We were lucky to catch up with Cassandra Gallegos recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cassandra, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I’ve been fortunate to have a supportive family that have challenged and encouraged me throughout my entire life. In my younger days it was my family and sports that gave me the foundation to my confidence and unlocked my self esteem. In my thirties, it has been my 9 years as a leader within my fitness community that have carried on the work. Bridging the gap between what I have proven my body can physically do while also strengthening my mental health has given me the confidence I’ve needed to do anything. It is what helped me pick up a camera and make the decision to follow a new path even if it meant being terrible at it.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
If you would have asked me 5 years ago what I would be doing at this very moment I would have never thought it would be to own my own photography business. Yet here I am. For the past 3 years I have had the absolute pleasure of photographing incredible lovers, friends, story tellers, athletes, and everything in between. it’s still so insane that I”m here doing this whaaaat? I’m privileged that both of my careers sort of feed into each other and give me wonderful opportunities to engage with my community. It is through my position as a fitness coach where I was able to begin my journey as a photographer and eventually get the confidence to take it on professionally.
What I do is exciting and I”m often left questioning my reality because of how much fun photographing people really is. In the fitness world I”m able to document very real every day humans displaying their hard work and strengths in unique ways. Capturing them within their community and bringing forth the raw emotion behind the hours of training they put in is certainly a favorite of mine.
Outside of the gym I’m able to connect deeply on a different level with my clients and learn more about who they are. Sessions are not simply a transaction as we can tap into what makes each individual, family, or couple unique and tailor the details accordingly. My clients lives are beautiful and I aim to show them just how much it is with the images I deliver.
At this point I’m preparing for the fall season rush and am looking forward to all of the new and returning clients of mine that I’ll get a chance to spend time with and capture their photos for this year.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
This is really hard to narrow it down to three. Aside from taking the time to learn your camera and expanding your knowledge of editing, lighting, and all photography techniques and skills that can help you execute your creative vision; I would have to say that what has helped me out the most and continues to serve me well even 3 years in are:
– Collaborate
A rising tide raises all ships. Networking and building friendships within the creative community is something that I would recommend to anyone. It has been something that has helped me grow and learn from all aspects of photography and strengthened me as a business owner. With so much to learn its nice to have colleagues/friends you can go to that understand what you’re going through and help wherever they can. Join face book groups, attend meetups, or slide into dms and reach out to trade some headshots. There’s lots of ways to connect and so much you can create together.
-Try something new at every session
At every session I try to make it a point to find a moment to try something new. This can mean a new angle, prompt, lens, fractal, etc. You’ll never be good at something if you don’t create moments to try them and being intentional about this has really helped me creatively and unlocks potential for more opportunities at future sessions.
-Create YOUR art. Social media can take a bad turn sometimes and be a mental health eater. Remind yourself that you can do this and what you have to offer to this creative space is worthy to be seen. Your work doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to be loved and the number of likes on a post is irrelevant to how your work makes your clients feel. Social media is a great tool to help bring in the clients you need but it doesn’t define you or determine the quality of your work.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I’m experiencing moments of overwhelm it is usually because I have what appears to be a mountain of work in front of me like a long editing queue, a lengthy social media caption, or I am physically overstimulated. What helps me is going on a walk outdoors and staying grounded as much as possible. I don’t listen to any music and instead let my senses run wild with what I have around me.
If I’m unable to physically release some of that stress then I step away from the area where I am experiencing the overwhelm and I turn on an anxiety reducing mediation, lie on the floor, and breathe it all away.
My third option is having a go to person, or people, that I can rely on to hear me out and help me with what I have going on.
Contact Info:
- Website: cassg.photography
- Instagram: @cassgphoto @cassgphotography
Image Credits
Jackie Nemath @eyeroniclove – took my individual photo, I edited the image All other photos are taken and edited by me.
