Meet Ana Fleming | Wedding + Lifestyle Photographer

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

Hi Ana, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success with my brand is the Client experience that I have created for my business. My drive towards starting my photography business was after I had my first professional maternity session with an amazing local photographer, I felt so amazing and empowered during my photography session and it was all because the photographer helped me feel confident and beautiful during my full session. When I became a stay at home mom after delivering my baby I was feeling lost and depressed and thought to myself what is a great way for me to feel Happy and whole again? I remembered that since I was a teen I always loved Art and photography and thought to myself what better way for me to pick myself up then to Combine both Art and Photography and expand my knowledge to also make it into a business. My goal since I started this business has always been to make my clients feel empowered and beautiful during there photo sessions wether its their first time ever getting their photos taken and or if its there secondary time. The most compliments I always get from every client is how I always make them feel amazing during there sessions with me and how happy they are with the energy that I bring to their sessions which helps create amazing, genuine, candid photos.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a Wedding + Lifestyle Photographer Located in the High Desert in California. I have been in the business for almost 5 years now and have grown and learned sooo much along the way. I have always had a huge passion and love for Art and Photography since I was a teen and I honestly never thought that I would ever be here actually making a living off of what I love the most! I was in the Dental field for 10 years and covered a lot of roles within the dental industry. Once I became a mom of 2 it was time for me to stay at home and raise my kids be there for them as much as I possibly could, although I was a stay at home mom I also wanted to create my own income and still feel like I had a second title aside from “Stay at Home Mom” so I borrowed my Sisters Digital Camera and started taking photos of friends and family members for free for me to gain so much practice and take control of a camera. Within my first year of practice I was able to shadow different wedding photographers, and portraits photographers to help me gain understating of all the important settings, poses and client communication and timeline of events to help me with my brand. I also learned a lot from You Tube and also purchased a few online classes and online workshops to help with the business side of photography. My first year of photography was tough since I was just forming a name for myself in a industry that already had a lot of amazing talented photographers with in my area so I had to make sure to learn and invest a lot in my business and create a unique client experience to make me stand out from the crowd. By my second year I was able to start earning a steady income since I was getting a lot of referrals from past clients and also started having steady returning clients as well. Within my second year of photography I also started pursuing Wedding Jobs since I had a few Second Shooter positions and I gained a-lot of experience from other lead photographers. I started building a lot of close relationships with local surrounding photographers that have also helped me expand within my brand as well. Being a Photographer can feel a little lonely sometimes since you are pretty much your own co worker so building friendships with other local photographers has honestly been the most amazing experience for me because I love working with others and its been super nice to have other photographers to speak to about business or photography struggles.

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 I had a photographer friend visiting for a week Our Adventures would definitely go a little like this.

Monday- Joshua Tree National Park
Tuesday- San Diego Sunset Cliffs
Wednesday- Griffith Observatory
Thursday- Lake Arrowhead
Friday- Pisgah Crater
Saturday- Treasure Island Orange County
Sunday- Vasquez Rocks

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to take this time to Thank My kind Husband and Sister for helping me start and continue to grow in my business, they have seen me during my most successful times and also during my most stressful ones and have always motivated me to continue my journey as a Photographer.

Website: https://herlifebehindthelens12.mypixieset.com/

Instagram: herlifebehindthelens

Facebook: herlifebehindthelensphoto

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/herlifebehindthelens-photography-adelanto?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

Image Credits
Photography By: Aileen Aurora + Arlyne Renee