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

Hi Danielle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Hello! Thanks for having me. My photography career began during COVID back in 2020. I had lost my main job just like everyone else and started thinking of ways to make money while still being safe. I was gifted my first camera in 2020 when I graduated from college. Growing up, I was always interested in an artistic career but could never pinpoint exactly what I wanted to do. My business officially began when I started offering “Porch Portrait Sessions” to all my neighbors (I would have the family come to the front door or front yard and shoot from a distance to remain safe.) Fast forward to today, I have developed a wonderful and forever growing client base I work with. I love to challenge myself to keep taking on new, bigger projects.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
During the week I work full-time for a medical device company (shout out to the world’s best team!) Monday – Friday and run my photography business on the side. I try to keep weekends and weeknights open for clients and photoshoots.

Back in 2021, I quit a previous corporate job to try and pursue photography full-time. This was before I had a larger client base and didn’t realize the effort it would take to be successful. During this time, I did consider giving up and almost convinced myself it wasn’t for me. However, I am so glad I never gave up!

In addition to my photography, I also love creating custom content for clients. Between creating content for my own business and the artistic side of my day job, I realized how much I loved it. Content creation and photography pair very well together for a lot of my clients. I am so excited to see where this new pathway takes me and use my content creation to keep expanding my photography business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Stop number one would have to be somewhere at the beach. Either Laguna or Balboa/Newport area are my personal favorites. If I had to plan a full fun weekend for a visiting friend, I would be sure to take them to all my favorite spots. Larsen in Laguna Beach is the best spot for dinner with a view. However, the best Italian spots are North Italia or Mamma D’s. Hive & Honey is arguably the best bar in Orange County for the views alone. A perfect day with a friend to me sounds like laying out in Laguna during the day, grabbing a delicious dinner at anywhere I mentioned above and finishing it off dancing at Time Nightclub.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to first thank my family for all their continued support. To my dad, thank you for gifting me the camera that started it all and always being there to help support my business. My mom is my number one fan and always loves to be the first person to take sneak peeks when I am editing my galleries before I send them off to clients. My extended family members have also been such a wonderful support system and some of my favorite first models!

I would also love to say thank you to my coworkers from South Coast Photographic (Andrew, James, Varun, Jenna & Diana.) They all taught me so much about photography and took chances on me in the early stages by helping me secure gigs and bringing me along to second shoot weddings with them.

Finally, to all my repeat & new clients, you are the reason I am at where I am now. I love you all!

Website: https://daniellekrippes.com/

Instagram: @daniellekrippesphotos

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