Daily Inspiration: Meet Alcira Anguiano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alcira Anguiano.

Hi Alcira, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Photography has been a hobby of mine for most of my adult life. I loved taking photos of my trips and enjoyed taking photography classes. When I became pregnant with my first son, I became obsessed with planning different shoots and pinned on Pinterest all sorts of inspiration. Once my son was born, I immediately started photographing him. I wanted to capture every fleeting moment of my son’s newborn stage. I did a shoot every month and every holiday. But, I soon realized that I needed a lot to learn to achieve the quality that I wanted so I began to take online workshops and searching Youtube tutorials so I would become better.

I was previously an Elementary School teacher. I have a Master of Arts in Education and a multiple subject teaching credential. After my first son’s birth, I took time off to be home with him. During that time, acquaintances began asking me to photograph their babies. Since I was off work, I began photographing others and it just took off from there. At first, I thought it would be a hobby that would help me grow and improve the quality of my images while simultaneously allowing me to afford better equipment; camera, lenses, lighting, etc. The more clients I took the more I realized that I wanted to make the switch and become a professional newborn photographer. Fortunately, my hard work paid off and I am now photographing babies full time and running my photography business AHA Photography.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Once I started photographing my son, I realized that it wasn’t as easy as picking up a camera and clicking the shutter. I had to start from zero- I didn’t know a thing about newborn/studio photography. I had never used photoshop and didn’t know the difference between one camera and another. It took a lot of research, online classes, and practice to see results. Even then, imposter syndrome will often kick in and make me question everything; am I good enough? Will clients return? Will clients hate their session? Doubt is always there! When the pandemic hit, I thought for sure it was over for me. Fortunately, once the shutdown was over, my loyal clients returned and my business grew and grew.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a newborn and children photographer. Although I photograph maternity and families, I specialize in capturing baby’s first-year milestones: newborn, six months (sitting stage), and cake smash (first birthday). I feel an immense pride when clients return and recommend me to their friends and family. It’s what’s built my business. My cake smash sessions are my most popular. I believe that what sets me apart is my style and ability to capture not only the newborn fleeting moments/details but also a baby’s personality. I showcase not only happy smiling baby’s but also a bit of true life- crying babies. I mean who doesn’t love a crying baby picture?

Pricing:

• Newborn sessions start at $700
• Sitter sessions start at $400
• Cake Smash sessions start at $650

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aha-photography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aha.photography/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alcirahanguianophotography

Image Credits
AHA Photography