March 27, 2017

Meet Mark Anderson of Casual Elegance Photography® in Sandy Springs

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Anderson.

Mark, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always been a photographer. I won my first national photography contest when I was 17 years old. But as with most people, “life happened” and, for the most part, I would just take snapshots at family gatherings and vacations. I occasionally shot friends’ weddings and special events. This made me realize that I wasn’t interested in making a living shooting either of those styles. As I approached retirement from a Fortune 100 company I wanted to start a business that I would love to work at on a daily basis – a photography business. I started Casual Elegance Photography ® in 2000 as my would be retirement business. I started out shooting portraits of children and models, and realized that children’s photographs were not “my thing” either. I enjoyed the model portfolio shoots, and product shoots, much more. One model asked if I would shoot Boudoir and Fine Art Nude photos for her portfolio, and that was the beginning of the specialties I have today. As the business grew and my retirement came about, I began doing photography full time. I started by shooting out of my home with a small basement studio, but soon realized that I needed a larger studio to be more creative. I moved into my present location in 2008 and have been shooting there since. I love creating art from life and helping clients realize how beautiful they are. The overwhelming majority of my female clientele say that they find the whole experience empowering and walk away from it feeling great about themselves.

Has it been a smooth road?
The ups and downs of the economy create the greatest struggles in my line of work. People need to put food on the table and pay their bills before they can splurge on photographs. With everyone having a camera in their phone these days, people don’t think as much about getting quality photographs done. For instance, many take selfies of themselves for maternity photographs, but the quality will never be what they could get from a professional. Making lasting memories of life events like a pregnancy, is what my business is all about.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Casual Elegance Photography® specializes in Boudoir, Nude, Maternity, and Intimate photography. We are known for our creative lighting, caring for our clients’ comfort, and for the high quality of images that we produce. I am forever honored that my clients trust me with getting the images that they want. I’m also very humbled that my clients trust me to help them through the whole process even though they are nervous at the beginning. From the moment they enter the studio we try to make them as comfortable as we can, and I’m happy to say that we have succeeded to accomplish that goal at each shoot. Just read our client testimonials.

Casual Elegance Photography ® is a business, but we make our clients feel like they are part of our family. Most clients keep in touch with us for years. We value this as a sign that we are doing things right.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Sandy Springs is a great city to do business in. Its close proximity to Atlanta, Cobb County, Gwinnett County, and the North Fulton areas makes it an ideal location to draw clients to. Casual Elegance Photography ® started out in a different location and moved to Sandy Springs in 2008. It was a great move for us and I’d recommend any business to look at Sandy Springs as a home for your company.

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