Meet Heather Chavez | Photographer/Owner of Heather Ann Photography

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

Hi Heather, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When thinking about risk I think about the move my family and I made from Florida to Colorado. Rewind to my husband and I discussing how we thought we were finally ready to make an out of state move. I am from CT and my husband, David, is from NY so FL has never really felt like home (I actually loathed it). We thought Asheville, NC was the place for us and we visited the area and loved it. Shortly after we found out we were pregnant with our third child and thought it was best to hold off until after our baby was born before we moved. Then when we thought we were ready again COVID struck the world. Do people move during a pandemic? That was our thought when the world was going through a bit of a shock.

We were a little stuck and unsure so we waited. And we waited and waited until one morning I was getting ready for the day and I went down to my husband in the kitchen and told him “COVID isn’t going anywhere, I think we should just move. If we don’t do it now, we never will and there will always be an excuse not too. I was just reading in a magazine about Colorado Springs and I think that’s where we should go.” He honestly didn’t even second guess it and was completely onboard. About 2 days later he flew out to CO to check out the area and after he flew back we moved within 3 weeks. I had a pretty established photography business in FL but I dreaded outdoor sessions, I was sick of palm trees and I hated being sweaty 24/7.

Was I nervous to uproot my business to a completely different state where I didn’t know a soul, had no idea what locations were available to me and no idea if I’d be successful? Heck yes I was. Was it worth it? You better believe it. I am not only happy and grateful to call Colorado Springs my home but I have a pretty successful business so far. I made a few lucky decisions when we first moved here and my business took off pretty quickly. I even received “Best Family Photographer in Colorado Springs” by Expertise.com last year. My husband also found a dream job that couldn’t have been timed more perfectly when we moved here as neither of us had a single job lined up but the pressure to make an income to support our family was there. We are very blessed for everything that has happened to us since moving. Life is risky. Change is risky but honestly risks are what define us and help us grow. They help push us and open doors to new and exciting experiences.

I’m beyond grateful that our risky and very sudden move to Colorado Springs has turned out for the better. I didn’t have a single bad feeling the entire drive from FL, and trust me when I say I had plenty of driving time to think it over. We completely uprooted our family (including our kids and furry family members) to a totally different environment hoping for the best and praying for it to all work out and it has been amazing since the day we moved here. My only regret is not moving out here sooner so I encourage anyone who has been debating a change in their life to stop making excuses and just go for it!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I believe that photography should be natural and not static. I am not a fan of everyone lining up and smiling for the camera in every picture I take. I love the experience of photography. Every family, every couple, every newborn is different because that’s part of human nature. I take pride in capturing everyone as they are. I don’t need every toddler to smile right at me when asked and I don’t expect them to. I love photographing the in between moments when mom is comforting her little one who is having a rough day or when a tickle fight breaks out and the most natural giggles come out.

Did I start out with the whole “Everyone say cheese!” You bet. But as I continued on my photography journey I started to find who I am as a photographer and that I prefer to guide my clients into natural posing rather than posing each person perfectly. My clients tell me how much fun our sessions are and to me that is the biggest compliment. Photo sessions should be far from complicated and stressful. I feel like I stand apart from other photographers because of this.

Getting to where I am today has definitely not been easy. I went to college and I have a B.S. in Film and always wanted to be a video editor. I did work on live events and edited videos here and there but I wound up being a waitress in Florida, while working at a private school and I dabbled in photography on the side.

After my first child I left the private school and even delayed going back into waitressing because I wanted to be a stay at home mom and postpartum hit me really hard. I started to get a bit more serious with photography at this point, specifically. newborn since I had my own little model. I had our second child and due to financial stress I went back to waitressing and my photography business became a bit more steady. It was definitely stressful having the two jobs but my photography business wasn’t bringing in enough income to our family for me to make that my sole line of work. I would wait tables 4-5 days a week, sometimes working double shifts and then photograph on the weekends/evenings but nothing was consistent, When I was waitressing all I could think about was how much I just wanted to be a photographer and nothing else. It was a struggle and a juggle being a mom and working 2 jobs and I definitely missed out on a lot of moments with my kids which was the opposite of what I wanted. I would try to edit during the day and finally surrendered to editing at night when my kids were asleep. Now that I live in CO and work as a full time photographer I am so much happier and my kids are too. While running a business is a lot of work and comes with its own stress, I’ll take the stress I have now over the stress I had before.

I think what I would want the world to know about my brand and story is that I am a hardworking mom who wants to support her family. I want to be able to be present for my kids like any other mom but I want to set an example of a successful business woman too. I want my clients to know that I understand what it’s like to get an entire family ready for a session and that it can be stressful but that the session will be fun and laid back. I want my clients to have pictures of the fun memories we make together and not look at their pictures and think about how awful the session was and how stressed they were. I have built my business from the ground up to support my family but I am also in this business because I’m obsessed with photography and I want nothing more that to provide people with beautiful memories they can hang on their walls.

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 were here I would definitely make a lot of time for hiking/exploring. I’d encourage her to do the Incline with me and take Barr Trail back down. We’d probably drive up to Estes Park to do a hike or two in the RMNP. For food, I’d take her to the Rabbit Hole in downtown Colorado Springs and then we’d walk around Old Colorado City. We would definitely have to drive through the iconic Garden of the Gods and maybe catch the sun set at Mesa Overlook. We would probably walk around downtown Manitou as well and I’d convince her to taste one of the fountains (yuck). Driving up to Pikes Peak would be a fun thing to do if it’s during the warmer weather. If it is warmer out then I’d want to take her paddle boarding either at Monument lake or up in Rampart Reservoir. I’d also love to check out Breckenridge, the Royal Gorge Bridge and the Sand Dunes as those are places I actually haven’t explored yet but would love to!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, David, has been my biggest supporter. He has encouraged me to follow my dream of being a full time photographer. He has always believed in me and has told me I’m talented anytime I’ve ever had any doubt. David has supported any financial decisions I’ve had to make from upgrading a camera to buying an extra lens because he believes in my business. When I need to dedicate time for editing or anything business-related I know he’s got my back with taking care of our kids so I can accomplish everything needed in order to run a successful business. I’m very grateful to have such. supportive husband and I can’t thank him enough!

Website: www.heatherannphoto.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/heather_ann_photo

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hapcolorado