Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Davis.
Hi Maria, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a portrait and wedding photographer based in San Diego. I’ve been doing photography for more than 11 years. I’ve always been passionate about art, travel, and architecture. I spent seven years in an art school just to realize that I want to do photography. I started doing photography by taking pictures of old buildings for a newspaper. My goal was to inspire people to be a tourist in their own city! People seemed to like my photos and I had a few exhibitions and even sold a few images to local restaurants. People started asking me to take pictures of them. One day someone bought me a burger to say thank you for the photoshoot. Funny thing, it inspired me to charge a little for my next session. That’s how everything started 11 years ago from someone buying me a burger ahah!
I was very young when I started and my dream was to travel the world with my favorite person and share all the amazing moments and places that life would bring us.
I try to incorporate this idea of love and travel in every image. I’m always in search of unique angles and locations! I describe my editing style as clean, bright, and true to color. I want images to be timeless and preserve the moment exactly as it was on the day of!
I’m so happy that my passion for travel and photography combined and now I get to capture the happiest moments of other people’s lives in beautiful places! I’m so grateful for this chance and I want to share it with everyone.
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?
Out of 11 years, I spent the first three years in Ukraine doing photography and later, I moved to the US. Moving and starting my business over in a comply different country with a language barrier was extremely hard and seemed impossible. First few years in the states, I had to go to work at a restaurant, go to school and take pictures for clients in between. After two years of being in the US, I was able to feel confident enough to quit my job and start doing photography full time. My business grew so much since then. Being attentive and kind to my clients is a priority to me and feel like it was always paying me back. I was so inspired to meet people from all over the world, see different traditions and work in such a beautiful place as California!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I just got married a few months ago and I’m in a process of changing my name to Maria Davis Photography everywhere. That’s why my IG handle doesn’t match my website address yet because I need to finish redoing my website.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice for those who are starting out is to be stubborn and a little crazy. Crazy enough to believe that you can do it even when everything is falling apart! Don’t do it for money, do it because you love it. Success won’t happen overnight. There will be sleepless nights and difficult situations but I promise all the hard work pays off and in the end, you get to live your dream doing what you love, sharing happy moments with your clients in beautiful places! Seeing my clients being happy about their photos is my best reward!
Contact Info:
- Email: maria.boguslav@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.mariaboguslavskaya.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariadavisphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariadavisphoto
Image Credits
Maria Davis Photography
