May 8, 2017

Meet Hannah Maisel of Hannah Maisel Photography

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Maisel.

Hannah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I dreamed about becoming a photographer since I was about 7 years old. I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do with photography at that age, I just knew I loved pictures. I would sneak into my parents’ room and pull out from my mom’s ginormous collection of photo albums, and spend hours looking through them. The whole concept was just amazing to me. Starting my own collection, I had my little film camera with me everywhere I went. School field trips, family trips, family gatherings, and so on.

But this really was just a dream in my innocent mind. I thought taking pictures and putting moments onto a piece of paper was fun, and that was it. I was raised in a family that didn’t believe in chasing your “dream job”. My 4 older siblings hadn’t really set out to pursue a job that they really loved or were passionate about. Following their example, along with the mindset passed on by my parents (who are now very supportive!), I sincerely believed that I would graduate high school, find a “stable” job as a secretary like my sister, or perhaps as a bank teller like my brother. And when people would ask me what I wanted to do, those jobs were what I would always tell them. But in the back of my mind, those weren’t really the things sparking my interest.

One day an old friend finally asked me, “Hannah, what career do you want to pursue?” My response, “I don’t know. I’ll apply for jobs and find something good, at a school district or something.” He proceeded to ask, “No. That’s what your parents want you to do. What do you ACTUALLY want to do?” My response, “Well, I’ve always kind of wanted to do photography.” That conversation changed my life as I knew it. I was 15 years old. From that day forward, I was going to become a photographer.

After that conversation, I started taking my interest more seriously. I would walk around my neighborhood and take silly pictures with my little point and shoot, of flowers and leaves and whatever things I found interesting. Then I’d edit them with a free editing site. From there all my “artsy” photos went on Facebook. They were horrible of course, but it was practice.

In the midst of my learning and photographing anything and everything, I was also on the lookout for my first job, eager to start working. (I was also in independent studies at this point, no longer in public high school.) I was frustrated, hardly able to even score an interview at a retail store due to my age and lack of work experience. Then one day, I got a message on Facebook, from a friend of a friend, asking if I would take newlywed photos of her and her husband. Not only was I ecstatic to say yes, but she proceeded to ask me, “How much do you charge?” I was beyond excited! I had no clue what to say so I told them they could just tip me. In October of 2009, I had my first official, paid photo shoot. It was the most exciting $30 I’ve ever received. After that photo shoot with that adorable couple (whose growing family I’ve been photographing regularly over the last 7 years), I decided my job hunt was over. At 16 years old, I was the owner of my very own photography business.

It has been 7 years now. I am 23. I can honestly say, not once have I considered giving up on this path. Although I was able to take a few photography classes in high school, I decided to forego college, and instead, invest my time and funds into the necessary equipment, and into learning through hands on experience. Over the years, I have learned so much after working with so many talented and creative people. I look forward to the many more experiences ahead!

Has it been a smooth road?
I’d say I was very fortunate to have figured out at such a young age what I wanted to do. I’m thankful that I was able to get a head start on my photography business. But that did bring forth some struggles along the way. Being so young, and never having a source of income prior to that, I didn’t have much savings to work with to invest in equipment and so on. And having 5 siblings, I never felt compelled to ask my parents to help me out in this regard either. I was determined to do it on my own. It took some time to finally bring in enough revenue to upgrade my DSLR, and then to start purchasing additional lenses, a decent laptop, and in time to have a legitimate website, and so on.

My situation is of course much different now, being that it’s been 7 years, and I am no longer a kid. I have a steady clientele who I am so incredibly thankful to. I’ve photographed more weddings than I can count over the years. But as with any other business, I have had those slow seasons that can make it quite the struggle. But when dealing with these struggles, I fight the natural tendency to let it discourage me, and I see it as a reason to work harder. And when I have had those slow seasons, I take advantage of that extra time and focus on dipping my toes into additional creative photography outlets, like fashion and lifestyle.

So no, the road has not been smooth. And there have certainly been some struggles. But my one piece of advice for anyone who is serious about being self-employed, doing something they love, determination really is key. You cannot succeed without it. Use every struggle as an incentive to seek improvement and practice!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hannah Maisel Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The focus of my photography as of late is put towards various forms of portraiture, including weddings, family, and personal portraits. My goal is to document strong moments in a person’s life, whether they be as life changing as your wedding day, or as small as the little, candid affections transferred between 2 people who love each other. I’ve even had the opportunity to document a few births, which have been some of my favorite experiences in what I do. As far as personal portraits, my goal is really capturing a person’s “persona” in a photograph. Not simply a posed photo of them, but a photo that truly displays who they are, and what others recognize them as. I would have to say really capturing these special pieces of our hectic, fast-paced lives, these moments and people that can pass us by in an instant. And being able to make them something tangible, and appreciated for years and decades to come. That’s what I’m most proud of.

As briefly mentioned before, I was at one time very actively involved in fashion photography. Unfortunately, I’ve been so busy with the aforementioned fields, and also just with life, I haven’t been able to stylize and plan as many fashion and lifestyle shoots as I used to. I will always have a love for this field though, as it is inspiring getting together with other creatives and making something so beautiful, for yourself and for others. I intend to dabble in it more and more.

One more aspect of photography that I have come to truly love in recent years is travel and landscape. I’ve become quite addicted to traveling, whether it be somewhere thousands of miles away, or a new adventure that just happens to be close to home. In the past year, the majority of my travel work has taken place in the Pacific Northwest, as I have fallen completely in love with the evergreen state of Washington. I’m anxious and excited to see what new locations I’ll have the opportunity to visit (and document) this coming year!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
So many things! I love the liveliness of Los Angeles. I love the drive people have in them here, the motivation to work for something important to them. And I love the different forms of creativity that are expressed by the people here. The little conversations that are had with people day to day are just inspiring.

As far as the scenery around us, I love how much we have, so close to us. All within a 2-hour drive, you have the options of the beach, the mountains, the hills, the city, and the desert. There are so many incredible places to go to here, whether it be for an awesome photo location, or just to visit.

What do I like least? I do really wish we had more greenery here. In the late winter/early spring it is quite gorgeous in many places, as the hills are exuberating their lush green, and the flowers are blooming. But due to our lack of rain, that sadly doesn’t last long. And after visiting the PNW quite a few times, I’ve come to long for the endless number of trees on the majestic mountains that live up there. But, I’m thankful that when I am itching for that, it’s only a 2-hour plane ride away! All in all, I’m all about the West Coast and what we have to offer here.

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