Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Gercken.
Amber, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
On January 1st of this year, my little one-woman photography business turned 5 years old. This was a momentous and incredibly proud moment for me, especially when I reflect on what it has taken me to make it this far. Being a professional photographer should have been such an obvious career choice; I always had a camera in-hand (first film, now digital) and I was proficient in graphic & web design before my 10th birthday. My deep, passionate love of the arts – music, books, film, sculpture, poetry, painting, and everything in between – has been apparent since birth. In fact, it would be many, many years before my true calling would reveal itself.
The first seventeen years of my life were about as normal as it gets for a South Suburban girl from Tinley Park. My parents were (and still are) married, our family grew and I have two “little” brothers (both of whom are taller than I am), and my life was moving on the steady, forward trajectory it always had been. Then, about halfway through my senior year of high school, a series of unfortunate events occurred – prompting me to make the decision to step off the garden path and follow the whims of my heart.
When I officially dropped out of high school, I had already completed 3.85 years of the usual 4 year term with a B+ average. One year later, I got my GED. While this may be a shocking and unpopular decision, it is the decision I made and have had to live with. At a time when most of my friends & peers were in college, interning, or starting their first full-time jobs… I was adrift. Over the next few years, into my early twenties, I spent time in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and even Australia. When I could, I enrolled in local colleges and picked up odd jobs – until I eventually made my way back to the Chicago area in 2007.
For a while, I worked alongside 99% of my immediate family at the screen printing & embroidery business owned by my father & uncle. I met my husband, Steve, at a GameStop in early 2008; we were engaged by January 2009, married in June 2009, and our daughter was born in December 2009. Fast forward 22 months later to October 2011, when we welcome our son to the world. Those were the most whirlwind, seemingly neverending-ly pregnant, crazy, wonderful years of my life – but somewhere along the line, I had become a stay-at-home mom while my husband worked up to 3 jobs at any time to support our family.
One Christmas, around the time my daughter was born, I was gifted my very first DSLR. It was a Canon T2i. This was my epic game-changing moment – the light bulb had illuminated, lightning had struck, and the tiny seed of an idea had started to take root in my mind. I spent years learning and delving, enrolled into the Art Institute part time, spent 3am feeding times watching YouTube tutorials or doing homework assignments, and literally immersed myself in all things photography. Shortly after my son was born, I had concluded that I had done all I could from my desk chair, and I jumped in head-first without a parachute on New Year’s Day 2012… and Endlessly Photography was born.
Looking on back on the wild, wonderful & strange life that I’ve lived and the epic adventures that are still ahead for me fills my soul with peace. It has been far from perfect, often a little backwards, but I don’t have one single regret. I have two beautiful, brilliant children and a respectably semi-successful photography business – all of whom have so much growing up and evolving to do over the coming years, and I’m so excited to have a front row seat for it all! For me, the story is only just beginning.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
If there is one thing I have learned for certain, it’s that nothing is a sure thing! I can’t think of a time in my life – speaking as a business owner, mother, and human being – where there weren’t some bumps in the road here-and-there, but there are a few experiences that stand out more than others. The defining, make or break moments that will linger in my memory as a cautionary tale, warning, or guide.
I suppose I should start with my biggest obstacle: my studio curse. After four years, four attempts, and literally countless properties viewed, I have very recently given up on my search for a studio. The shenanigans & utter nonsense that have occurred regarding the studio space(s) I’ve leased or tried to lease are almost unbelievable in their absurdity about 90% of the time. The remaining 10% was out of the control of anyone involved. The final straw was when I was forced to sit on an unusable studio for over 8 months last year, due to the building not being up to code. After that debacle, my entire studio went into storage indefinitely. (More on that later.)
The next challenge was one of the very rare times in my career that my personal life effected my business life. It doesn’t happen very often, but when you’re both a full-time mom and a full-time business owner the little divider that separates the two will sometimes crack under intense pressure – and the two parts of your life bleed together a little. The very first time this occurred was just before my son turned 3 years old. We had known it was coming for a long time, but just after his third birthday he was officially diagnosed as “non-verbal” and “autistic”.
It has now been almost three years since that day, so I’m at a place where I’ve made my peace and we’re happily living our lives as a family with a member that has special needs. If you had asked me three years ago if I thought that was possible, I’m not sure I would have. Everyone has a process and their own way with handling things life throws at them. It was an extremely confusing time to be so happy to have a handsome, healthy son but so angry that I’d never get to hear his little voice – and the list of contradictory thoughts & feelings was endless. I was smack-dab in the middle of my busiest part of busy season, so I had to both hustle as well as process my own personal roller coaster of emotions. All things considered, I handled the situation as best I could – with minimal collateral damage to both personal and professional aspects of my life.
Other than the usual small business and professional photographer challenges, my biggest challenge is myself. It’s SO EASY for artists to be extremely critical of themselves and their own work. I see it in myself, my colleagues, and so many of my friends – we talk ourselves in circles and out of taking risks, letting the fear of failure win. Some of the most incredible, once-in-a-lifetime things have happened for me when I’ve just let go and went with the flow, so I try to keep myself out of my own way as best I can. I’ve probably failed a dozen times in 5.5 years, and I’ll probably fail a few dozen more – but I’ll always keep trying.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Endlessly Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My company, Endlessly Photography, offers professional wedding & lifestyle portrait photography. I am a jack-of-all-trades photographer with no specific specialty. I will say that my current favorite types of sessions and photography are maternity sessions, love story sessions, adventure boudoir sessions, destination elopements & weddings, and landscape photography. However, if you ask me tomorrow… that list may change. The excitement of variety and always having a new, random session type up next to shoot or edit is likely why I may never be able to settle down and choose just one type of photography to shoot forever.
When I’m shooting a session or event, I always try to tell a story through the moments I capture. You can expect mix of traditional portraiture crossed with documentary style shooting and a dash of photographic-rule breaking. My current editing style has a very deep, colorful, film-inspired aesthetic – but it really depends on the mood & lighting of the photos during post processing. I try to make time whenever I can to keep furthering my photographic education, pushing every boundary, and continuing to evolve & hone my craft.
Endlessly Photography is very much a part of me; a business, a brand, and a family. I like to think that I run my business the same way I do the rest of my life. With integrity, honesty, transparency, passion, patience, ferocity, mercy, imagination, an open-mind, and an open heart. The people I have met since opening for business can hardly be called my “clients” anymore, as they have become part of my extended family. When you’re in the room when someone gives birth, or you’re around for every milestone from baby bump to Yale graduation (and every milestone in between), you are bonded. My company runs almost solely on referrals and word-of-mouth, so I would be nothing without the people who continue to book & support me every year.
With me, what you see is what you get. I believe in quality AND quantity, I believe in bending over backwards twice to help someone in need, I believe in those who believe in the power and magic of photography. You can view at least one image from every single wedding or event that I’ve done in my portfolios to see my progress, then head to the blog to see what a full session looks like. There’s even an “Editing Queue” page for anxious, excited clients to check the status of their photos & galleries right on my website. It’s my job to provide excellent quality images & photo products, but also to make people happy – that’s my number one goal, always.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
A friend of mine has recently turned me on to the idea that if you put something out into the universe, sometimes the universe will respond. For a long time, the future was a scary and uncertain destination – but it isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey. If it were a perfect world, I’d somehow plant roots both here in the South Suburban Chicagoland area and on the Olympic Peninsula, somewhere between Port Angeles & Forks. I’d open a photography studio slash salon slash shop slash bakery with my two brothers and a handful of extremely talented friends. The studio would allow for hourly & daily rentals for those struggling to find space as I have, or baking classes at the bakery, or paint & sip up next to the garden on the roof. When time allowed and the stars aligned, I’d jet off to meet a couple so deeply in love they decided to run away and wed on a beach, on top of a mountain, in the desert, in the middle of the ocean, or wherever else the heart leads. Since it is NOT a perfect world, though, the future is a mystery. We do plan to relocate to the state of Washington at least part time, someday, but that is still years away. Until then, I’ll be here… taking photos, making memories, raising my family & doing what I love.
Pricing:
- Standard Lifestyle Portrait Sessions start at $300
- Premium Lifestyle Portrait Sessions start at $500
- Wedding Photography Packages start at $700
Contact Info:
- Address: Based in Mokena, IL | Available Worldwide
- Website: www.endlessly.photography
- Phone: 708-996-1210
- Email: endlesslyphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlesslyphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndlesslyPhotography/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EndlesslyPhoto
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/endlessly-photography-lockport
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/endlesslyamber
Photo Credit: Amber Gercken | Endlessly Photography
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