Kim Stark with Flourish Consultancy

In the vibrant world of business and entrepreneurship, it's not only the achievements that matter but also the stories and personalities behind them. In our quest to celebrate the spirit of women founders, I recently had the privilege of working with a remarkable individual right here in sunny Southern California. As a leading commercial photographer near Los Angeles, we were thrilled to undertake a portrait and lifestyle photography session on the picturesque Balboa Island in Newport Beach.

Our subject for this shoot is a woman founder, and her journey is nothing short of inspiring. As a commercial photographer, we understand the importance of conveying her strength, determination, and vision through our photographs. It's not just about capturing an image but also the essence of her entrepreneurial spirit.

As a commercial photographer passionate about storytelling, I understand the importance of creating images that leave a lasting impression. Let me help you tell your story and elevate your brand's presence in the digital landscape. Success is not just about where you are but also about how you're seen, and I’m here to make sure you shine.

Inclusion in Children's Lifestyle Photography

Now more than ever we are learning the power of inclusion in commercial and editorial photography. Most brands have abandoned the idea of ideal client in favor of embracing the world in all shapes sizes and abilities. In the start of my work with Educational Insights, we worked hard on including models of all abilities even when it meant reaching out on Facebook to find the models we needed. Since then many agencies have developed a division of their models that includes all the variety of people that the world holds in it, and that makes things much easier in production.

When you are creating images for the consumer, it is amazing to work with brands that understand how broad that consumer base can be, and to represent all the children that might fall in love with a toy. Given the opportunity to help push inclusivity forward with brands has been the most rewarding aspect of casting these past five years.

Working with children, in any aspect can be unpredictable, none the less so with children with special needs. It brings life and joy to the set unmatched!

Meet Rowdy Huntington Beach Police

One amazing aspect of being a photographer is that the job can constantly surprise and delight you in what adventure you might find yourself on. In commercial lifestyle photography there are endless scenarios and locations as wide and broad as there are people in their world.

That is how I found myself on a warm sunny day in Huntington Beach, watching the surfers end their day while photographing Rowdy. Huntington Beach is the official Surf City and known for the crowds it can bring to the beaches of California. They also host the Vans US Surf open and other various events throughout the year. That iconic pier brings back memories for so many Southern California residents and their summers spent swimming in the chilly waters of the pacific.

As a horse lover, this was most likely my most favorite model ever, and the distraction was real. My favorite shot is the one sassy shot of him sticking his tongue out at me. Thank you to Huntington Beach Police Department for offering me the opportunity to do this shoot.

kids and toys make for fun shoot

I started my career in education. As a teacher of kids ages 5-12 I enjoyed the giggles, shoe-tying multiplication-learning fun of the ages I taught. I was also, as a side note, obsessed with taking monthly photos of the students, and found one or more classes of photography slipping into art class.

Working with Educational Insights on their new campaign, spark, was so up my alley. Asking your model to play with a toy isn’t exactly the hardest way to get genuine smiles and interesting images. With an amazing team, and terrific kids, we had a lot of fun shooting over three days of lifestyle photography for the new campaign.

Artist Spotlight, Komyoon

When I first joined instagram I gained the attention of a few creatives that asked me to put in bids for this thing called commercial work. Up until that point I had no idea the scope of what it would be like to work on a team of creatives to create images. The work I started to do as a result of those few inquiries became a dream job and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Years later, instagram has no shortage of creative photographers sharing their work, and it has stopped being the first place people can find me. Komyoon has created a website that is a more sophisticated version of that early instagram, where you can find artists based on tags and searchable works in their libraries.

To be completely honest, the work that they do on their end is much less familiar to me, but I am so impressed by this team of women, and their creative approach to problem solving that I am in full awe!

Last month I was excited to be featured in their Artist spotlight. sharing that link here~ Thanks Komyoon.

Artist Spotlight

Sports + Kids

It’s no secret that my favorite ages are between 3-17, and the absolute recipe for a fun time more in the 3-8 range. There is something so sweet and hilarious about the kids and the way I like to photograph that just gels. For this shoot we really wanted the models to reflect the population of children that would be attending this type of sports program, so we sourced models from the coaches and assistant coaches for our shoot.

Shooting a campaign for this sports organization brought me to such a place of silliness through playing games and spending the day with some active kids that are in the organization itself. We also loved working with kids that already play and love the sport we are shooting. We wanted the kids to feel comfortable together, and also comfortable playing around in the sport we would shoot. A few of these crews all came from the same team!