Meet Chloe Barth | Photographer

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

Hi Chloe, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I am the mom of three lovely little humans, and I love them all so much. I have been able to be a stay at home mom to them and have found it to be really the right choice for our family, and I love it, most days! In terms of the impact I have made on my children, I think showing them that you can be many things in your life is my biggest one. I absolutely love being a mom, and I need breaks. By starting my photography business, I now have a creative and professional outlet that brings me immense joy. When I get to go and take photos, I feel a different side of my personality bloom to the forefront. I am in doing something I love, feel like I can really connect with my clients, and also show my children that their parents are more than just one thing they see. I feel so proud every time my someone asks my kids what their mom does for work, and they always say “she takes pictures!” Having my small business helps my kids understand that while I love being the primary care provider for them, I am also a creative and capable human in other ways. I love coming home from a shoot and showing my kids photos I have taken and seeing their reactions. I think being able to show my kids that I am a multi faceted person who can do more than just drive them to school and make snacks is really important. I believe it shows them that they too can do many things and don’t have to narrow their world to one ambition and passion.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My goal is to take photos people love. I am not an overly posed photographer, I don’t do a ton of editing and lighting adjustment. I want to capture my clients and their families as they are in the moment. If you have a blemish on the day of our shoot, I will happily edit that out. But if your son insists on wearing lightning mcqueen crocs with his button up and slacks, I am your gal. I love the real moments I get to capture. I don’t work with families under a time limit. I always tell them “we work together until we get the photos we need!” So if your family is on it and ready to rock, your shoot may be 20 minutes. If you had a rough night and need the extra few minutes to snuggle, meltdown, or play, I don’t push. As the mom of three kids, I know not everyone is ready to put on a show for the camera. It is important to me that I build relationships with the families I work with. I always try to win over my little subjects, make the whole session non pressured and keep things as low stress as possible. I am not afraid to look and act silly to put people at ease and get the smiles we need! I want the real moments, and hopefully we capture a few print worthy ones along the way.

I still have a fair amount of imposter syndrome when I leave photoshoots! I often think “what if the camera didn’t work? Was the lens cap on? What if everyone is blinking in every shot?” I would say that is my biggest challenge to overcome. I have learned to trust myself and my equipment, and to focus on having fun and being present with my families. I learn something new every time, and feel like I become a better photographer with each shoot I get to do. I like to get a “sneak peek” of photos out to families as fast as possible because it is fun for them, and helps reassure me that I should be doing this and I do know what I am doing!

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.
Fort Collins would be an amazing staycation! We would go to breweries, obviously stopping by Odell and New Belgium for the patio factors. Lunch would have to be the Exchange in Old Town, the perfect place for kids to run and wiggle while grown ups can socialize and not panic about losing sight of them. We would stroll down college avenue and poke in some shops including Clothes Pony. Blue agave for a happy hour hang out would absolutely be on our list! Clearly I am food motivated, we would take a food tour of town and get some sunshine and beer along the way.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When I was in high school I took a photography class, and loved it. I worked with film and used a light room, but the real joy I found in it was capturing the image in my camera in the first place. For years after that I had this “pipe dream” of having my own photography business one day. I met and married my husband, and he always told me to give it a shot. One day when I was newly pregnant with our first baby, I came home one day and there was a brand new DSLR camera waiting for me. He told me we would need somewhere to take great photos, and this was it! I played around with it but never got past that. Once our son was born I continued to feel this pull towards taking photos for families. I took some very amateur newborn shots of my son, and loved it. Once again my husband encouraged me to give it a shot in a real way. Through a friend I was connected to a family who had just had a baby, and they let me use their new growing family as my very first practice session. I left their house after taking the newborn shots and felt this intense sense of being in the right lane professionally! Through the kindness of friends, I started to build my portfolio, learned new things every time, and grew my skills and confidence both behind the camera and in the computer photo editing world. I had hopes that I would get a few people to keep asking me to take photos once a year, and that was about it. But now I am on my 6th year of business, and I keep being asked to take photos for past clients, and get to meet new ones regularly! I am so grateful for each family and organization that gives me a shot at capturing their moments. It is cheesy, but I couldn’t love it more. So, my husband gets the top bill of credit and thanks, for believing in me before I did and encouraging me to try. My kids get huge kudos for being my endless practice buddies! And that one family gets a forever place of gratitude in my heart for letting me take that first set of photos. I am so lucky to do something I love so much!

Website: www.elmphotographyfoco.com

Instagram: elmphotographyfoco

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elmphotographyfoco

Image Credits
ELM Photography Foco- photographer Chloe Barth