Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Murrell.
Christina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It’s funny how you can start with one idea and purpose and end up falling right into something you never knew you had a passion for. That’s how I started my career as a photographer. I have always loved making videos and desired to buy a starter camera for a long time. But because I lived in Mexico and had a very limited budget I had to wait almost 4 years to get one my first camera. I got that camera when I moved back to the States after having lived in Mexico for almost 10 years.
My desire was to shoot and edit small films. But as I started to look into what else I needed to able to do that I realized that I needed so much equipment to be able to do it well. So I did get a little overwhelmed and thought “how in the world am I going to make money to able to buy this equipment”?
So one day a friend of mine knew I had a basic camera and she asked me to take some senior pictures of her daughter. I had never done it before but I decided to go for it. I posted the pictures and lots of friends commented on how they really liked them. After that I went with a friend who hired a photographer to take pictures of her daughter who was going to celebrate her quinceaños. When I compared the professional photographer’s pictures to mine, I thought wow, I didn’t do bad at all. So I started studying and playing around with camera. Changing F-Stop and aperture, shutter speeds. I was determined to get out of manual mode. I got my first 50mm 1.4. And that was a huge stepping stone for me.
One day I went to lunch with a friend of mine and she encouraged me to start a page, advertise on Facebook and try to make some money with it because as she looked through some pictures I had done she thought they were pretty good.
So I said, ok, I don’t have the best camera or any fancy equipment but I am going to try. I got my first job as a wedding photographer never having shot a wedding in my life but showing the quinceaños pictures as my portfolio. After that opportunity the company hired me to shoot weddings and I started finding clients of my own. Little by little I was able to continue studying and perfecting my craft, and I would save money to get better equipment.
I still do videos and love them, but I have found a real passion in photography. Now it is not just an opportunity to make money to buy equipment for videos, but an art and a way to express myself and capture the essence of others. I’m finding my notch in portrait and wedding photography. I do other types of sessions but my passion is portrait photography. What a beautiful art!!
Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road on this career path. It’s very difficult to get started in a career where you know that the market is over saturated. Along with economic difficulties to obtain what you need to do your job well, fighting to find a name for yourself if hard. You are tempted to almost give away your work when you are starting to be able to just have work. But the more you work and learn you realize that what you are doing is worth so much more that what you are receiving. Just because others are giving away their work for 50 bucks doesn’t mean you have to. So maintaining a good spirit, with excellence and being confident in your prices and work is difficult but worth it.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Christina Murrell Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
So I started Christina Murrell Photography taking pictures of families, couples, weddings and portraits. I also do videos for special event and weddings. I current specialize in portraits and wedding photography. I am known for great photography and a price that is affordable. I am proud of my attention to clients and the art that comes not only from shooting but editing and retouching. I love being able to serve families that not only speak English but Spanish as well as I am bilingual.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe this industry is definitely on a boom as more and more people are becoming interested in photography. The new possibilities of photography on smart phones and low budget cameras. But I believe that once you make a name for yourself the doors will continue to stay open and business will grow as you continue to perfect your craft. I do desire to expand my company to different cities, states and eventually be able to do destination weddings where that may take my team and I.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christinamurrellphotography.com
- Phone: (469) 728-5606
- Email: Christinamurrellphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinamurrellphoto/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaMurrellPhotography/
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