Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Contreras.
Hi Alexandra, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Alexandra and the only thing I have really ever wanted to be was a photographer. From an early age, I was infatuated with the camera and the process of creating an image. Both my parents saw my peaked interest and supported photography as a hobby my whole life. My dad used to take me out hiking at sunrise and we would go over all the manual settings and what they meant, we would go stargazing and go overnight settings and how to obtain low light shots. I took portrait photography in high school and college. Right out of High school, I started my first photography company, doing small jobs, senior portraits, my friends families’ pictures. Eventually that became weddings, big events, and maternity and newborn images as well. While at community college for the 4th year, I had a job working for life touch studios, I realized that all I wanted to do was own a photography studio. I was sitting in class writing contracts, editing images, sending out invoices, and kept thinking, ‘what if I just did it’. So I left school with a ton of knowledge and never looked back.
In 2015 I merged companies with a partner and we became House of Amsel. For years we worked, edited, marketed, and grew. Before I knew it, I was able to call photography a full time job, a job that I built for myself. In 2019 we had our biggest year yet and knew we had to take the plunge, and bought House of Amsel Studio in December. The studio helps so much with traveling, consultations, newborn sessions and the consistency of the photographs and we could not wait to share it with the entire world. The grand opening was supposed to be March 15, 2020. On March 15th, House of Amsel Studio opened its doors, and the entire world shut down.
I thought I was about to lose everything.
For 6 months, we had no work. All the money we projected coming in was at a solid halt. Weddings stopped happening, people did not want to bring their newborns in for pictures when a pandemic was happening. I had to go back to bartending and working to go at The Cheesecake Factory, and we struggled. But we also thrived. We poured ourselves into the studio trying to stay positive. We did the walls, ripped up flooring and put new subfloor and floors in. We turned 1800sqft into a beautiful little home. A dream come true. at 27, I owned my own photography studio. The world was unforgiving, but my heart was so full. Not only did I get to love what I did, but everyday I got into the studio, I got to see how much my hard work had paid off. It it the most indescribable feeling, turning a dream that has forever been in your heart, into a reality.
But covid tore us to shreds.
It took almost two years for us to catch up with weddings that had to be rescheduled, sessions we had to move, people who put deposits down who could no longer pay for their sessions. People who just cancelled weddings. The entire world was struggling, and we knew it. It was the worst time to open a business, but that did not get us down. Or at least we tried to not let it. But no matter how hard we worked, marketed, shamelessly spread the word, the world still needed time to heal, and not everyone was spending money on luxuries like photography. We were not an essential business, and the decline in business showed that. My partner decided to leave the company for personal reasons and I was left with the option in November 2021 to either dissolve the entire company or split our revenue, and buy her out.
This was the beginning of the hardest few months of my life. I struggled everyday with the decision, with the partnership, with what my heart wanted me to do and what my brain was telling me I couldn’t. Everyday was an internal struggle. I knew in my heart, this is the only dream I have ever known, and nothing was going to stand in my way. So not only did I take full control over the studio, but I went back to bartending to make the money to buy my partners half of House of Amsel. In February 2022, I bought House of Amsel Photography Studio and with $700 in my bank account, I started again. Just me. That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
And every second of worry was worth it.
I worked harder than I ever had in my life. Filling paper work, taxes, clients, emails, fixing the website, changing names, changing banks, and closing the bar at night. And every night I went to bed knowing, that this dream of mine will never be abandoned. All the sleepless nights are worth it when you truly love what you do. I grew so much in this past year, as a woman and as a business owner. Somehow I became more disciplined. I had to problem solve by my self, run and entire company and keep a work life balance. I was told I could never do it by my self. The first few months alone were so difficult. I had to learn how to ask for help, how to work by myself. I went from having another brain to having to be on all the time. It was a lot of patience in myself, and faith that nothing good comes easy, and this is one of the best things in my life, so I had to work hard for it.
I look at this studio every day and I see all my hard work, all my tears and struggles, and all the hope in my heart and the little voice in my head that said ‘ you can do this’. I feel the love of all my clients that have cheered me on, offered me a shoulder to cry on, bought me lunch. I get to watch kids grow up. It is such and amazing experience and I am so thankful for the struggle, because it gave me the best thing I have ever had in my life.
Alright, 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?
It has not. Covid 19 was a huge struggle. The buying out of my business partner suddenly was another struggle. I also face a lot of internal struggles of not feeling good enough, or worthy to have a business. I am my own worst critic. I always second guess things, and sometimes get very overwhelmed with simple things because there are so many things to do. You really have to learn how to handle any kind of situation as a business owner.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer. I specialize in family and newborn photography but I also love shooting elopements and weddings. I am known for taking people in to the mountains and creating beautiful images.
I feel like I am most proud of continuing to grow constantly and of how far I have come in the past ten years of being a business owner. I love the relationships I have with my clients, at this point a lot of them are like family. I am also proud of the brand and name I have built for myself.
I am an adventurer at heart. I feel like love and each family is an adventure in itself and that to reflects in my images. I capture authentic love. The best kind, and I let the uniqueness of each family shine through. I also think my editing sets me aside from others. It is something that I have to constantly work on, but my editing is where I put my entire heart into my images.
What were you like growing up?
My mom says I was a little like a hurricane. I never stopped moving.
I always liked to draw. Music was the first love of my life and I dabbled in just about every instrument you could imagine. I have always been very type -A. The oldest of three, I feel like it was kind of born into me. I grew up with a huge family, women dominated and was taught not only by both my parents, but also all my aunts and grandparents that I could do anything, all it takes is pertinence and perseverance. I have always been interested in business, I can remember making art and selling it at my Sunday school at a very young age. I was in a youth group and built roofs and put in floors by the time I was 15. My parents are avid travelers, and I grew up with my sisters traveling the United States national parks and camping quickly became a regular part of life. I have been hiking since the day I could walk and that turned into trail running and rock climbing over time, which we all still love to do. I played travel soccer for 17 years and was the captain of my high school field hockey team. I always have kept my calendar full, enjoying theater on the sports off season, taking a full load of Ap and College classes by the time I was a senior in high school. My busy younger years really did teach me how to manage time on a full calendar and that is something that I use in daily life.
I am a people person. An extrovert by nature. I love being on a team setting, and being surrounded by people. I feel like it is part of the reason I enjoy photographing weddings so much is because I felt that I have always thrived in social chaos. I have always had an army of incredible friends, some who have supported me at this point for over 20 years. I always have had a demanding social life, and that is how I like it. I am one of those people who recharges with people.
Pricing:
- Family session – $350
- Studio Session – $350
- Weddings start at 3,500
Contact Info:
- Website: www.houseofamselphotography.com
- Instagram: @houseofamsel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houseofamselphotography
Image Credits
House of Amsel Photography
