Today we’d like to introduce you to Janelle Stephanie Koch.
Hi Janelle Stephanie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started taking photos when I was young, around junior high, I think. I was totally nuts about it. I would photograph every adventure my friends and I had. I would practice taking glamour shots with friends. I photographed the sunrise. I truly believed that each moment was so precious. I would eagerly wait for my film to be developed at Rite Aid. I totally would check in with them multiple times each week to see if they were ready yet!! Unbeknownst to me, Jose Villa worked in the photo developing department at Rite Aid and he was the one I often asked repeatedly, “Are my photos ready yet?!”
But, I didn’t officially begin to pursue my passion for photography as a career until 2008. That year I literally had a dream about working with a photographer that I followed at the time. I dismissed it as non-important but oddly enough within a few months, I ended up interning with that very same local wedding photographer in Santa Barbara. It was incredible! We had a blast and he even paid me to second shoot for him, which was miraculous because I had not had any formal training.
And well, the rest is history. I focused on photographing weddings for the first 10 years of my career and then transitioned to focusing on portraits and elopements in Santa Barbara after becoming a homeschool mom of two very spirited girls.
I am totally in love with photographing beautiful light and graceful movement and people, especially who they are on the inside.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not exactly. I wish it would have been a smooth road, but it seems in life, that sometimes, I take the “long cut.” I’ve moved multiple times which has made growing a business, especially a client base, very difficult. Oddly enough, I’m still here pursing my love of photography even despite having to essentially begin again or refine again every time we’ve moved. In a weird way, all of these moves have allowed me to get really clear on what type of photography I wish to pursue in each season. Which for me has changed over the years. I started out with a love of wedding photography, did some photography oversees for non-profits, photographed women coming out of modern day slavery to encourage them in their self worth, done a million family portraits, I even started doing outdoor creative dance portraits as a way for dancers to remember their love of dance by, and now I find myself circling back to photographing people in love, this time on a smaller scale with Elopements.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a natural light photographer that specializes in outdoor dance portraits, Santa Barbara Courthouse Elopements, and family portraits. I always want the people I photograph to feel like themselves, so my approach is a laid back presence. I genuinely want to see who people are and reflect that back to them in their photos. My soft-focus style embraces artistic blurs and captures those sweet in-between moments as though they are fine art. Every moment, every season of this precious life is valuable to me — knowing that today will never be recreated again I’m forever grateful that life can be thoughtfully preserved though beautiful photos.
I’m most proud of taking photos that have allowed people, mainly women, to see who they truly are. Some of the photos I’ve taken for them have changed the trajectory of their lives because it changed how they viewed themselves. It’s wild how even just one photo can change your whole life. One single mother, who perpetually saw her family as broken, looked at her family photos and for the first time in her life thought (with tears in her eyes) “we are not broken.” Or one girl, who had been in modern day slavery for at least a decade looked at her images and thought for the first time in forever, “I am beautiful” in a very pure and intimate and restorative way. She wasn’t being beautiful so someone could use her, she was beautiful because that’s who she was. It was just for her to enjoy. Or another girl who’s body had been misused against her will, she looked at her photos and thought with every fiber of her being, “I am pure.” That is the work I am most proud of.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Never give up. Keep creating, keep trying, take pauses and time outs but never give up. You will eventually see the progress your hoping for if you just keep going, little by little.
Pricing:
- Dance Portraits begin at $1,600
- Santa Barbara Elopements begin at $600
- Family Portraits begin at $200
- Customer Portraits begin at $600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.instagram.com/janellestephaniephotography/
- Instagram: https://janellestephaniephotography.com/
