Introducing Luciana
Luciana is a woman, a mum, a wife and a photographer in Amsterdam.?She specializes in portraits of children, mums-to-be and families.
Luciana enjoys walking in nature (even without a camera!) and reading a good book. She is incredibly shy and finds her?best hiding place behind her camera.
Tell us about your passion for photography. How did it all start?
It started many years ago. My dad took pictures with his Nikon camera. It was an exciting experience that bonded me closer to him. We had many ideas for our projects – snapping pictures, recording the camera settings in a diary for each shot, and then wait for the prints so that we could judge them against our?records and understand camera settings.
Then there was university and later, starting a life with kids. But photography was always my dream, but too expensive! One day my hubby surprised me with a digital SLR camera. Thereafter I started classes, online workshops and here I am now…
What is one piece of advice you like to give to other mums who want to transform their passion into a profession?
It takes patience and hard work. In the beginning with two young kids I could only read and study at night while practicing a lot? And I was so tired!!! But all worth it – I love every aspect of my job.
Which part of your work do you enjoy most?
Everything! (laughs) I love the relationship with the clients and capturing their emotions.
I had people crying with joy, just because they were able to see their beautiful family through my eyes. It was beautiful and I was glad my camera made the moment last forever.
What are the biggest challenges you encounter?
Being up to date with new technologies and platforms. Promoting my business is also hard for me as I am a very shy person. Keeping up my social presence on multiple social sites is tasking. I feel I am more an artist than a business woman, so the challenge is to see the business side of everything.
How do you see your work evolve in the next couple of years?
I hope I will find my nice natural light studio soon. I have a few options but will see what comes up. And from there I see myself growing in all new kinds of challenges, I would love to do some fine art portraits, for example.
How is it living, working and raising your daughters in the vibrant city of Amsterdam? ?
I couldn?t ask for a better environment to have kids and run a business.
Everything is family orientated and so easy! With a 30 minute ride I can reach almost every corner of the city! Plus all these beautiful parks with cultural events, many small businesses to network with, an international community and last but not least the most charming backdrop of canals and houses colouring every corner – what more could I ask for?
How do you juggle family and work? And how do you make some time for yourself?
I do make time for myself, but I must say that I love what I do so much that I don?t really have to! Sometimes I visit the Foam museum for a photography exhibition or watch an online tutorial about low key photography. This is a lot of fun for me (laughs).
In the past I worked a lot at night and this made me tired. But these days, after putting my kids to bed, it is ?me time?: reading, movies, chatting, playing chess with my husband or anything else that I like. The 15 emails in my inbox can wait till morning.
A message to your daughters from mum…
…Girls, thank you so much for being my inspiration and for keeping me going. I love when you accompany me on a photo shoot. I think it?s cool that you show my photos to your friends. Sorry if I miss out on some weekends with you but I will always make it up. Love you!
Would you like to know more about Luciana’s work??Visit?www.lucianablair.com
https://www.facebook.com/LucianaBlairPhotography/