Rising Stars: Meet Stephanie Fenzl of Lees Summit

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Fenzl.

Hi Stephanie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in a family of photographers and received my first professional camera from my grandfather. I started taking nature photos and wanted to be a wildlife photographer. As I got older, I loved capturing people in their daily lives. Capturing candid moments instead of posing felt much better to me; of course, you can get some amazing posed photos, but the unplanned moments are where you capture the realistic everyday life. I opened up my photography into a business in August 2023 and started with a couple of cake smash shoots; from there, I have expanded into family shoots and maternity shoots. I am working with another photographer friend to do some second shooter work at weddings to learn that aspect of the industry and eventually shoot weddings solo. I have an amazing husband and a beautiful son who support me and let me practice on them.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting up a new business with no clients is always challenging for everyone. My biggest struggle has been with social media and how much to invest in my company this early on. The balance between establishing yourself and not overextending yourself is a very thin line. It has been a harsh learning curve as someone who has consumed online media but has never really been a content creator.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar with it, what can you tell them about what you do?
While I have been focusing on my photography more lately, I am also an artist. As an artist, I specialize in digital art focused on storybook illustration. Children’s books are our first exposure to art, and we find that they can greatly influence how our imagination works. I love invoking a feeling of nostalgia and wonder in people’s views of my art. I have some work hung up in the Arts on Broadway gallery at Post Coffee on Broadway for November 2023. My photography is focused on being a documentary of my client’s life. For example, during my latest family shoot, my client’s son did not want to be part of any posing. He was curious about all the plants in the greenhouse and just wanted to run around. So we adjusted and had fun letting him explore! We captured so many great moments of them chasing him around and just having a good time, letting him be himself. If we had focused on trying to capture those “Instagram moments,” we would have had a bunch of photos with an upset toddler and flustered parents. Instead, they get to look back at those photos over the years and remember their curious little boy running around a greenhouse, smiling and laughing.

I am proud of how far I have come in the last year with my art and photography. It has always been something that I loved to do as a hobby, and I am so excited to push it further than I had ever imagined it going. My genuine love for capturing the real people within the photos sets me apart from others. I want to help people enjoy the messy human moments that are often considered bad. I want to push people to share themselves as real people, not just show themselves as these perfect, aesthetically pleasing robots that they aren’t. Life is beautiful, even when it feels chaotic and imperfect.

Please talk to us about happiness and what makes you happy.
The things that make me happiest in life are my son and my husband. They are amazing people, and their ability to love life is inspiring. They drive me to better myself and be the best I can be. They are the inspiration behind my art and photography. I have enjoyed capturing them so much that it inspired me to do that for others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephaniefenzlphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniefenzlphotography
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/flora.and.fauna.creations/