Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh & Kristan Lepik. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Josh & Kristan, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity is a mindset. You stop being creative when you feel like you have nothing else to learn. For us, creativity happens because we continually push ourselves to never stop growing. We study the work of other photographers and we draw inspiration from them. We then dive in fully to develop our own technique or learn how to put our own spin on it. The other benefit is we honestly love what we do. Photography for us is a business AND a passion. When we are not photographing couples, families, weddings or businesses we are out looking for inspiration in the world around us. Landscapes, wildlife, street photography, macro, you name it, we are out there capturing the beauty around us. Inspiration and creativity is everywhere.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
We are Lepik Photography. A husband and wife photographer and videographer team located in Pueblo, Colorado that specializes in events, weddings, portraits, senior, family and small business. We believe that everyone is unique and beautiful and that every person has a story that is worth telling. We work hard to tell those stories through our vision.
Josh’s journey with photography started at 10 years old, growing up in Montana next door to a photographer that worked in a local camera shop and often shot for National Geographic. He showed Josh the most beautiful parts of Glacier and Yellowstone. They would capture shots of big horn sheep, wild bison, bears, eagles and the most epic landscapes. The passion grew until Kristan gifted Josh his first DSLR before a trip to Hawaii in 2010. From there, he realized he had a gift to share taking photos of people. It has been full speed ahead since then!
Kristan’s journey with photography began in her twenties when she began using her artist’s eye combined with her knack for making delicious food to create and capture edible art. Her ability to perfectly light plates of food quickly grew into a passion for detail shots. Kristan’s ability to see the world differently allows her to utilize light in interesting ways and allows our clients to experience unique photos like they have never seen before. Kristan’s favorite part of photography is getting to use her artistic eye to create original artwork for others with imagery. Kristan believes there is beauty to be found in everyone and she helps bring this beauty to light in each person she photographs.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
When people think about running a photography business they normally start by picking up a camera, taking some photos of family and friends and after great reactions that then fuels their drive to start a business with it. This is great, but keep in mind that owning a photography business is actually 90% running a business and 10% photography. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that is never seen. Understanding that as a small business owner, you need to be a website designer, a receptionist, a social media manager, a customer service agent, a photographer, a billing admin, in addition to being a small business owner all in one is not something most people anticipate when getting into this business. You have to be prepared for it all or you will burn out quickly.
Second, you have to know what you enjoy photographing. Often times people approach photography as a jack of all trades and they photograph everything. The problem with this, is you cannot be a master of every type of photography. It takes a different skillset to be a newborn photographer than it does to be a wedding photographer. Finding your niche is important and once you find it you should double down and learn everything you can. Make yourself known for that style of photography. It may seem like you are losing business because you choose to shoot a particular niche. This is not the truth. You will become known for your style or niche and people will seek you out for this style.
Third, work to not become complacent. You have to be willing to learn and grow with the market. Social media, delivery timeframes, and clients desires change over time. You have to be willing to adapt your business to these trends. There was a day when we only shot on film cameras. Now clients demand digital copies of their albums and often times never print their photos.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Our ideal client are people who love life and see the beauty of family, friends, moments and memories. We are not the type of photographer that is just there to take you photos and move on. We become friends with many of our clients. We become part of their lives. We watch their kids grow up. We are there for some of the most personal moments of their lives. Our clients understand and value their legacy that they will be leaving on this world and with their loved ones. They appreciate the art of photography and know that our photography sessions are not just about the photos. They are about the memories and the conversations we evoke from them.
Second, our ideal client is someone who wants to love themselves and their family more. We love when we take a client who may not have the highest self esteem for themselves because by the end of their session with us, they are in love with themselves. We have so many clients that tell us they have never felt more beautiful or loved before. They say that our sessions, our questions and our conversations pull out emotions and feelings they never felt before. Our couples fall more in love with each other, our teens/seniors feel a new found sense of self esteem and our businesses understand more deeply why they are in the business they are in and how they can better serve their customers.
We know this all may sound weird but this is what sets us apart from our competition. We have take countless hours of training and honed our skills to be “people orientated”. We are amazing photographers but we are even better humans for those around us and our clients feel this with every session they have. It’s why most of our clients are repeat and those that are new, will become repeat very quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lepikphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lepikphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LepikPhotography/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lepikphotography
