Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelica Manuel.
Angelica, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Although I only started my business in 2021, it’s been built up through the years.
I can mostly thank my sister for getting me into it. She took a photography class in high school, so I thought it’d be an interesting class to take as well. I took three years of it and even though I totally slacked, and the teacher hated me for it, it really gave me a strong foundation. Camera basics, composition, culling, editing, physically developing film, you name it!
Even before then, I somehow always found a camera in my hands and never realized until now. I was my brother’s wedding photographer at 12 (don’t recommend that), took tons of polaroids at my cousins’ fifteens, and even took into street photography on our family trips to Europe.
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn’t know doing what exactly and believe me, I tried it all! My mom would give me jewelry to sell in elementary school, I once picked up rocks from my neighborhood and sold them, and I actually started working at 16. From retail to food to an office job. I was in college for Graphic Design and landed what I thought was my dream job, but realized I was miserable and so burnt out. This is when covid hit, and I was relieved to be sent home.
I lived off my savings for a while, looking for any way to start my own business. Making cloth masks, painting jackets, doing online design jobs. Nothing was really making me happy nor giving me money, so I opted for a job at Bath & Body Works and also a pizza place. I was so lost with what I wanted to do.
This is where I thank my sister for getting pregnant. She asked me to take pictures at her baby shower, then her maternity photos, then recommended me to her pregnant friend, and it all snowballed from there. I started doing some research on how to scale this into a business, shadowed some friends, shot some other friends, got recommended a couple of times.
Now here we are today. I’m a full-time wedding and couples photographer and recently launched an Etsy shop full of resources for fellow photographers. I hope to launch many more products, start a podcast, maybe do YouTube (tried that too), book weddings all over the world, and travel as much as I possibly can!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was most definitely not. Figuring out what I wanted in life caused me so much stress. My mom asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up when I was around 12, and I immediately shed into tears. I didn’t even know why at the time, but it was just all the pressure our society places on us to pick the right career, and I felt it from such a young age. I also had a period of time when I was pretty much bankrupt, and I quit college about a year before graduating.
Although quitting college is frowned upon, I can’t even describe how relieved I felt when I did. I felt like running down the street and screaming it into thin air. Yet again, it was really difficult to break that to my parents and caused a lot of internal struggles, with me questioning whether I was disappointed or proud of myself. Whenever I tell someone, I say it like it’s an accomplishment, a hurdle I was finally able to get over, but it’s still a matter of mixed feelings I’m learning to cope with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Capturing love has a special place in my heart. I’m that nostalgic, hopeless romantic kind of gal. So when it comes to storytelling, my number one priority is to make you feel at home, so you can show off your love story, real and raw, as it is. I’m not here to perfectly pose you into the epic Instagram shot, I’m here to get to know you, so we can plan your dream date night and I’ll just be a fly on the wall. It totally lights my soul on fire!
When it comes to weddings, girl I will be. There. For. You!! Believe me when I say if all goes wrong, you’ll still have me hyping you up and trying my very best to make it THE night of your life. So saddle on up because you’re in for an adventure. Let’s wake up before the sun for the most stunning elopement in sand dunes, or run in the rain, through the streets of Paris, because my bag is packed and I hope yours is too!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.angelicamanuel.com/book-now
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelicamanuelphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelicamanuelphoto/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WarmLoveStudios
Image Credits
Photo of me: taken by Stephans Photography, edited by Angelica Manuel All other photos: Angelica Manuel
