Life & Work with Shelley Fredricey of Arvada, CO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelley Fredricey.

Hi Shelley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have been doing photography for a long time. I was first introduced to it as a child by a dad in our neighborhood who would take all of the kids on photo adventures. I also took it as a project in the 4-H program, and I developed and printed black and white images in high school. I even took some friends’ senior portraits back then! After deciding to pursue communications in college, I kept photography as a hobby, taking mostly travel and architecture photos. When I had my first daughter in 2009 and left my position doing marketing, sales and PR for a startup tech company, I started taking portraits of her and began doing some newborn and children’s photography for others. This led to family photography as well. I had a second daughter in 2011, and as my girls grew and became more independent, I did more photography for others on a part-time basis. I would say that it was in 2018 that I was able to put more time, focus and organization into my business. I discovered that I really loved photographing high school seniors, as I enjoy working one-on-one with people and helping to bring out the best in them (so I also enjoy personal branding and headshot portraits). High school seniors are at such a unique age where they are becoming young adults with their own unique talents, personalities and interests, and they are getting ready to go out and show these to the world. I think this time is such a special milestone, and to me we are doing more than snapping a photo for the yearbook. I view my senior portrait process as a confidence-building experience. Some seniors may start out not being overly excited about getting their portraits taken (boys), or they may be nervous that they don’t know what to do in front of the camera, but through getting to know them, providing proper preparation, and guiding them through the portrait session, their confidence builds, and they are able to relax and have fun. It’s so neat to watch them blossom before my eyes and come out of their shells. And when someone is relaxed and having fun, it translates into very natural-looking and dynamic images. I also like to experience their reaction at our gallery-reveal appointment, when they see their images for the first time in a slideshow. I continue to celebrate them all year on my social media. My hope is that their new-found confidence translates to other areas in their lives and goals they are pursuing, such as scholarships, college acceptances, careers and jobs.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a fairly smooth road, but I would say the most challenging and surprising thing I have learned is that having a photography business is just like having any other business. You have to do and manage a lot more than producing portraits; you have to wear many hats and learn how to do marketing, advertising, web design and accounting and be familiar with permitting, insurance and taxes. Sometimes you may step into the role of counselor, so it’s great to be a good communicator!

You can be an amazing artist, but if no one knows about you, your talent will remain hidden!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I put a lot of this in the first question, but i specialize in high school senior portraits. I love creating a unique experience for each person. They have waited 17 or 18 years for this moment, so let’s go all out on an epic experience! Let’s get permission to use the football field on a summer evening at sunset and use lighting to create dramatic images; let’s take the vintage car that they’ve been rebuilding and photograph it in front of a mountain view; let’s find a record store/arcade/bookstore for our location because that’s their passion; let’s plan a sunrise flying dress session with their violin. These are just a few examples of what we can do.

I believe senior year is the most unique portrait opportunity because it’s all about the individual and who they’ve become. After that (engagement, wedding, maternity etc) it becomes about joining with another person or expanding a family. This is the one time someone gets to shine as an individual!

I think anyone can look and feel confident in front of the camera. It just takes an experience photographer to guide them and make them feel that way. I want all of my clients to feel like supermodel for the day!

I am passionate about not only capturing moments as still images but also the joy from images that can last a lifetime. So I believe in printing photos and creating artwork to be displayed. I love Marie Kondo’s concept of “sparking joy,” and I feel that photographs on display can do this for us daily. I have a gallery wall in my stairwell and every morning when I walk down to make coffee, I feel a spark of joy seeing my family’s wonderful faces. I experience this same joy on my way to bed at night. I still photograph families when I have time between seniors, and I love helping them get their special moments on the walls rather than staying hidden on a laptop or flashdrive in a drawer. And for my parents of seniors, it is comforting when their young adult goes off to college to have a portrait of them on their desk or canvas on the wall to leave a piece of them at home.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson is that balance is key. I am so passionate about my work that a lot of the time it doesn’t feel like work to me. I can spend hours editing images, and I really enjoy it. But working from home and being my own boss means that there are no boundaries in place. So I find myself working on weekends and vacations, and not unplugging enough or planning family time. Recently I’ve looked into hiring an intern and an editor to create more work-life balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fiveparksphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/fiveparksphotogseniors
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/fiveparksphotography
• Other: tiktok: Five Parks Photography Pinterest: Five Parks Photography