Meet Amber Kelly | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amber Kelly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
To be honest, the most important decision I made that contributed to my success was to stop making excuses. Starting my own business sounded like a great idea and while I knew I’d love it and I could be good at it, I was nervous. I thought, “Oh I’ll just take it slow. I’ll ease into it.” I had a fear of failing. When I first started my business I did zero marketing, for the first couple years I photographed friends and they would suggest me to others, which has been invaluable, but I knew I could be doing so much more. I made excuses, I battled self doubt, and I knew I needed to stop that. I needed to move forward with all of the ideas and goals I had in mind. The last two years, I’ve let go of the excuses and self doubt (although, it can creep back in a bit from time to time), and focused on what I wanted my business to become. This year has been incredible, I was able to invest in my business and myself in ways I could have only dreamed of four years ago.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My photography tends to be mostly of families with children, but I still work with Seniors, couples and businesses on various projects. I want photo sessions to be an experience, not a chore! Providing my clients with a fun, easy going photoshoot is very important to me. We typically spend an hour together, in that hour we get some posed images, but my goal is to foster real moments and emotion so I can capture and preserve those memories for my clients. I may ask kids to tell their parent something they love to do with them, or ask a parent to whisper something meaningful into their child’s ear, we play games, we dance, little things like this can evoke so much emotion and those moments are now something you can look back on or frame to see each day. Family photography takes a lot of patience, understanding and a positive attitude, which fortunately, I have! Some sessions are simple, some sessions are a bit more challenging, and that is okay! We always make it work! Kids are wild and silly, sitting still for photos isn’t their idea of a good time, so coming up with ways to make it enjoyable for them and keeping any stress off parents is essential. Every family is unique, every story is different, and being able to capture all of these different stories is really quite special.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting for a week, we would have an absolute blast! We’d head to Latke Love in Littleton for breakfast, we would probably get burritos to go from Santiago’s for the other mornings. Playa Bowls off Main in Littleton would be a good quick lunch spot because it’s a Jersey thing and that’s where we are from. I’d take her to the Welton Room for fancy drinks and maybe get all cute and head up to 54Thirty. Ideally we’d hit a Red Rocks show and eat green chili cheese fries up there. I’d take her on a couple hikes, maybe Nederland, I really like it there! I would have to take her to Katsu Ramen in Aurora one night because it’s amazing. Get some ice cream at Nuggs, drive over to the art district and walk around looking at all the amazing murals. I’d drag her to a Nuggets game because it’s a great time and that energy is wild. We would then be exhausted and likely need to find a pretty peaceful spa with a view, haha.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are SO many people I could dedicate my shout out to! Before I started my photography business, I would post photos that I took of my son on social media. I had a decent camera, I loved taking photos, I wanted to capture every little thing…. and then… share it! My family lives across the country and they loved that this had become a hobby of mine. Like most things, the more you learn, the more practice you have, the better you become. I continued snapping photos and sharing for years, now I had, not one, but two, super cute subjects for my photography! I can remember a day where I shared an image of my daughter and someone replied, “Ya know, you could really turn this into a business!” The person who replied was the videographer from my wedding. That was a major tipping point for me and it truly got me thinking that if I wanted to turn photography into a career, I absolutely could. I have a very supportive husband, family and friends who gave me gentle nudges and assured me I’d be just fine, they were right. Thank you all for being part of my journey.

Website: www.luckykphoto.com

Instagram: @luckykphotography

Facebook: @luckykphoto

Image Credits
Lucky K Photography