Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Stefanou.
Hi Kristin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Absolutely! So I was always the girl with a camera as a teenager. My walls and door were COVERED with snapshots of friends and family and my adventures. I was OBSESSED with photos. My grandfather gave me my first film camera when I was in high school and he always encouraged my love of photography.
Fast forward a few years and the birth of my first child. At 21 husband and I welcomed our precious baby boy, Lucas. Tragically, we lost him just a day and a half later. He was diagnosed with a heart condition that went undetected during pregnancy. We found out just hours before he passed. We were absolutely devastated. All we have to remember our sweet boy are a handful of grainy cell phone images and ZERO video (The cell phone shot in my chosen images is our baby boy the night before he died. It was circa 2008, so the quality just wasn’t there).
Fast forward to 2010. We welcomed our beautiful daughter Ella. She truly brought me back to life. I felt like a shell of a person before she was born. After she was born, I went on to schedule five photoshoots for her first year of life. My husband goes, “whoa. Hold on a minute. You are good at photography. Why don’t we upgrade your camera, buy you an editing program, and you can do them yourself.” Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this was something I could do as a career. It was like saying I wanted to be an astronaut or a princess HAHA, it just seemed outside any realm of possibility for me. And yet, here we are 11 years later.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not. So when I first started my business, I was pregnant with my second daughter, had a 1-year-old, and was working full time as a pharmacy technician. I worked late into the night and through nap times to build Ella Lu. Lots of tears and sleepless nights went into building what the business is today. My husband, George, has always been my biggest supporter and cheerleader. Even when I questioned my abilities and had struggled with the comparison game, he always kept me focused and fed me words of encouragement. I still struggle with work/life balance but I feel like that is something that many work from home moms deal with. Especially if you run your own business. You never feel off.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in all things motherhood. Maternity and births definitely have my heart. I think that because I have so little footage of mine, I know just how much I regret that and long to capture those fleeting moments for others. For me having so few images and no video of our son has been so impactful for the way I run my business. Memories, moments, togetherness… those are all of the things I strive to capture at every session. Anyone can take a photo of everyone looking pretty at the camera. I strive to see and capture your connections.
I don’t shoot video nearly as much as I’d like to but it’s definitely something I strive to capture more of for 2022. Video feels so much more impactful to me. Never has my husband cried over a photo I’ve taken of our kids but I recently put together a video dedication for our girls and he sobbed like a baby watching it. Nothing hits you quite like watching video of your loved ones, especially through the years.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
They can contact me through my website and we can set up a phone consult to book their session. I love getting potential clients on the phone because if I’m going to capture your connections… we need to have one, too. I love hearing about your vision and goals for the session to better help me serve you. As far as supporting me… even if my friends or others can’t book me for one reason or another, them showing love on social platforms really means the world. It’s supporting my business even if they aren’t booking me.
Contact Info:
- Email: ellaluphotography@gmail.com
- Website: www.ellaluphotography.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/ellaluphotography
- Facebook: Facebook.com/EllaLuPhotography
Image Credits
Brittany Marie Photo
