Meet Caroline Stubbs | Houston Area Family Documentary Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caroline Stubbs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caroline, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking and I have an ever-evolving relationship. From tales my mom would tell of me as a toddler, I was one to dangle out of a window or stand my ground at every disagreement. But slowly along the way, I learned to take the passive and safer path. This path has it’s good side, but I soon saw that it is way too predictable and I’d even go as far as to say harmful long-term.

I’m happy to say, these last 15 years have been a bolder and braver chapter of my life. I have my deeply intelligent and bright-eyed husband, Corey, to thank for reawakening this side of me. When I’m trapped in analysis paralysis, he simply asks, “Why not?” Sometimes that’s all it takes.

If we’d stayed on that safe path:

-We wouldn’t have said yes to marrying one anther.
-We wouldn’t have enjoyed being a young parents to three amazing boys.
-We wouldn’t have bought a house, flipped it for major profit twice, and all while living in these houses with three small children.
-We wouldn’t have learned some amazing lessons from starting renovation business and having it end.
-We wouldn’t have said yes to becoming an military family.
-We wouldn’t have known how much two deployments and countless tours of duty can grow a marriage.
-We wouldn’t have moved across the country voluntarily.
-We wouldn’t have gone full time with my photography business.
-We wouldn’t have said yes to turning my passion into a career.
-We wouldn’t be always looking for doors opening to us.

For each of these risks taken, things were lost, yes, but so much more was gained. And even when it all went wrong, the ways we grew as individuals and the lessons learned were so worth it.

So to anyone who struggles with not being able to see beyond the risk, I’d say go find people who are already doing what you want to be doing. They’ve taken the steps and the risk. You can bet their adventurous spirit is still going strong and best of all, it’s catching.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
“I’ve never heard of family documentary photography. What is it exactly?”

So here is my elevator speech:

“One day, many years from now, you will be old. Of all your many possessions, your memories will be your most precious. I am offering my clients the ability to document those good old days right now when they are smack in the middle of them.

Rather than tell you more about what what these kind of photos are, let me tell you what they ARE NOT:

-They are not your family slowly and idyllically walking through a wildflower field.
-They are not photos of insincere smiles brought on only by a candy bribe.
-They are not wrapped up in memories of how stressful that day was to get everyone at the right place at the right time and still clean.
-They are not cell phone photos taken haphazardly with angles most unflattering.
-They are not missing the one who is always behind the camera.

Here IS what these kind of photos ARE:

-They are artistically captured photos of connection.
-They are moments caught of authentic laughter.
-They are time capsules of all the wonderful details of your life.
-They are an ode to the messy toddler hair and yogurt covered faces.
-They are wrapped in memories of a day spent doing your favorite things with your favorite people.
-They celebrate what is special to you.
-They become more precious every single year.

The images from our sessions bring such value to families. Not only do they preserve memory, but they also bring in an outside view that encourages parents in hard seasons and help their children (and someday grandchildren) understand their story. It’s a truly beautiful investment.”

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My biggest hurdle has been getting the word out that this type of photography exists in a professional and accessible capacity. My generation especially seem to go back again and again to portraiture, yet feel that it’s still missing that real element. My goal is to change that. Family documentary photography is a resource too precious to keep on the fringe.

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I got to where I am today professionally through years of incremental growth and pushing it to the max these past two years, especially. I have taken on professional mentoring and practiced my 10,000 hours. I have weaved through the dry grounds of business formation and upkeep. When I’m discouraged, I have dove headlong into the stories of other entrepreneurs and come away ready to keep going. Most importantly, I have had the invaluable support of my family. It’s all been intentional movement toward growing and going.

Aside from some recent mentorship, I am a self taught photographer. This give me a bit of a edge, especially when it comes to this style that is so candid and emotion led. I learned the technical and composition skills AFTER I already knew what I loved to capture with my camera. There is no short supply of passion that has pushed me along all this time. That care shows in my work. Ultimately, this has been a decade long study into perfecting the documentary style of my photography.

In business, both my husband and I have grown together. Corey is very educated about the legal and financial side of what makes a business successful. I concentrate on photography and customer service. In an overcrowded market where anyone with a camera can brand themselves as a professional photographer, it becomes so important to show our clients that they are dealing with a photography company who they can trust to be professional and caring.
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The hardest battle for any creative to fight is in our own mind. The constant feeling of inadequacy or “imposter syndrome” never ends. You just have to learn to get quicker at saying, “Nope. I’m good at this, and I’m going to keep getting better.” You can’t let fear be what rules your life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We actually had this very situation happen this last week! First off, we learned you’ve got to grab yourself the Houston City Pass. It is such a crazy good deal and allowed us to take our guests to see some of the best attractions Houston has to offer.

Day One:

We had to start at the gorgeous NASA Space Center Houston. We could easily spend all day there.

Afterwards, we went for a delicious Indian lunch at Noon Mirch (the Chicken Masala is sooo good!)

For dinner, we ordered a pizza from Luigi’s Pizza and Pasta and took it home.

Day Two:

We hit up a late breakfast at Shykatz in Galveston. Hands down, it is the best breakfast I’ve ever had. I’d recommend the Katastrophic.

We parked along the seawall, and hit the beach to fly a kite and play in the sand with the kids.

For dinner we headed over to The Star Cinema Grill and take in a relaxing movie and tried not to fall asleep in their huge heated recliners.

Day Three:

It was time to take the kids to The Downtown Aquarium to see all the wonderful creatures of the sea.

We hit up The Post for lunch so everyone can order from a different place. We’d tried gumbo at The Crazy Cajun, black ramen at Ramen Moto, lumpia from Soy Pinoy, and, of course, Ice Ice Boba.

With full bellies, we took the short car ride over to The Museum District to take in a few hours at the Houston Natural History Museum. Our favorite exhibitions were the paleontology and malacology exhibits.

Day Four:

We headed over to First Watch for an early breakfast. It was a tough choice is to keep it clean and lean with a breakfast power bowl or dive headfirst into a plate of their million dollar bacon.

From there we all went to The Houston Zoo. Pro tip is to grab your slushy cups early in your visit, (or even better: remember to bring your old ones from home), so you can enjoy those $2 refills the entire day.

With only a tiny bit of energy left from the day, we headed to Mamacitas Mexican Restaurant for their AMAZING birria tacos. The fun atmosphere and fantastic food perked us right up.

Day Five:

We had ourselves a day of shopping by heading straight over to the Baybrook Mall. After hitting up the stores, we treated ourselves to an all appetizer lunch at Maggianos. If you haven’t tried their zucchini fritte, do it!

Day Six:

As our visit winds down, we ask ourselves what more do we want to take our visitors to see in this fun city?

We still have one more visit available to us on our Houston City Pass. We could either go to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, an all day rides pass at Kemah Boardwalk, or The Children’s Museum Houston.

In the end, we did none of those, but spent the day resting from our fun filled week and enjoying the Houston sunshine.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
1. For every good thing I have, I give glory to Jesus, my Lord and savior. He has given me everything, and I am so grateful.

2. Thank you to my cheerleader of husband and my hilarious children.

3. I treasure my friend Allison, of https://www.heikkila.photography/ . Growing as a photographer along side you has been wonderful.

4 I have been so very encouraged by the online documentary photographer community built by Michell McKay of https://www.wearememorycatchers.com/

5. I would be lost without the marketing mentorship of Julie Christie at https://thephotographersvoice.com/

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Image Credits
Wild and Free Photography LLC