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Meet Belinda Guizar of BGuizar Photography in Downey

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Belinda Guizar.

Belinda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I first picked up a photography course in high school when I realized it was something I enjoyed doing. I didn’t take it as serious since of course, I was still trying to figure out who I was. Once I started college, I felt I needed to declare myself as a business major since my parents owned their own. When I talked to my stepfather about how I struggled to enjoy any classes that had to do with business, he said to me, ” I don’t care what you do, as long as you have a passion for it and you own your own business”. That is when I took the initiative to change my major to Fine Art Photography. I studied abroad and took photography classes in Germany. I was able to travel around Europe and capture photos of beautiful strangers. That must of been the wildest, most inspiring seven months of my life. Being a complete foreigner, traveling as a woman alone, just me and my camera. It was everything. I knew then that photography was what I wanted to build with my own name. My stepfather is my biggest inspiration and motivator and he showed me the ropes of where hard work and persistence can take you. And so that is what I did. I proved to him that I was serious about photography and I wanted to turn it into a business.

Six years ago is when I started charging for small photoshoots that were $75 to sometimes $100. Now for the same amount of work I would do, I charge between $250-$500. It took a lot of personal growth and self-teaching. One thing any business professor couldn’t teach me was how to run a business. I had to learn from others that inspired me. I had to photograph many free hours while going to school full-time and working for my father full-time. I have always been hard on my self thinking I would be as good as other photographers I would see have success. Honestly, this is the first year I can admit to myself that I am actually good. A year ago, when my second son was born, I felt defeated. I had been working for my dad on and off for six years and putting in 13-14 hour days. I thought to myself this is not the life I wanted to give my two sons. I didn’t want other family members raising them like how I was. I wanted to be able to spend my days with them and not have to worry about them missing me during the day. I wanted the liberty to be with them any time of the day and take them anywhere.

So, I sat my father down and told him it wasn’t fair my children have two working parents who are never home. I explained this is my time to build my business and focus on my babies. It was hard for me to walk away from such an amazing business my father had created from nothing but I knew I was going to be okay because he was the best I can learn from. This year was my first full-time photography year. Although it started off slow since I was dedicating more of my time to my newborn. But I have created relationships with clients in these past years that thankfully always come back to me. Now, I can say I am making a stable income while being a working house mom. I can never stop learning and still feel there is always someone better than me but that is why I push myself even more.

Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely has not been. I didn’t even know smooth roads exist. The more mistakes I made, the more success I was having. I don’t just mean financial success but success in knowledge. I sometimes froze during a wedding when something in my camera failed or I didn’t have backup equipment. I had to teach myself to always prepare for the worse. I also learned not every client is meant for me or vice versa. I struggled to find what was going to be my style and If I really settle for any amount just so I can be hired for a gig. When I finally found it, I knew I wanted to attract clients that not only appreciated my work but also the character that I am. Since I love to be goofy and make photoshoots fun, I knew those were the only clients that would vibe with me.

Another struggle I find myself in is being a wife and mother and wanting to be successful. I have had people ask me why am I doing what I do if I have a husband that works or why wouldn’t I just settle for a 9-5 job so I can have the weekends for my children. As a working mother, I don’t have the advantage that other nonparents do by being able to dedicate all their time to photography. Most of the 6-7 figure photography earners I know are single or males. As I am trying to be at that level, my first and foremost priority is my children but just because I am married doesn’t mean I cannot add to the income of my household or sacrifice my weekends for my business. I often ask myself, God forbid if something happened to my husband would I be able to carry on our lifestyle and pay our necessities. The answer is not at the moment so that motivates me to get where I need to be.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the BGuizar Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a portrait photographer who focuses on couples that are either engaged, capturing their wedding, or just taking photos of 2 people madly in love. I am known for capturing you at your most real moments. I love to focus on the raw candids, real emotions, or just how naturally people are together. I also love to capture families with little ones. Since I have two little ones myself, I always have the motherly instincts capture children being natural and making it stand out. I am always up for a challenge when parents tell me “good luck getting my baby to smile” , so far I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I am most proud of the emotions I am able to give others through my photos. I have had clients cry to me about how beautiful their photos are and how thankful they were that I captured them. Ahhhhh, that melts my heart. My job is not a necessity, it is a want and I want people to understand the importance of capturing all milestones in life or just see their growth throughout the years. What are we going to leave our legacy in order to remember us? PHOTOS!! Photos are storytellers, they are history, they are so meaningful. That is why I put so much meaning into what I do and why I feel what I do is important and worth every penny. What sets me apart is that I am always up for adventure. Climbing boulders at Joshua Tree at five months pregnant? Let’s do it. Hanging at the edge of a terrifying cliff in Yosemite to get that shot? Yes, I’ve done it. The best photos are the different ones, so I am willing to get as creative, to get as dirty to get those epic photos.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Oh man, the next five years will definitely be better than the last 5. Now that I have a consistent rhythm going, now that I know what I want and where I want to be, I am definitely setting myself up for success. There is so much I want to do into building my own brand. I want to open multiple photography studios, I want to educate, I want to travel all around the world to capture weddings, I just want to be the best I can be so I can eventually work less and let my business run on its own. I want to be able to give my children the option to work with me or continue building photography their own way. I want my name to be known so in order for me to do that now I am going to just work, work, work, work, work.

Pricing:

  • Engagement shoots starting at $375
  • Weddings starting at $2000

Contact Info:

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