Daily Inspiration: Meet Carlos Manuel Stoner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Manuel Stoner.

Hi Carlos Manuel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Boy, where do I start. It’s been a real journey and I honestly had no intentions in becoming a photographer. To start out I was homeschooled K-12, and my parents were always encouraging me and my siblings to have an entrepreneur/business owner mindset! I worked with ideas of owning my own arts school to working with rental properties. Somehow by God’s grace I developed an interest in photography my senior year of high school.

I had a camera, but no idea what I was doing! I was truly blessed to be in a circle of other creative minded people who were willing to show me the ropes, from how to work a camera to what software I should us! Still, I needed to get my foot in the door. During this time, I was still working full time Mon-Fri as a manager in the food industry, as well as serving at church, and making time to spend with family. I personally believe that a day of rest is needed each week! For me and my family that day was Saturday, a day we spend as a family. So, you can imagine that working full time, serving at church, making time for family, and taking Saturday off would not make for a great Photography business start. In the beginning, I thought the same!

Still, we were going to try! Networking and making connections are defiantly a must, especially for photography. You need to know who your audience is and how to serve them. You need to make a clear plan for your business and make achievable goals for yourself.

I say all this in hindsight. Moving into the photography world I didn’t fully understand that. I knew if I wanted to do this, I needed to build a portfolio and start making a lot of connections. I had never used social media but was told it was a great place to showcase my work. So here I was, a Senior high school homeschooler making an Instagram profile. You can laugh at me if you want, but this whole social media thing was new territory for me. I knew I had to be relatable and, in some way, offer value but that was about all I knew about social media. Add that to the list of things I needed to learn as I started to build a small following composed mostly of personal friends. I knew to grow a portfolio I needed to offer free shoots, but I also knew I needed to be strategic on who I offered those to. I didn’t want to just photograph anyone, I wanted to photograph people that had connections. Someone that would share my work with the ideal audience and help grow my clientele.

From the beginning, I did have a website that provided pricing and basic information. If someone was looking to book during this learning stage, I knew I needed to have information presented in a clean, easy to read, professional manner. This all took place from late 2019 through 2020. Yep, not an ideal time to start a business. Still, God opened doors!

2021 was a year of continued growth and was the start of what I would call an actual business. Weddings, seniors, families, brands, businesses, etc. came flooding in as the post covid market picked up. I Made new friends and continued to improve as a photographer! Just looking back, so many obstacles were against a homeschooled boy in central Ohio starting a photography business. Yet even so, here we are! Yes, I still have a lot to learn with plenty of skills to improve. Still, I am so grateful for those who trusted me in capturing so many special memories. I Believe that God has been opening doors for me! So yeah, the beginning of the beginning story. Can’t wait to see where we go from here!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say that overall, it has been a pretty smooth road. Definitely a struggle to initially start, but overall, just taking it one step at a time and not getting caught up in the comparison game. You need to remember that it takes time and everyone is at a different stage, with different experiences!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My Approach to Photography:​

Photography is such a great creative outlet and I love every part of my job! The title “Photographer” could mean so many things!! It could be given to so many different individuals with so many different styles! Not only are there so many possibilities for style, but also for setting…you’re able to tell stories and show personality! Honestly, I feel like people can take a photographer for granted. They don’t just take pictures, they tell stories and show the world through their eyes! Not only are we able to enjoy this beautiful art, but we can share it with so many people! You can help show others’ personalities, you can bring images to life, and you can make visual dreams come true!!

For me personally, I love working with couples! just getting to capture their relationships and be able to provide them with images that hold their story is truly a blessing. Theirs just something special about capturing a young man truly in love with a young lady or an older come still remaining faithful for so many years!

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
To be honest, I’m not sure where photography will go, it is a market that is always changing. Trends come and go, and things will change. Just take it day by day, knowing what your plan is and knowing that things might get mixed up.

Contact Info:

• Website: carlosmanuelstoner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlosmanuelstoner/