Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Prehl.
Krista, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Photography has always been a part of my life. When I was 3 years old, I have gifted my first camera for Christmas. I truly believe that gift opened the doors for the rest of my life. It was a Polaroid i-zone camera which produced mini Polaroid image strips that doubled as stickers. I was obsessed with taking portraits of the people and things around me. To this day, when re-arranging rooms or getting rid of old furniture these little images turn up. As the years went on, photography continued to remain a constant in my life. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was gifted my first DSLR camera. It was around that time that I was really struggling to cope with and accept the fact that I had depression and anxiety. I feel mental illness/disease has a stigma and people feel as if they can’t talk about them or that they are not real, which is why I feel it’s important to be open about them. My depression made my high school years very challenging, but despite all I was going through I was still a good student and always made honor roll. At that time, photography was the one thing I had in life that truly made me happy. With my camera in hand, it felt like a temporary escape from the darkness I was drowning in. Around my Junior and senior year when everyone around me was applying for colleges and beginning to plan out their futures I knew for certain that the traditional college education was not for me. The idea of sitting through classes for another 4 more years was less than appealing to me. Growing up, there were a few saying my father had always said, one being: “Life is too short to be anything but happy” and the other: “if you do what you love, then you will never work a day in your life”. Around that time, those cliches really began to resonate with me and I began to realize that I wanted to make a career out of my passion for photography. I graduated high school and took some time off to focus on myself and also work to save up some money. In February of 2017, I started at the New England School of Photography(NESOP). I can eaily say this was the best decision I have ever made for myself in my life. June of 2018, I graduated from the NESOP. Today, I am a freelance photographer building up my brand (Krista Prehl Photography) and networking with clients, models, hair and makeup, and creatives alike. I’m excited to see where this career takes me and I could not be more happy.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Everyone has their own struggles and it can be easy for those struggles to become an excuse and or hold you back. As I said earlier I have depression and anxiety that I have been coping with since I was about 13. It has been an extremely dark and challenging road and it was years before I could accept the fact that I have a mental illness and its a real thing that requires my attention and can not be ignored. I know I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it weren’t for the challenges I’ve faced. About 3 months before beginning at The New England School of Photography, I was also diagnosed with ADHD which in general is rarer for women. For me, this was a blessing in many ways, but also a curse. It was a curse because it was yet another learning curve of self-acceptance and learning to manage and cope, but in more ways, it was a blessing because for about 6 or so years I was unable to fully manage and treat my depression and anxiety due to my undiagnosed ADHD. ADHD was like the missing puzzle piece that would allow me to level everything out. It was also a blessing because due to the timing of it all I had no time to dwell before I knew it I was in full swing at nesop which required all my time and energy. My biggest weaknesses and struggles quickly began to fuel my fire and are my biggest motivation. I refused to allow my struggles to hold me back in any way and I quietly, yet relentlessly, fought back 10 times harder.
My biggest piece of advice to anyone, especially young women like myself, who are beginning their journey is to NEVER let your struggles hold you back. Mentally change up your mindset and come up with a way for your struggles and challenges to become your main source of motivation. On my fridge, I actually have a checklist I look at every morning or whenever I’m feeling a little weak that has gotten me through so much.
Steps to success:
1. Set some goals.
2. Keep quiet and humble about them.
3. Accomplish the F****** S*** out of them (obviously, we need to censor that, lol).
4. Clap for your own damn self (maybe censor that too, my bad).
5. Rest & repeat.
Another piece of advice I have would be to listen to your gut and follow and pursue your passion and don’t let people tell you – you can’t. Pursuing your passion will require you to work 10 times harder than those working the typical 9 to 5 and it will require everything in you to be successful. It is truly never-ending work, but if you love what you are doing it is totally all worth it, At the end of the day, life really is too short to be anything but happy.
What should we know about Krista Prehl Photography? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a freelance photographer and mainly produce editorial, fashion, and advertising photography. Many people have no idea what editorial photography is, so in a nutshell editorial photography is storytelling photographically. Editorial photos contain visuals that translate to certain moods that help the viewer understand whatever story the photographer is trying to tell. Things like lighting, time, place, surroundings, composition, color palette and color tone are a few tools a photographer can use to help them tell a story as these often have visual translations. Essentially editorial photography is the photography that goes along with stories and articles online or in magazines.
I would say one thing that sets me apart from others that also makes me proud is how my editorial style of photography is incorporated in everything I shoot. Whether I am actually shooting an editorial or shooting a fashion catalog or shooting products for advertising that storytelling nature comes through in some way. I have been said to have a great ability to photographically create or convey moods.
I would say another thing to set me apart is my ability to craft light. I love to use both natural and artificial light in my images in a way that makes my images stand out, yet still feel natural. There countless ways to manipulate light once you really understand how to mix natural and artificial light. I would say that is another major element in my photographic style.
It would be great to hear about any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve used and would recommend to others.
Music is a HUGE part of my life. Without music, there is no way I could live my best life. Outside of photography, music is probably my only other escape from the day to day madness life brings. I love almost all genres of music (minus pop for the most part). I truly wish I was musically inclined because aside from photography music is probably the only other outlet I have in life. Like photography, I believe music is a universal language, where you don’t even necessarily need to understand the lyrics to connect with the music. I attended at least one live show a season because the best way to fully experience music is to hear it live and in concert. It also is just my way of staying sane, lol, I need to let loose and dance and sing. Like I said earlier, I love so many different genres of music but my favorite is definitely ‘reggae rock/hip-hop’. The beachy good vibes the music has just kept me in a positive head space and keep me going.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kristaprehlphotography.com
- Phone: 1-978-302-3265
- Email: Kristaprehl@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristaprehlphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristaprehlphotography/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
Krista Prehl Photography
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