Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Eldridge.
Kristin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a teenager, people would always tell me I was good with kids. I should be a teacher. I baby sat all the neighborhood kids every summer, never tiring of singing silly songs and giving piggy-back rides. I did end up being a teacher. My first graders were my children before I had my own. Fast-forward through having my own three children and I decided to stay home with them. I never went back to teaching, but instead stumbled through a few random side hustles and landed on photography. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to photograph. I just knew I loved the camera. Being a second shooter at a wedding helped me realize weddings weren’t for me. It took putting an ad on Craigslist and getting hired by a family to reconnect me with what I was good at…entertaining kids. The family loved the photos and referred me to everyone they knew. That was 10 years ago and I’ve only ever photographed babies and kids.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part it has been a smooth road. I’ve always been able to be profitable as a business and I’ve always been able to say I love my job. In a market over-saturated with photographers, I’d say that’s a good gig. I’m a self-taught photographer. Which means that I went to school to be an elementary teacher and I have no training in photography. I am extremely self-motivated, which served me well in starting a business. I literally picked up my camera manual one day and read it cover to cover. I practiced incessantly, upgraded and upgraded my equipment and finally decided to start charging money for my services. From there, I learned about marketing and SEO. I learned to capitalize on my ability to connect with kids to help me stand out from what everyone else was doing.
Please tell us about Kristin Eldridge Photography.
I’m known for making kids smile. I’m not afraid of temper tantrums, difficult toddlers or crying babies. What would make others cringe is like a personal challenge. Maybe it’s all those years of babysitting or the struggling years of learning classroom management as a new first grader teacher, but I pride myself on making the best of any situation and being able to document it in a beautiful way.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I’m 10 years older than my youngest sister. I’m the oldest of four children and she’s the youngest. When she was born, I was like her second mommy. Some of my favorite memories are making up silly nicknames for her, playing dress up and eventually having her be a junior bridesmaid in my wedding. We currently live in different states, but we vacationed in Mexico several months ago. After learning to surf, we laid on the warm sand and laughed about the time I learned to drive and accidentally drove over her bicycle.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2003 Shipway Ave, Long Beach, CA 90815
- Website: www.kristineldridge.com
- Phone: 562-980-6480
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristineldridge/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinEldridgePhotography/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristineldridge
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kristin-eldridge-photography-long-beach
Image Credit:
Kristin Eldridge
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