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

Hi Christina, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always had an interest in photography but I never thought of it as a career. I followed a lot of photographers on Instagram and I admired their work. When covid quarantine happened one of the photographers I followed started offering a mentorship. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to develop my skill of a long time hobby. It just blossomed from there, I was able to practice portraits on my kids and I had fun with it. Then when the quarantine restrictions lifted I started posting my services. It gave me such a boost of energy when I did session I decided yeah I’m going to turn this into something more than a hobby.

What should our readers know about your business?
The first 2 years of my business I was having a lot of health issues. When my health was particularly low it would show in my inquires. The more active I am in my business is when I see more inquires and bookings. I’ve had to push through the hard times, the slow times, and the perseverance has truly been worth the reward. I’m steadily building my cliental and growing my business. For me because my business was built during a low time of my mental health and has had to go through the pains of my mental health I want my brand to stand out as strong supporter of the mental health advocacy. I post a lot of mental health tips and I post my own journey of my mental health trails. Because it’s something that is truly important to me and I love the way I can lift someone’s outlook on themselves with a photograph or capture the rawness of emotions. I want to show that just because you struggle with mental health doesn’t mean you can’t be successful in your goals.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Paso Robles is such a fun town to be a part of. We are so close to beach so that would be a frequent visit to add to our itinerary. We have such great places to eat here like Cowgirl Cafe, Fatties pizza, Taqueria Jalisco and the Dragon Palace Buffet. We would have to hit up one of the live shows in SLO like at SLO Brew Rock or Vina Robles. Even taking the kids downtown for a visit to the park and library. We would get some coffee first from Spearhead or Skippers Brew Slo. One of my favorite beaches is Cayucos , I always stop at Luna Coffee bar while I’m there so we would have to do that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Asia Croson Photography was not only my photography mentor but a business mentor. Her mentor lessons during quarantine is what helped give me purpose during a very lonely time in my life. I can never say thank you enough for her help.

Website: christinamariephotography805.com

Instagram: christinamarie_photos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisTinaMariePhotography805/

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.