Sheri Angeles X ELSAMARIT

You've made a career of photography! How did you get started?

I have been shooting professionally since I was 16 years old, and I am 31 years old today. I have always loved photography since I could hold something in my hand. I would always get a new camera every year for my birthday and it started when I was 2 and 3 years old with plastic toy cameras. My grandma was the photographer of the family, and she was the one who really began teaching me my craft. By the time I turned 16, I began photographing seniors in high school, and from there my photography took off, where a few short years later in 2007 I photographed my first wedding.

You take so many amazing photos for Fashion, Weddings, even Boudoir. What's your favorite thing to shoot and why?

Oh my gosh what a hard question to answer because I LOVE all of it. However, I started with fashion and I think if I am being honest with myself, that is/has always been my first love. What is so great though with what I do in every genre of my photography, I bring the fashion aspect into my weddings and my boudoir work and that is a huge reason why people book me.

You just hit 10k on IG CONGRATS!! Any advice for the rest of us who are trying to build a brand on IG?

Thank you SO much, I am so excited it has finally happened. They say getting to 10k is the hardest to reach and I would have to agree haha, but it is really rewarding when it does happen to see all your hard work get to this point. It is a great milestone to reach on IG. My advice would be to constantly work hard at your craft, evolve, post consistently (like every day, every other day) to keep your followers engaged, I have had the honor to shoot with big influencers/celebrities who have done shout outs or tagged me in their photos because we shot together, so that helped me tremendously, but if you think about your close network of people and who has the largest followings, reach out to them. I think over all be present, show your face, your followers want to feel like they know you, so whether you are posting yourself on your story so they feel a close connection to you or posting a photo of you on IG, share about you.

You travel between Nashville and LA often what do you like about both cities? and how does it impact the work you do in each?

Yes, I do travel between both pretty frequently, LA I just can't let go of just yet, so I split my time usually 50/50. My husband and I lived there for 8 years full time before transitioning over to Nashville. What I love so much about LA is of course the weather, but it honestly is the land of opportunity. LA is where you make your dreams happen, the opportunities are endless and I just love how creative/determined/and driven people are to make their dreams their reality. Living there and being surrounded by so many people with similar mindsets was/is electrifying and so inspiring. I also love it so much because even though the cost of living is ridiculous, you find that rare breed who are ok paying whatever they have too, to live in a place where things can happen. I love that the rare breed choose to give up a certain lifestyle to run hard after their goals, not everyone is wired the way LA people are and I LOVE it!

As for Nashville, what an amazing city this is. I tell everyone it is a mini LA, which it is. It has everything LA has, but on a smaller scale, which is so nice! Nashville, is one big family, no one is a stranger in this city and everyone wants you to succeed. Not just that, they want to HELP you succeed and they will do what they can to connect you to whoever they know to make sure you are connected, involved, meeting the right people in your industry, even if they met you once. We love it because after being in LA for so long, it has been nice to take a step back into a little slower pace of life, where cost of living is cheaper and we are really able to save well.

How do you find balance in your busy life?

This use to be SO hard for me because I love what I do so much, that I could work from 8am-4am everyday and be fine. But over the years, that has started to take a toll on me especially because I travel for 90% of my work, so of course long hours between shoots/weddings/editing/travel etc. I had to start to be adamant on taking "me" days to relax where I am not working, so now I will go get massages, read, go in our hot tub etc. just so I can give my all to my clients and be the best version of myself for them, they deserve that and I deserve that.

Here at ELSAMARIT it is all about that self care lifestyle, what does self and soul care mean to you?

I think this goes back to my last answer about balance for me, but it is so important to take those "me" days to recharge. Our bodies are like gas tanks, if your tank is low or running out of fuel, how do you expect to go far or get to your next destination? You can't/won't because you are physically and emotionally drained from your busy life and daily tasks. So self and soul care to me would be enjoying time to your self, doing what you love to rest whether that is getting a massage, taking a hot bath and lighting a candle, reading the Bible or a book, maybe going for a hike, or maybe just laying in bed all day, what ever that looks like, just do it. I do all of those and it is SO good for my soul and well being.

LOVE this! Thank you Sheri for sharing your incredible talent with us and the world! Follow Sheri on IG @sheriangeles and on her website www.sheriangeles.com