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Meet Lily Tapia of Lily Tapia Photography in Downey

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Lily Tapia.

Lily, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My love for photography started out when I was a child. Coming to the United States from Mexico my family and me had to leave everything that meant the world to us to start a new life in America, with only two clothing items we ventured out to find new opportunities for my family. From there I knew the value a photograph possesses, we don’t own any photos of us growing up and I my parents don’t have a single image of their wedding. In high school, I was introduced to art and photography after that I became obsessed with film and learning more about artist from Diane Arbus to Van Gogh. I started exploring downtown LA with my camera and I would photograph anything that captured my attention. From people, buildings, colors, but most importantly fashion. In college, I started a fashion blog and would have different people photograph me (literally just click and I would set the settings and angle them how I wanted an image).

I was discovered by a wedding photographer and she asked me if I was interested in assisting her. Being the curious person that I am, I took on the job. I didn’t know I wanted to do wedding photography till I assisted her in her first wedding. I was in love! To me there is nothing more important than having someone love you with all their heart and them wanting to spend the rest of their life with this single person. I love how I am honored to capture their love story. It is important to interact and get to know my clients in order to show them and the world how I view their love and for them to get comfortable in front of my lens and represent both of them as their truest self.

I can’t help but smile every single time I shoot a wedding because I know there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing. I’ve met so many amazing couples and people in the industry I now call dear friends because of the amount of time we spend together and the way we interact with each other. I literally become friends with all of my clients! Yay! My style of photography is very real, laid back, and fun! I will up to anything to make my clients laugh which isn’t hard because I am quirky. I always make sure the couple is posed naturally, with a killer outfit, and an editorial touch.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road from learning how to start a business (I literally google and You Tubed everything), finding my style of photography, pricing, figuring out who is my ideal client, keeping clients satisfied, and balancing school, work & a business it was very difficult during that time. Now that I have graduated it gives me more time to focus on my business. I am amazed as to how much I’ve learned in my second year in business.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Lily Tapia Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a lifestyle wedding photographer based in LA. I am known for romanticizing images with the way I view love and the use of the color technique I bring out in my images. I am a strong believer in the Carrie Bradshaw quote of love ” I’m someone who is looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love.” Those are the kind of love stories I love to document and show that through my lens.

My clients love how relaxed they feel in front of my camera as well as how we become friends. I am proud that in my first year in business I received Wedding Wire’s couple choice award 2017 for receiving 5 out of 5 stars from all of my wedding clients. I am proud that after every session my clients send me emails or text telling me how they enjoyed their time especially the grooms they always end up having fun! I think what sets me apart from other wedding photographers is the way I keep things REAL with my clients. I always make sure they are having a blast, I love my business and take the time to really get to know them, and deliver work they are in love with! I am a story teller and in order to tell a great love story, I need to make sure I go in knowing who my clients are from where they met, their love story, to simple aspects of knowing their favorite food.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see my company traveling and shooting weddings around the world, but most importantly I see myself doing this full time! I am a student, I have my 8-5 corporate job, and I own my own business, oh yeah! It is a lot! One thing can finally be checked off and now I am on the road to balancing my corporate job and my business.

I see it having big changes on branding to fit the ideal clientele. Continue on keeping a high level of client satisfaction and with that expanding the company to possibly having full-time assistants and second shooter. I will always urge the need for learning new techniques and learning new trends that are constantly evolving in this day and time. I am in love with learning so there is always room for improvement!

I’m still learning new things every day. Not to mention, I still have my full time corporate job. It’s definitely been a struggle juggling my full-time job, my business and my family, but at the end of the day, I find a way to get it all done. Nothing comes easy, but I love what I’m doing and I wouldn’t change a thing!

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Image Credit:
Jana Williams Workshop

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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