Meet Marcia Stuhler . . . aka Ms. Classy

Marcia Stuhler

Location: Keller,TX


DOB: 10/10

Children: Tatyana – 13, Garrett- 2 and Wade 2 ½ Months

Husband: Tom

Animals: Absolutely none now, I had to give them away to make room for the baby.

Name of Business: Classy Kids Photography

Website: http://www.clkphotos.com/

Blog: http://www.clkphotosblog.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clkphotos

Twitter: OMG, I signed up for it a while ago and couldn’t keep up. I couldn’t understand why I needed both Twitter and Facebook. However, I will revisit it when I have a few more clients.

Email: marcia@clkphotos.com

What's in your bag? (if you are building your bag, what do you desire for your bag?)

Olympus E-510

Sigma 50mm 1.4

Zuiko 14-54mm

Olympus F36

Energizer Battery Charger

Mini Bubble Machine

My Window Shopping List:

I really need a backup camera since I sold my first camera to finance my 50mm purchase. I would also like to acquire a 70-200. I am looking going with a Canon or a Sony and I REALLY would like a full frame camera but I will take something smaller for now.

What's your favorite editing software?

When I first started I was a Photoshop fanatic but as I began to learn the in’s and out’s of Lightroom I do almost everything there.

Favorite Food:

Mexican

Thai

Cuban

Margarita’s -  is that a food?

Favorite Color? Navy Blue, Black

A few of your favorite things:

The Young and the Restless

Perez Hilton

Laughing with my kids

Live music

Entertaining

Really bad reality tv…VH1 is a mecca for that!

What or who inspires you?

What inspires me is to live my life every day to its fullest potential and try not to sweat the small stuff. I am finding that the more I embrace that mentality I have become a much happier person.

Name something you just have to have everyday:

Coffee

The Young and the Restless- I have to watch it when I get home from work it relaxes me.

Tell us all about your journey into the world of photography. When did you realize that this is what you wanted to do and why.

My love for photography started back in high school because of a good friend of mine. We actually had a dark room in our school and I got a chance to see her develop the film. I thought it was so cool but I thought the process would be too hard for me to learn. My mother also was an avid photographer so there was always a camera around.

What really launched this love into a career was because of my husband. His work schedule has really turned our family life upside down. He is a printing press operator and he works the 3-11 shift. So when he gets home he doesn't see us and misses all the fun things that the kids are doing. In the printing industry, the only way to get a dayshift seems to be when the veteran of thirty something years FINALLY retires. Tom was getting very frustrated and wanted to quit his job and make less money just so he could be home with us. I explained to him that if you have passion for what you do then you should not quit. Since he purchased my first SLR as an anniversary gift, I had started to take pictures of my kids and for friends. I knew the style that I was trying to achieve but didn’t know how to go about it. That’s when I said to my husband that I wanted photography to be our light at the end of the tunnel. I said, if I can make just enough so you can work part time then we would get to see more of you. I figured it is a small price to pay with an amazing reward at the end.

If you already have a photography business please tell us about it, type of photography you do, how long you have been doing it, etc...

My preference is to do on-location natural light photography but I also have some starter studio equipment. I mainly photograph children ages 0-15 and families because inside I am still a kid so I can relate better.

Who is your favorite photographer that you follow and why?

Gosh, that is a really difficult question for me and when I knew I was going to have a spotlight I was really trying to think of what to say.

I would have to say Audrey Woulard and MeRa. I fell in love with Audery’s work and was hell bent on taking part in her Leanfest workshop even if I had to take out a loan to pay for it. When I found out that they were no longer going to offer Learnfest I began a hunt for workshops where the photographer felt a bond during their learning experience. That’s when I found MeRa and then she launched SOAR and I was amazed by her power to move people with simple text on a screen. She is honest, she is real and I feel like I know her already. That is what I hope people will say about me when they are telling their friends to book a session with me. I want to be familiar like your favorite pair of blue jeans. Comfortable and relaxing but makes ya look really good!

Besides photography, what else do you do , i.e. work, domestic engineer, volunteer?

I am a sales account executive for FedEx Services. I am responsible for working with small to medium sized businesses and getting them to ship FedEx. I have been pretty successful in the short amount of time that I have been here. I was selected this year to be a mentor to the new hires. So I guess they like me and will keep me.  The more I focus on the business side of photography, I am learning that the way I sell express and ground packages should be the way I sell and market to clients. Be honest, be true and it will come back to you tenfold.

What are some of your other hobbies and/or things that you like to do besides photography?

I am really getting into graphic design. I see the card templates that are sold to photographers and I want to learn how to create my own. I have created a few but I am not crazy about them. So as I learn and get better maybe I can sell them too.

Do you have any other businesses that you are incorporating and/or combining in your photography business or that is separate other than photography?

I hope to get the hang of the design thing this year so I can begin to offer them to photographers.

If there is one thing in the world that you would like to change, what would that be and why?

Equality. I understand that everyone is entitled to their views on equal rights but I think that people forget that passing judgment on others is just hurtful. If circumstances were reversed, would they be so judgmental? Every person deserves to find happiness and love. Ohh and in the words of Sandra Bullock in Ms. Congeniality, “World Peace”.

Name three things you would like to do before you die?

Move to Spain, immerse myself in the culture, and learn the language without a book in hand.

Open a karaoke-inspired restaurant

See all three of my kids graduate, get their first “real job”, get married and have grandkids.

List three goals you would like to accomplish in 2010:

Market…market…market myself. I want to make mistakes this year and figure out what works and what doesn’t work for me in this crazy business of photography.

Become a Senior Account Executive, it comes with a pay raise and my photography wish list I think is at 3 pages now.

Go see Garth Brooks in concert in Vegas!! It’s the ONLY way my husband is going to get me to go to that city.

Please tell us about the photos you are submitting and why they are your favorites.

This was my first attempt at being artistic. I think it says a lot with out even one face in the photo.

This was my very first session where I shot 100% manual. When I went to edit the pictures,

 I realized I had finally nailed the eyes and I didn’t have to do much

post processing to get them there.

This last one is merely because I am obsessed with tulips and I somehow managed to take picture of a bee in flight. How did I do it? I have not a clue but it looks darn good!

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Thank you Marcia for participating in the Spotlight! 

It was so great to read all about you and get to know you better ♥

I wish you the best of luck this year as you learn and grow in your photography business. 

I LOVE your tulip photos and especially the one with the bee in flight!  Can't wait to see you in May!