Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Llamas.
Karina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was a young teenager with a special interest in collecting memories through photographs. I guess you can say it was inevitable after posing for in-home styled shoots organized by my mother. She would dress me up, hang a blanket from our doorway, prop my arms up on a table and I would pose away! Man, I love those pics! I don’t remember taking any direction from her but if you would see them you’d think I’m doing Madonna’s Vogue. When I saw that photography was an option as an elective class in my high school I was like, “Sign me up!”. We had a brand-new classroom with a dark room attached! I literally got to learn the old school way and develop my own prints. While the chemicals smelled awful, it was my favorite thing to do. I would ask friends to pose around campus and I captured some pretty awesome shots.
After high school, I went to school for something completely unrelated but getting laid off from what had been my best job yet turned in to a blessing in disguise. It was 2010 and I finally had the time to take on hobbies, and of course the first thing I picked up was a camera. This time it was a DSLR. I took a one day class to learn the basics of shooting on manual mode. From that day forward I never stopped clickin’. Every week I had new ideas for shoots of my kids. I would share on social media and my friends began to hire me to take photos of their own kids. I opened a Facebook “fan page” to showcase my work. I was surprised by the attention it was getting, I started getting real customer inquiries! The rest is history. I was booking sessions on a weekly basis. My mini session deals would sell out within hours! Thankfully, Karina Llamas Photography isn’t slowing down. I stay busy year-round. I host two workshops per year that focuses on teaching moms and pretty much anyone that wants to learn how to use their ‘fancy’ camera. Just recently, I began taking on new projects and dove into product photography with a wonderful company.
Every single day I’m grateful for doing what I love as a career. Sure, regardless of where life would have taken me I would still shoot great pics of my family BUT now I do this for many families and freeze little moments for them that they treasure for a lifetime. That is priceless.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I wouldn’t consider it an obstacle but more of a challenge. Nowadays, there is way more competition than there was in my area six years ago. Newborn and Children photography is so popular and everyone seems to be choosing that path. It just keeps me on my toes and always looking for new ideas and ways to improve Karina Llamas Photography. Besides, who doesn’t love a challenge?
Please tell us about Karina Llamas Photography.
My specialty is newborn and children. I’m just baby crazy. I have four kids of my own so when a family walks in to my studio you can bet that I’m ready for anything. I understand parents of a new baby are sleep deprived and probably coming to my studio is their first outing since they left the hospital! I try to make everyone as comfortable as possible and make their experience a great one. As for my babies and toddlers, I’m known for my creative set-ups. I’m pretty crafty and have so much fun creating sets to meet clients theme requests. I love color and when you scroll through my pages I want people to see fun photos.
While I’m proud of my work and how far Karina Llamas Photography has come I can’t forget to mention something pretty awesome that happened last year in 2016. I was published in not one but two magazines! Latina Magazine and Alegria Magazine, both December issues. I never thought seeing my name in tiny print next to a photo would mean so much!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Hmmm, I do believe that mistakes are meant to happen. If we didn’t make mistakes we wouldn’t grow and Karina Llamas Photography has definitely experienced growth over the past six years. The best part is that my clients have grown with me. They continue to come back with every new addition to their family.
Pricing:
- Newborn Sessions $280
- Birthday Sessions $240
- Family Sessions $280
Contact Info:
- Website: www.karinallamas.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/karinallamasphotography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/karinallamasphotography
Image Credit:
Karina Llamas Photography
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