Community Highlights: Meet Sharon Fuente of Lifesong Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Fuente.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It started with a box. A cardboard box at my grandparent’s house. The box was filled with family photos some that dated back to the 1800s other of my dad as a child growing up on the farm. Some people might say it was just a box of pictures, but to me it was much more. It was a box of memories and of stories. It was a box that started my passion for documenting the important people and events in our lives.

I got my first camera at age 10. It was a Kodak 110 Instamatic. If you remember that camera you will remember it had little flash cubes that you stuck on the top. By high school I had upgraded to a 35mm camera and today I use a Nikon Z7II mirrorless camera.

Being a photographer was not my first career. I have a degree in Advertising and worked for years as a media buyer, My hopes as an artist was to work in the creative end of advertising but that was not how it worked out. So I always had some sort of personal art project going outside of my career to keep me sane. One day I just got tired of the commute from the suburbs to midtown and I came home and told my husband I was quitting my job and I was going to be a photographer. This is one of many of my leap before you look moments. I had no idea what that actually entailed.

My first job as a photographer was taking the newborn pictures at the hospital. After that I worked for a company doing yearbook pictures. Those two jobs helped taking my natural photographic ability up to the next level. I started getting a lot of requests from friends and family to take their pictures. Feeling like I didn’t want to work for free, I started a part time business. I decided to go full time in 2016. I joined Professional Photographers of America, got a website, a logo and an LLC. At this stage I thought I knew what I was doing as I charged forward with being an independent business owner. The problem was, I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.

I am the type of person who wants to do their job well. So I started taking classes with PPA and that is when the realization hit me. I had a long way to go to becoming really good at this. I joined Georgia Professional Photographers Association in 2018. Between the two organizations and many hours of workshops, classes and practice I am now a CPP (Certified Professional Photographer) and hold a Master’s Degree with PPA. I also serve as VP and Director of Education for Georgia Professional Photographers Association.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road, but then life is not a smooth road in general. I have the advantage of being born a creative, an artist. And although I have always had an eye for creating I have not always had the technical expertise. Part of my growth as a photographic artist had been entering state and national levels of competition. No one enters competition saying “I hope I don’t win so I can learn something” because there is nothing like the thrill of victory! But and almost any photographer will tell you, you learn when you win and when you lose, but you usually learn more from losing.

I had entered and done well in a small local competition and thought I was ready for entering the big International Print Competition in 2018. I took some of my images to a seasoned photographic competition friend to tell me which images I should enter. I was sure they would say it was a hard choice with so many great ones to choose from. Of course that is not even close to what happened. Although they were very kind, I walked away knowing I wasn’t ready. I worked really hard that year and the next year two of the four images I entered did well. One made it to the “Loan” Collection and was later put as the cover image on one of PPA’s monthly magazines. But my biggest claim to fame is having one of my images chosen to be part of Team USA for The World Photographic Cup. Only 24 images are chosen to represent the United States. I was on the 2022 team which. came in first place. My image “Soul Food” was chosen out of tens of thousands of images entered into the International Print Competition in 2021.

Another big obstacle, one that I still deal with is pricing. I know that it is not just photographers who suffer from imposter syndrome, but it is rampant in our industry. Although I am very accomplished now in my technical and creative ability to produce amazing images I still find it hard to price my work. So my business is not as lucrative as it probably should be.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a small independent photography studio. Although it is home based, I have a separate entrance, office, shooting room and bathroom for clients. I specialize in fine art family and pet photography (both in studio and on location) and I also do commercial work including headshots and events.

My strong suit is being great with people of all ages, from newborns to teenagers to great grandparents. I believe that pets are part of your family and should be included in your family portraits. I know how to use lighting and posing to create the most flattering images of each person.

I differ from a lot of local photographers in that I personalize the creation of every session based on the vision of the client. This requires good communication, creativity and excellent customer service. I want every client to feel that their portraits are unique and reflect who they are. I walk them through every step of the process so that they have a fun and stress free experience.

I currently offer private mentoring for photographers. I customize these sessions based on what you are interested in learning. Topic include, but are not limited to, how to shoot on successfully on manual, natural and off camera lighting, posing for every body type, editing in Photoshop, how to create creative portraits.

I am also a strong believer in giving back to the community. Last year I created a fundraising event called “Captured For A Cause” where I photographed local artists, had them then donate a piece of their art to be auctioned off for our local food pantry.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Communication is very important to everything I do. The better I understand what I client wants the better I can serve them. My website www.lifesongphotography.net has easy ways to contact me. I would love an opportunity to photograph your family or event or mentor up and coming photographers.

The best way that people can support my business is to personally refer me to friends and family. If you have been a client you can also leave a good review on google or my FB page.

There are multiple opportunities to help with my 2026 “Captured For A Cause” fundraiser for Red Door Food Pantry in Cartersville. There is information on my website about the event. If you are an artist interested in being photographed there is a form to fill out, if you want to help support the event either as a sponsor or as a volunteer you can send me a message through my website. It is so important that we work to end food insecurity in our communities.

Pricing:

• Session Fees start at $200
• Event photography fees start at $150/hr for charities and $200/hr for others
• Photography Mentoring $75/hr

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lifesongphotography.net
• Instagram: @life_song_photo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lifesongartandphoto/