Community Highlights: Meet Karen Staley-Rosen of Wachsman-Staley Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Staley-Rosen.

Hi Karen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am Karen Staley-Rosen a proud woman owner of Wachsman-Staley Photography. We are a third generation family business that was started by my father Kurt and my mother Edythe Wachsman. My father always loved photography and he attended The Clarence White School of Photography in New York City. He was published many times with his work. It was 1936 That Kurt Wachsman Photography began.
My parents moved to Southern California in 1946 and settled in Burbank and the business grew. There were several Studio locations over the years. Burbank, North Hollywood, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys. Many events and happy occasions were captured with much work and clients in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. The one thing that has never changed is our friendly service. It was conceived as a family business and still is. The studio has grown over the years with the help of some of the very nicest people, our customers, those people have carried the name to their family and friends. I grew up surrounded by photography and started working in the office at a young age. In 1968 I married my husband Tim Staley and together we took over the photography business and it became Wachsman-Staley Photography. The studio boomed and got very busy with Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, lots of portraits, head shots, corporate and commercial events. Then our daughters Tania and Kristen grew up in the studio. Tania trained and became of our top photographers and Kristen helped to meet clients and run the studio as the manager. As the digital world evolved Kristen became a very creative force in designing and computer skills. Along with like family our staff of talented photographers we work hard for our clients photographic memories. Photography is my passion and working and celebrating important life events and making the memories stay alive by photography is what drives me. I love working with people. We have many generatio0nal clients, where we photographed their early occasions and then their kids, and then the next generation of kids as well. Our clients are very important to us, and we treat each event with care and thoughtfulness. I am proud to continue the vision that my parents started 90 years ago when the business began.

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?
Covid brought a lot of challenges and changes to my business, and I believe every other event business. It was a time of uncertainty for all of us.
Financially difficult to get through as people were not having events and needing our services. It was hard to keep my business afloat. But as the time went by clients began planning smaller events and we loved again capturing all photographically for them.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Wachsman-Staley Photography?
We specialize in Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, portrait sessions, and many commercial events. We photograph each event and deliver to our clients unlimited amount of photos all edited and cropped. We also are very creative designers of albums.

We put a lot of care and thoughtfulness into each of our events. We care about each one of our clients, and treat them as family welcoming them into our family business.
We strive to make every detail they are planning easy and less stressful for them. With our expertise and years of knowledge we work hard to capture moments and memories of their day to last a lifetime.

How do you think about luck?
For my business the luck I feel is the opportunity to work with wonderful families as they celebrate happy occasions. It is an honor to capture photos for them. With my very talented staff, I look forward to continuing this great honor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wachsmanstaley.zenfolio.com/
• Instagram: wachsmanstaleyphoto
• Facebook: wachsman-staleyphotography
• Yelp: WachsmanStaley Photography