WAHM for April: Photography by Christa Danielle

Click through the photographs of Christa Danielle Eskridge and you’ll see something special. Not just in the composition, the lighting, and the quality, but something special with the subjects being photographed. There are stories to be told in the photos and the personality of each person being photographed is captured in ways that are timeless.  Photography is her gift, but it isn’t something she thought she’d end up doing.  A degree in fitness education, she once was a personal trainer. Becoming a Mom had her making changes to her career to devote more of her time and life to family. 

 

Staying at home and being Mom was a special time in her life. She is so grateful she was allowed to spend with her children while they were small, but she always felt that something could be added to her already blessed life.  Three to four years ago she took a part time job helping a friend with her home photography business. There she learned aspects of the business side her college photography classes never prepared her for.  There, her love for photography was reignited.

Her success in her past three years has her not only delving into the creative aspect, but finding gratification in the technical, financial and business parts of it as well.  Outsourcing some of those things have helped her out tremendously and have been vital to the balance she seeks to maintain.  She has found such satisfaction in getting to do what she loves, and still be able to be home for her family.  She has built and runs her business around the needs and demands of a husband and three children, and wouldn’t want it any other way. There are many times that she is so grateful to have “work” where her kids need to find her, and the flexibility to be there when life gets crazy.

The gift of creating memories is a major source of inspiration for her. Giving a mother precious memories of her child captured forever helps her to feel she has something to “give” by contributing to those memories.  She feels every Mom, working or not, should seek to find their “gift” to bring balance and fulfillment to their lives.  Her gift of giving has taken her to doing charity photo shoots for local shelters and involvement with Rainbows United (for children with disabilities).  Her love of friends and seeing them share their gifts with their own home businesses led to her opening up her home once a year for “shows” where they can showcase their work, network, and sell products. It has grown just the past year to needing to rent a space and the last one was held a month ago at the Wichita Boathouse where there were 20 vendors participating. This is another part of that giving aspect to her talent that she has discovered. 

Married for almost 15 years to Darren, they have three beautiful children, Destiny 11, Landon 8, and Ella 5.  Her kids are a great source of inspiration for her work, and are often seen in front of the camera.

I asked Christa what tips she has for other Work at Home Moms who try to do it all. Her biggest piece of advice was to schedule in time for the kids at home.   There is no doubt that there will be guilt involved in trying to balance everything. Don’t be afraid to take 15-20 minutes to color with your kids.  Make sure your kids understand what you do and how your time needs to be spent. As her kids have gotten older and started to attend school, she has found more time for her craft, but she limits her schedule to be there for sporting events, school activities and family life.  She still finds time for herself through it all, and even gets to mix business with pleasure sometimes as photo shoots, and errands bring lunch with friends with a glass of wine.  “Live the life you love, Love the life you live” is her favorite saying and something she feels she is already living.  She also stated that if someone is searching for their gift to give to just “be patient”.  With time it will come, opportunity will come. -She didn’t find her niche’ in life until well into her thirties. 

Thank you Christa for being my Work at Home Mom of the month! 

Christa Danielle takes portraits of babies, children, family, and High School Seniors. You can see her portfolio on her website http://www.photographybychristadanielle.com/ and follow her on facebook at Photography by Christa Danielle.  Christa is generously offering a gift certificate for a free portrait session and an 11X14 photo, worth $150 to one Wichita City Mom Reader. To enter, do the following:

  1.  “Like” Photography by Christa Danielle on Facebook. AND

       2.   “Like” Wichita City Mom on Facebook (if you don’t already)  AND

      3.   Leave a comment under this post that you do, or have done both.

Winner will be chosen the last day of April by random drawing. One entry per person please.