Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Babin.
Hi Chelsea, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
NOTE: I used voice to text so I didn’t sound too scripted. Please fix whatever is needed for flow and grammar and also feel free to shorten!!
So I started my journey into the Photography world sometime around the age of like three. I say three because that’s when I started playing with my mom‘s old Polaroid camera, and it was my absolute favorite thing in the world to take pictures and have the instant gratification of the printing write that in there so that’s really where I started my photography journey and when I say starting, it’s really just me picking up a camera because I don’t think I’ve ever put a camera down since then whether it was me doing photography like thinking I was going to become a professional photographer one day or just you know messing around with the camera because anytime I could get my hands on a camera, whether it was a instant print or a like old Kodak film camera I had it and was taking pictures with it. I remember for Christmas one year my family got me my first like little digital camera and it was one of those little point-and-shoot like Sony cameras and I loved it. I was in high school at this point and we were going on our family trip and I brought it with me and I just took all the photos I could take granted you know I had my cell phone at this point too so I did like start taking photos on my cell phone in like middle school and high school and like of course edit them like most people did like I used Instagram for that And it was. It was a lot of fun at that point. Also, I was given another camera that had like a little bit more ability than the Poon shoot and I remember going out and just playing with it. I’m in. I took some photos of my grandparents, friends horses, and then did some family photos and that was a lot of fun. You know I love horses and Photography at that point so it was just a lot of fun to like get to do both of them And that is kind of just you know something I did for fun didn’t think anything of it. honestly it was just wanting to kind of get more use out of the camera. And at this point, I was really just trying to find like what I wanted to do with my life. I knew it was gonna be something creative because at this point in high school kind of starting to look at colleges and you know what I wanted to go to school for so I kinda was just you know trying to figure all that out at this point I knew writing and photos were definitely something I wanted to do and that just kind of piggyback off of everything I was doing. High school is where I was part of the newspaper and yearbook staff my senior year and so I did a lot of photography for that but that’s really when I started like taking senior pictures for people and prom pictures for people. I just did it for fun with my friends and family.
At this point, I had made it clear that Photography was definitely something that I wanted to do in life whether that was just you know a fun hobby or eventually do more with it and my family was also aware of this so my dad actually got me my first DSLR camera as a high school graduation gift and I was literally so excited. I remember opening it and literally at my graduation party taking it out of the box and starting to take pictures with it. It was definitely something that Brought me to where I am today. That camera was a Canon rebel series so you know it was very great for learning. I used it all the way up through undergrad in college and I took you know senior photos for people. I used it for my journalism classes. I used it for like family and friends and I just remember like really like getting into photography with it and I even shot my very first wedding for a high school friend with that camera. That camera got me through so many things I took a couple photo journalism classes and did a few different shoots and really just learned photography like I learned the basics of photography and shooting in manual mode and you know learning all my settings. it was really the bones of my photography. So after one of my semesters where I took photojournalism, I decided it was time to upgrade my camera. I have been working with a local magazine, talking to a few different photographers and I made the decision to go to my first full frame, Sony mirror list camera. I took a huge job going from a crop sensor DSLR two a full frame Mirlis camera. I had no idea what I was getting into but honestly my mirrorless
Camera helped me learn my settings so much. Because as you change the settings on your camera, the view finder and the screen update so you can kind of see what the photo is gonna look like more than you could on a DSLR. And this helped me because I’m a very visual learner and I was able to kind of just see and put together like different things and what they would look like and then you know kind of go from there. It was just something that helped me, but definitely learning the basics on my DSLR was the best thing for me so that’s kind of you know just my I go to for when others ask me who are wanting to get into Photography. So that’s where I’ve been since then I’ve been shooting primarily portraits and weddings. Weddings are my favorite thing ever so that’s kind of where I’ve been lately but I do a little bit of everything and I’m excited to see where the rest of my journey goes from here.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting my photography business and taking it seriously within the last three years has been an adventure for sure. I know I talked about you know how I started when I was younger and like really got into it in high school and college and that was you know really the start of it but I didn’t like consider a business until after Covid really that’s when I really started going hard well harder and taking it a little bit more seriously and I got my first Associate Wedding Gig in 2022 and really since then that’s when I kind of hit the ground running in wedding photography and just kind of really doing more portraits and you know taking more photos and started charging for my sessions because I had learned a lot and my work showed that so Getting my business license in 2023 was definitely something that I needed to do and wanted to do was ready to take that next step. It is definitely been an adventure for sure. I’m nowhere near where I want to be with my business, but you can only go up from here and I hope to continue to build as I’ve done this year and last year and just really continue to make a name for myself in the photography world. The biggest struggles with having my business and you know really getting to where I’m at even today is just to keep going. I mean you’re gonna have slow times and of course starting any business like you have to actually start it and you know do what you need to. It’s it’s hard. It’s a lot of work. It’s discouraging at some point too. When either you know you’re slow or your clients. Don’t love your work or something happens and it’s a lot and it can be draining and I’m ynot gonna say I have not almost quit before cause I have but I kept going and I’m glad I did because honestly Photography for me is more than just a job or you know Moneymaker it really makes me happy and whenever I need to, I can just go out and shoot nature or like people or literally anything and it just kind of brings me back to my center so it’s definitely something that is worth the ups and downs for sure.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So I am a lifestyle, editorial photographer. I specialize in weddings and portraits. are most proud of how far I’ve come in portraits and weddings, especially weddings because those are such big events and you can only have one shot at it for the most part so just being a part of everybody’s big day and you know, capturing it for them to have those memories forever is truly gratifying, especially when they love it and make it known it’s just you know it really is something that just kind of makes you love what you do when you see the reaction of people when they see your work. What makes me different than others in the field is honestly my compassion for people I am all about helping people and working with them and you know getting them what they want and creating those perfect memories for them to have for years to come and I would say that’s what makes me different is. It’s not just about money for me. It’s about people and just having those memories.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something surprising that people don’t know about me? Hmmm. I’m honestly never sure what to say to this question. This takes me back to like icebreaking days in school or the first day just spent introducing yourself to the class. I was never good at like a random fact. I guess something that most people might not know about me is that I almost gave up being a photographer in 2022. Card corruptions are brutal.
Contact Info:
- Website: Chelseababinphotography.Com
- Instagram: @chelseababinphotography
- Facebook: Chelsea Babin Photography
