Check Out Amber Larkins’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Larkins.

Hi Amber, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started shooting fitness photography after my son was born 10 years ago. It started as a hobby due to a love for fitness, a growing love for photography, and a background in competing in fitness/figure competitions. I remembered not having any great pictures of when I competed and wanted to help others get some great pics of their physique. My hobby quickly turned into a business when word’s mouth spread. I shot photography as a side business for about 7 years.

Then in 2019, I started pursuing my business full time. I was going through a divorce at that time, and while it felt like my whole life was falling apart, I became extremely passionate and driven to empower women, especially women like myself that was going through challenging times in their life. I started focusing mainly on photographing women, even though I still photograph men as well, my passion lies with women, and it goes far beyond just photography. I want to make my clients feel loved, feel beautiful, and feel valued. I felt like so many times women will take care of everyone and everything ahead of themselves, neglecting their own self-care which sometimes can lead to feeling like we don’t measure up or we are not enough.

I began to pour into women… empowering them, encouraging them, and through my photography work I longed to inspire not just the women I photograph, but also the women who see the women I take pictures of and hear their stories.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not hard in the beginning, but when I started really focusing and trying to grow my business it was filled with many ups and downs. Going through a divorce, learning to be a single mother, going through pandemic, and dealing with a host of other personal conflicts was challenging, to say the least. At one point, I really had to take a step back and start learning how to run a business on my own, which there are so many aspects involved in making a business successful. I was determined to make it work though! I had mentors, I hired coaches, I enrolled in masterminds, I traded photography for valuable business advice, I networked like crazy, I read books, and I attended live events.

I basically did “all the things” to learn as much as I possibly could about business. Business is not for the faint at heart! It is, however, for the determined and relentless. My growing love for business comes from a very similar mindset that you also have to have in order to succeed in fitness, and I loved the correlation between these two things! It all stems from a mindset, and that intrigues me. Both are not easy, yet both are extremely rewarding. Business (and fitness) has grown me and developed me in ways I would have never grown or developed on my own. I am thankful for both of those things in my life!

These two things have taught me that when obstacles and challenges do come, to try to find the opportunity in them. The opportunity to grow and develop even further.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in fitness, empowerment, transformation, and branding photography for women. My style of photography is making women look and feel strong, powerful, confident, and empowered while also embracing their femininity and authenticity. I love how all these characteristics begin in the mind, and how I have an opportunity to speak into my client’s lives before, during, and after the session to empower them, then I get to show them images of themselves that even further empower them. It is such a beautiful thing seeing a woman feel comfortable in her own skin and gain the confidence to be her best self.

What sets me apart from other photographers is that I don’t consider myself “just” a photographer, but I am also an image consultant for my clients. I pour every detail into them to ensure my client shows up to her session looking amazing and feeling comfortable, confident, and like she could take on the world. Getting to photograph my clients in their inner beauty, personal expression, and authenticity is so rewarding to me. And my clients get to have an amazing experience by exploring their best selves and then presenting that to the world.

What’s next?
I am currently working on a passion project with my “Transformation Through Trauma” sessions. These are sessions where I work with clients to photograph their trauma and then photograph their triumph and show the transformation they went through to overcome their trauma.

My goal with these sessions is twofold. First I want to help my client “feel” their trauma so they can release those feelings and rewire their brain to replace those traumatic feelings with feelings of triumph. I want the client to see themselves transformed. I also want them to have a visual of their story. I want them to own their story, so their story can no longer own them. Then secondly, I want their story to inspire and encourage other women who might be going through the same trauma. Sometimes when we go through things we feel alone like we are the only ones going through this, but we are not alone! When we can start being transparent and real, we can really start to help each other.

As far as the future, I am continuing to grow my business and my mission. In 2022, I will be rolling out even more extensive products and services to better serve my clients. Some of these new services include complete full service branding packages and videography services among a few other services we will launch in the new year. My vision is to continue to help, serve, and empower women in our community and beyond.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: Fitographyfiles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitographyfiles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitographyfiles/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCKUp-HND3mXE33A6FBiYB7g

Image Credits
Katrina of Nashville Portrait Gal