For those of you who do not know already, I have relocated...again. Carsten Photography is now located in beautiful Greenville, SC. This is my 3rd relocation and 4th start since I started Carsten Photography in 2006.
When I began my business, I was located in the Dayton, Ohio region. This is my home base - where I, my husband, and our children are from. Our children are actually the reason I started my business. I won't bore you to tears with the full background, as I believe there is a post about my start somewhere in the archives. Once I started becoming established and gaining clientele (you'll notice a pattern with this!), my family relocated in 2008 to the Tri-Cities in Washington State.
I truly loved being in Washington! Not only was it great for my family, it is also where I truly started growing as an artist - expanding my services to include high school seniors and real estate photography. My business was really growing, particularly in real estate work, when my husband was offered a job in Michigan. We were in the Tri for 3 years - 2008 to 2011.
What can I say about Michigan? I thought I would hate it - I loved it! I thought I would not re-start my business again - I flourished the most here! I thought I would only focus on family photography if I did restart - Senior and Real Estate photography are what I predominantly did and what I preferred. I landed real estate clients like Pulte Homes and even did photos for their national campaign they do with Zillow. I was published in creative magazine, Limme. And I was the photographer for the Miss Farmington Pageant (pageant photography wasn't even on my radar!). I had even gotten to the point where clients sought me out, rather than me chasing leads. Business was great and I loved every minute of it!!! I should have known change was on the horizon when most of my days were filled with shoots and my business was doing well. My husband was offered an opportunity in South Carolina that we could not turn away from. And so....
Here I am Greenville! I have not officially started back up yet, as I am still trying to get my family settled into our new home and routine. I have even considered not re-starting. But what would I do? This is what I love. This is what I'm meant to do. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. It seems that every time I become established, we relocate. This, in itself, has been very frustrating. But when I look back at my journey, as a photographer, and see what all I have gained (friends and experiences) that I would not normally have, it's hard not to want to continue.
So if you're in the Greenville area and are in need of a photographer - I am here and happy to work with you!
