Meet Samantha Lopez: Still Photographer

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

Hi Samantha, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Takings risks is such an important part of any entrepreneurial career. For me risks have always been a question of, “can I live with this feeling of trying if I fail or not trying at all?”. Even if I fail though I understood early on in this pursuit that I could tolerate a life of failures over a life that was filled with fear of failing. Failure will happen sometimes along the way when you’re learning your craft, new industry, hobbie, parenthood etc. it all is trial and error. Failure at least means I tried and that whatever I attempted either wasn’t for me or that I needed to try harder depending on how badly I want it. Risks are important. There will be times you can calculate the risks and play it safe but other times you just have to be willing to go in blind and trust your instincts each step you take. My thoughts before taking risks have looked like ” how am I going to support my kids?”, “what if I invest this little bit of money I have and end up with nothing?”, “what if I can’t find a babysitter?”. I’ve taken on jobs that I had no clue what I was doing that still haunt me for the mess up’s but how could I have ever gotten experience without experience? I believe once you’re willing to bring yourself to understand every person around you has failed at one point or another you feel a bit more at ease. Risks are beautiful. They let you know how much you want something when fear sets in. Risks set you apart from those that aren’t willing to take that next step. The universe rewards those that work for what they want while asking and working for something you’ve never had will require doing things you’ve never done.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Im still in a space where im barely learning to acknowledge I am even slightly successful. I will say though when I am able to separate my idea of success from financial stand point and solely from self growth I do see how far I have come and how successful I have been in my risks. Things have not been easy. Im just learning how to create my own schedule so I no longer allow work and personal life to collide. I used to allow work and clients to have all of my hours and wherever personal time came in then great because I was so passionate about art and photography I felt it didn’t matter much. Now that time has passed and relationships aren’t as great as they should be or have been between me and my children I realized I needed to say no my hours are my hours and not feel guilty about tending to my personal life and mental well being. Pursuing a career thats creative has been one of the best risks I’ve ever allowed myself to take. I would like for the world to know how much of a value I put on passion. Passion is special and while we have bills that need to be paid as creatives sometimes we need to take steps back and realign even if that means missing opportunities or pay checks. I want to eventually work my way into documenting events and personal projects around the world while writing about my experiences and other peoples lives in a highlighted way. We have so much of the bad I would like to start sharing the good even in spaces we wouldn’t exactly think any good can come from. The best moments in life are when we aren’t looking and that is how I have found my way into doing behind the scenes photography on film sets. Im an observer and I enjoy capturing what’s happening unintentionally as much as I do capturing the intentional moments. Life is beautiful and every moment deserves to be remembered.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
They say it takes a village to raise children and I say it takes two villages to raise children while being a entrepreneur. This journey has not been easy and if I were to credit anyone for helping me through this life it’d be my mother first followed by my dad and mom. It’s really comes with a lot of sacrifice from not only yourself but your loved ones when they truly believe in you and want you to succeed. I am so grateful my story does not involve me having to say my number one people tried to discourage. me to do something that didn’t align with who I am as a person. My mother spent most of my life being a single parent and is now helping me raise my children while I try to build myself as a brand. Out of love and support she has chosen to make sacrifices to watch and assist me into living a more fulfilled life not just a financially stable one. My dad and mom have always been there rooting for me, offering their help in any way possible an emotional support when I needed the boost. They are my first village! My second village are my friendships I have built through time and continue to find and build. They’ve support me from my writings, art to photography. My friends are the ones you think about when you read that quote, “You need friends who would mention your name in a room full of opportunities.” because thats exactly what they have done for me. Even people I have only recently met I find are such wonderful people to bring me more opportunities. I have been blessed! Even before I knew I wanted to do something based off passion I had friends that’d come to my apartment and watch my kids for free while I went to work. When I break down some days and don’t think I can do this anymore due to financial or emotional reasons they listen, they communicate and then they remind me. They are my second village.

Website: www.love-lo.com

Instagram: samanthalouiselopez

Image Credits:
Shanelle Downs
Samantha Lopez