Meet Candance Campbell | Adventure Wedding & Elopement Photographer

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

Hi Candance, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was to create something of my own that allowed me to have a healthy income and spend more time with my little family. I was raised by my father and I grew up watching him work 2/3 jobs at a time and we never spent time together. He was always struggling and was at the mercy of someone else just to make ends meet. When I had my son nine years ago at age 23, I knew then I wanted to create a different and more comfortable life for us. I wanted to be home with him more, I wanted the power to choose when I worked and when I did not, I wanted to show him that he could be anything he wanted to be, and above all, I wanted to spend time with him; time I never had with my dad. Time is precious and you don’t get to rewind it.

I think that is also where my thought process behind starting my own business can also incorporate how passionate I am about my art and how much I wanted (and still want), to share it with those around me. My art freezes these moments in time. Therefore, I get to have the unique and incredible opportunity to not only take back my time and choose what I get to do with it, but I also get to provide so many families and couples with moments they get to look back on for lifetime. Most often, moments they can’t just recreate. It’s a huge honor for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am adventurous spirit at heart and therefore, adventure is at the heart of everything I do within my business.

I believe what sets me apart from others is my very different view of the world and my passion for being outdoors. I am not a traditional person by any means and this reflects into my work. Hiking to the top of mountains at sunrise or climbing arches at sunset. Going swimming with my couples who are in full engagement attire or even just jeeping backroads and finding remote epic lake off of trails for photos no one else will have. That sparks the creativity inside of me. I also never really “pose” my couples. I strive to capture that natural and real emotion that happens between my couples and families.

What I am most proud of is how I have started to build something successful by not doing the traditional. I have changed my mindset from thinking I had to stick to limitations to realizing that the sky is is the limit. I can do anything I set my mind to if I work hard enough and go after it.

I got to where I am today professionally through consistency, determination, dedication, and a lot of support from my closest friends and family. The way I work through any challenge that comes my way is to take a step back and reflect. I never act right away, I always just take a moment and think on the situation to achieve the best possible result and I also seek out advice from those who have been in my position. I don’t think we will ever know everything and we always have room to keep growing, evolving, and succeeding as long as we keep an open mind.

Lessons I have learned along way would include self care, taking time off work, and setting boundaries and sticking to those boundaries. You need to be the best you to give the best to your clients and while we may work in a connected industry social media wise, we do not have to share every detail of our lives on social media nor do we have to be on social media 24/7. These breaks are incredible to keep your creativity alive and protecting your peace.

I want the world to know that my brand and my story are a reflection of who I am and where I am came from. The world is an incredible and beautiful place and when I am in nature, I truly feel free. Coming from a small town, watching my parent struggle just to make ends meet, I was determined to create something that was my own and refused to go down the same path I watched my father go down. My brand and my business are me breaking the mold and breaking the generational cycle.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend were visiting the area for the weekend and I wanted to show them the best time ever, i would start with taking them outside. We live in a BEAUTIFUL part of the world. We would spend a week doing the following:

Day 1: Travel to Oregon and stay along the Oregon Coast in a small Airbnb in Cannon Beach. We have dinner at a brewery I absolutely love called The Pelican and at sunset, we would take a walk along the beach to see the incredible rocks plunging out of the Pacific Ocean.

Day 2: We would head up the 101 towards Long Beach, WA. This is one of my favorite small coastal towns within Washington State. While here we would drive along the 24 mile beach, grab ice cream at my favorite local shop called Scoops, then head over to the local arcade for a bit before grabbing dinner at the Long Beach Tavern.

Day 3: We would head 2.5 hours north into the Olympic National Park. We would take some time to view the Tree of Life, Ruby Beach and as we keep driving north, visit Rialto Beach. These beaches are truly unique and stunning and at low tide, you can even see tide pools with a variety of sea-life thriving. After a day spent inside the park, we would drive over to Bainbridge WA and take a the ferry to Seattle where we could eat at Pikes Place Market and grab a hotel in town overnight.

Day 4: North Cascades National Park. This park is about 2.5 hours from Seattle. My favorite places I would show my best friend would be Artist Point, Picture Lake, and Diablo Lake.

Day 5: Head back south towards Mt Rainier National Park and hike trails such as Myrtle Falls, Comet Falls, and Sourdough Ridge. We would then get some food in the town of Elbe at my favorite pizza place, Pizza Express. Its inside old train cars sitting on old train tracks so super unique!

It would be an adventure to be had outside in Nature!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, I really want to dedicate my shoutout to my father who passed away a year ago now. I was 15 years old when he gifted me my first Nikon Coolpix 7900 camera. He had no idea at that time (and neither did I), that he was lighting a creative fire inside me and that one day – this would turn into my full time job that allowed me to provide for my family and create memories for so many others. He was where it all started.

Second, I want to thank my partner, Corey, and my best friend, Rhiannon Mim Peterson, for showing me my real potential. Without these two individuals – I genuinely would not have gotten to where I am today. They have supported me and pushed me even in the hardest moments of my journey as a business owner thus far and I am so thankful for them both.

Lastly, I want to say thank you and give credit to Jace Stenersen for the recommending me and supporting my art and all of my clients and families who have trusted me to capture their most intimate moments. Without the incredible community I am now surrounded by, I would not be in business.

Website: https://candancemariephotography.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmphotography08/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candance-campbell-37832ab8/

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