February 13, 2017

Meet Eric Kjellberg of Eric Kjellberg Photography in South Bay’s Manhattan Beach

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Kjellberg.

Eric, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My first true photography experience was when I borrowed my parents manual 35mm SLR camera during my 8th-grade field trip to Washington DC, while other classmates were using their Kodak Instamatic point-and-shoots. Unfortunately, when I returned from the trip, half of my photos did not turn out because I failed to follow my dad’s simple instructions to leave the camera settings where he set them. That was a hard lesson learned!

Several years later, I got into the film production program at San Francisco State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema. In addition to crewing on several film projects as a director of photographer, camera operator, 1st assistant camera, sound recorder, boom operator, 1st assistant director, and actor, I always took advantage of the opportunity (when it presented itself) to be the still photographer on set. Even when I wasn’t the designated photographer, I would try to bring my camera and take some photos.

Those experiences led me to an internship with the San Francisco Film Society’s “Schools at the Film Festival” program at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It was through videography that I documented filmmaker visits to San Francisco elementary and high schools where they showed and discussed their films. And because I was always around the festival I became a lead photographer who photographed the festival’s special occasions, parties, and red carpet events that included Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Redford.

With over 15 years of professional photography experience, I photograph weddings, bar/bat mitzvah’s, corporate headshots and events throughout Southern California, in addition to the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to shooting weddings and corporate events, I was a 1st assistant photographer, film editor, and studio manager for an award winning architectural photographer.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. I didn’t quite know how to get clients outside of film school nor did I know how to charge, or how much to charge. The first wedding I shot was a family friend for a meager $250, and the photos, which were shot on film, definitely lacked the quality and substance that I would quickly have to learn. Shooting on film also meant I had to wait for the developing process to see the results and learn from any mistakes. I do believe that beginning my photography career on film taught me to be more patient and not over photograph my subjects like some people do with digital photography. Those experiences also taught me to be more in the present and to time my shots so that I wouldn’t miss the best moments.

Another huge obstacle I faced was when I was shooting a documentary for the SF Film Society’s, San Francisco International Film Festival, and I had just finished shooting our final scene for the film with my film partner – we parked our car in Golden Gate Park near 9th Ave and Irving St so we could go and eat a celebratory lunch.

We had a couple 35mm SLR’s, my Mamiya 645 ProTL medium format camera, a super-8 camera, and some fancy 3-chip video cameras. We figured that we weren’t going to be long and that we would just put our equipment in the trunk. What a horrible decision that was. When we returned to the car, the driver’s side window had been broken, but there appeared to be nothing missing inside of the car. However, we didn’t leave anything inside of the main cabin. The trunk was still closed, and my friend said they probably didn’t take anything. I immediately felt that wasn’t the case and that the perpetrators most likely watched us park and relocate our film equipment. I also knew the car had a latch to open the trunk just underneath the driver-side seat. My worst fear came true when I opened it. Everything was gone, and our hearts were ripped from our chests.

All that precious time we spent shooting and conducting interviews, research, filmmaker visits to schools, and more went out the door. I even filmed rare footage at the Dolby Sound Studios in SF of a Q&A of the music group Talking Head’s first reunion together, but, unfortunately, the loss of that footage made our recovery more difficult.

That taught me a very valuable lesson – make sure my cameras and (especially) the media I use to photograph and film on are protected and never left out of sight. It has also become 2nd nature to back everything up once you shoot it.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Eric Kjellberg Photography I photograph weddings, corporate headshots, special events, bar/bat mitzvah’s, architecture, and have extensive experience photographing in the film industry. My easy going personality definitely makes my company unique from others. In this business, it really is important to connect with those people that we photograph. It makes my shoots go smoother when I am personable and approachable. I want people to feel comfortable, which ultimately translates into the photos.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The entire South Bay and the city of Los Angeles are great places to begin a photography career and to pick up photo gigs. One needs to have a website that can be found on the web, and it’s a definite advantage to rank high in search engines like Google. I also utilize my extensive background in Search Marketing and Web Design to help rank myself in search and manage my own website. Aside from all that, though, referrals are still the best ways to generate business since referrals are truly warm leads and easier to close. That is why you can’t be afraid to put your fillers out for referrals to the people you know.

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