Today we’d like to introduce you to Aubre Springer.
Aubre, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
About 12 years ago now, I took my oldest daughter to have her 6 month photos done at a local big box store’s portrait studio and saw they were hiring and thought it might be a good way to get some extra cash since we were just barely making it by at the time. I had never thought about photography at this point, but the manager assured me it was as simple as pointing the camera at the client, pressing a button, and then taking them out front and selling them as much as I could. I started working there pretty quick, but could never understand why or how people would end up paying $200+ and walk out with maybe 1 or 2 prints, so I began learning the in’s and out’s of a camera and how it works and when it was time for me to leave that big box store, I branched out on my own and started finding my own path, and style, and really found a passion in capturing peoples lives and stories through a lens!
Lots of people call me Bella, and I totally answer to that, despite my name being Aubre. Bella Sorriso means beautiful smile in Italian and that’s ultimately my goal… to capture all your favorite faces with real, genuine smiles through interaction and fun!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. Learning something that was never actually on my radar as a career path comes with it’s own challenges, especially when it started while I had a baby at home, then found out I was pregnant with my second child while my oldest daughter was barely 9 months old was something else! I’ve had people try to tear me down for various reasons throughout this journey and sometimes it really got to me. There were times I wanted to hang up my camera strap and call it quits due to some of the incredibly mean, hateful things that have been said to me or about me, but the clients who love me and love my work and have supported me for years have made every hurtful comment thrown at me feel drowned out by all the love and support I receive! Having very small children while learning a new skill is never easy, but having them grow up along side my photography has given me plenty of practice and taught me a thing or 2 about how I wanted to structure my business and honestly gave me more insight than I thought possible on how I capture the memories I do!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Kansas City photographer with a studio based in the West Bottoms but I travel all over for outdoor sessions, weddings, etc!
I specialize in weddings but I do family photos, cake smashes, newborns, senior sessions, pretty much everything! I love capturing families at every stage of life and every amazing milestone!
Honestly, the thing I’m the most proud of though is truly capturing families at every stage! I know it’s so cliche, but I myself barely have any photos growing up, so I really know the importance of having those photos and being able to look back and reminisce about “the good ol’ days!” so despite how cliche it is, that’s exactly WHY I do this… I have families who come back year after year and have seen me for everything from engagement photos to their wedding, to maternity, newborn, cake smash, and family updates since I started and being able to capture their favorite faces and memories time and time again has been such a blessing! The connections I’ve made with those families and the ability to watch their families grow has meant more to me than I could have imagined!
Striving to capture smiles is no easy task sometimes… and no person is the same, no family is the same, so adapting to and getting to know a family is important to me! No one stands there and just smiles, so whereas I absolutely will pose families (“look at me and smile”) for that quick, classic picture to give out to family or include in an annual holiday card, I LOVE playing games and running and having fun with clients of all ages so games and prompts have become a fun go-to for me! It brings out REAL smiles and laughs!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I feel like luck and hard work go hand in hand for me. I was so fortunate that I was in the right place at the right time to even get the job at the big box store that lead me down this path (fun fact, I had actually done Culinary Schooling before that, but decided I loved cooking to much to make it my career, which left me aimless with no idea where to go from there career-wise), so it was incredibly lucky that I had found a coupon to take my daughter for her 6 month photos that literally started everything. From there, the luck kept rolling in by giving me some of the best clients who have grown with me and my work as I’ve watched their families grow as well. Even the spouts of bad luck (angry clients who I just *couldn’t* make happy for reasons beyond my control or “dry spells” where I just wasn’t getting hired) taught me something, be it patience, understanding, or even just a refreshed perspective on life and a newer understanding of struggles we, as humans, face sometimes. Hard work definitely helped me soar to where I am now, but I truly do feel so incredibly lucky to be able to do something I love, to be able to give my clients memories to cherish forever, and to really feel like I’m doing something important!
Pricing:
- Full Family Sessions $249
- Weddings start at $799
- Cake Smashes start at $350
- Newborns start at $350
- Senior Sessions $250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bellasorrisphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bella.sorriso.photography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellasorrisophotography
Image Credits
All images taken by Aubre Springer with Bella Sorriso Photography
