Pandemic deflated the sails of so many well-earned celebrations, and mine was no exception. It was put on hold and filed away in the growing pile of “2020-2021 Do-Over’s.”
Back in 2016 I left my corporate brand marketing job and went full on with my photography business around 6 months after receiving a bizarre, but oddly inviting home decor sign from my boss as a holiday gift. It read, “Do what makes your soul happy.” and it was ultimately one of the most significant gifts I have ever been given. It was like a permission slip to quit my day job–from my boss!
I grew up in a family of photographers. Both of my grandparents had darkrooms in their basements and my dad was rarely seen without a camera around his neck or at an arm’s reach (as documented by many photographs)! My fondest memories of childhood and young adulthood almost all contain a camera, film and printed photographs woven into the storyline. I spent a lot of my time as a kid sifting through old slides and albums, creating albums and collages of my own photos and connecting with the people and places in those images like characters in a story.. Through those photographs, their lived stories became a part of me. It was almost inevitable that I would grow up learning to “see” the world like a photographer. I have logged many decades of time exploring the world through the frame of a viewfinder and telling visual stories. Compose, reframe and chase the light. See the light, anticipate the emotion and capture the moment. Time waxes and wanes like a Waltz when I have a camera in my hand.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Five years in on this journey, I now recognize that not everyone is made with the gumption to quit the comfort and predictability of a steady paycheck or detach from a clearly defined 9-5 identity and title. And some of us were just not created to thrive in a cubicle. We need both the smooth road and the rocks in our path to truly appreciate how amazing the castle we built really is.
I had a conversation just this week about this with another business owner and creative. We were talking about the fear that often bubbles to the surface when you are about to launch a new campaign or service and you realize that means you are going to have to put yourself out there a little more than usual. You are the sales team, the marketing team and often the subject matter or face of the content you are about to put out into the world. You have to show up for yourself across numerous platforms. Everyday.
As much fun as it is during the ride when the adrenaline and passion kick in, I was reminded this week that being an entrepreneur and an artist is truly a daily practice in vulnerability. It’s a “feel the fear and do it anyway” kind of Groundhog Day. It can be hard for friends and family to relate to some of the emotions you go through and the complex duality of feeling both vulnerable and invincible all in the same day!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started my career as a professional photographer shooting families and newborns, which, as a mom of two young kids, made total sense for me at the time. I love so much of my storytelling work that came out of those years, but I began to realize that although I had a ton of conversations and interaction with many wonderful families, that type of photography work was actually pretty solitary (for an extrovert). When I shifted my work to more commercial work and began partnering and creating in collaboration with other people, that’s when I could feel my soul begin to grin ear to ear.
And that is where I am today, celebrating 5 years in business– re-introducing myself post-pandemic with a fresh focus and a bold new brand look launching April 27th, 2022, designed by the uber talented local designer Kim Senn of Senn & Sons.
Belu Photography is now a visual storytelling studio specializing in commercial lifestyle photography. We are known for our human-centered and heart-centered lifestyle, headshot and portrait work, our intuitive creative process and problem solving, and some pretty drool worthy food photography recently published in an incredible cookbook by Emily Maxson called Emily’s Fresh Kitchen: Cook your way to Better Health. Books are available for pre-order on emilysfreshkitchen.com and will begin shipping in April.
Light is my love language and composition, texture and emotive storytelling are my jam.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://beluphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belu.photography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeluPHOTOGRAPHY
Image Credits
Molly Hebda Photography
Belu Photography
