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Meet Ellen Pustejovsky

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen Pustejovsky.

Ellen, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.

It all began with a tiny digital Kodak that fit perfectly in my pocket during middle school. I carried it everywhere capturing everything: nature, my family travels, and yes, even the classic mirror pic selfie with my friends. I grew such a love for it that when I got to high school, I enrolled in all the photography classes that were offered and joined the photo club. During this time, my appreciation for the art and process of photography developed and I was consistenly trying to push myself and take my skill to the next level.

The summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I began to offer portrait sessions. I knew after my first few shoots that capturing people was the direction I wanted to go in my career after graduating. It wasn’t until halfway through college that I really began to level up in my work and was finally able to go full time with my portrait business. As I progressed, I discovered that the fashion aspect of my sessions was where my interest started swaying. During my last semester of college in 2016, I packed my bags and headed to Boston for an internship with Sofft Shoe to get a taste of what the fashion and commercial industry was like.

Three months into the internship, I was offered a job, but declined knowing that what I was doing back home with my portrait business gave me the freedom and organization I was looking for long term. Before taking off from the east coast, I presented the media department ideas on how we could still work together through social media marketing, as I was planning to set sail on a several month long road trip soon after getting back home. It wasn’t until a year or so later that they warmed up to my ideas. I then began to create lifestyle content for them and some of their sister companies to help boost their online presence. Through this relationship, they even flew me down to Moab, Utah as second shooter for Born Shoe Fall 2018 fashion campaign; my first real life fashion shoot! However, this experience led me to realize that I needed some serious change within my portrait business back home.

My portrait business certainly did not take a halt during all this excitement. After getting back from the internship during the summer of 2016, my business doubled, and in 2017 it tripled. I took on anyone that came knocking on my door: senior portraits, weddings, families, businesses, you name it! Sounds great right? Well, by the end of 2017, I was going into a total burn out phase with it all. I wanted to give up, I was stressed, I felt that I wasn’t serving my clients as best as I could, which really took a toll on my overall well being. After shooting the fashion campaign with Born Shoe, I made the decision to finish out the sessions I had already committed to and not take on anymore new clients for the rest of 2018.

This dark period of my career is what shaped where I am at today. I did some serious re-evaluating on myself, what was and wasn’t working in my previous portrait business, and how I could create a one of a kind experience for my clients that served them better than ever before while still giving me the capability to travel and shoot wherever, whenever. I discovered that I needed to narrow my niche, simplify my process, and incorporate three main focal points in every shoot that I’d take on: the location, the fashion, and the mood. For the first time in my photographic career, I am excited to talk about what it is that I do! No more beating around the bush with what kind of photographer I am. During this time off, I developed a more directed focus on my craft, overcame my feeling of having imposter syndrome, and grew out of the “I am in a competition with other photographers” phase. In fact, I even created a YouTube channel so I can share my personal experiences, knowledge and discoveries within the art and business of photography with other photographers and creators alike!

With all that said, It took almost a whole year of hardly any income, a lot of self-doubt, and a serious wonder of where I fit into the industry. In January of 2019, I could proudly begin to say I am a travel and lifestyle photographer serving brands and individuals. I am so beyond excited to be creating collections of moments during my travels and the people I meet along the way.

Has it been a smooth road?
The road was smooth for a while until I hit that all time low of being over worked, stressed and unsatisfied with mass producing work that I was not particularly proud of. I grew to loath that my passion was quickly turning into a chore. I had always told myself and others to never stick with routines that make you unhappy and drain you’re well being. People can tell when you’re only showing up because you have to, and for my clients, friends, family, and simply anyone who walks into my life, I want to produce genuine energy. For that period when I was down, I felt it wasn’t fair to those who wanted to work with me when I was only half-heartedly there. So I took that time off to think back to my roots of why I love what I do so I can perform to the best of my abilities.

I once read that artists tend to feel the need to reinvent themselves every seven to ten years. I can fully get behind that as year seven in my photographic career is when all this dissatisfaction hit fast. At the time, I felt that I failed my clients, my family, my friends, and myself. However, I now see the word “fail” as the First Attempt in Learning. Dang does that reign so true!

A lot of growth came out of those struggles, but there is one great lesson I learned from it all; only I can change the course of my life. My choices dictate the outcome of where I end up. Taking responsibility for my not so wonderful moments pushes my drive to continue to level up and learn from those experiences. At the time, the journey may not feel very good, but it’s important to just keep moving forward because greatness awaits when you put your mind to it!

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a travel and lifestyle photographer serving brands and individuals. I’m known for my moody editorial styled portraiture and lifestyle adventure photography. When I am creating content for a brand or capturing an individual for whatever it may be, I always approach it like an adventure. Whether it’s in the mountains, by the sea or through the city. Styling and capturing my subject matter in the most authentic way is how I roll.

I spend a lot of my time behind the camera, but more recently, I have been producing lifestyle content for brands during my travels, which puts me in front of my own camera a lot. I think this is something that separates me from the rest because taking “advanced selfies” really pushes my creativity within the movements and angles of my lifestyle imagery. When I have no one to direct me while I’m “modeling” it gets me thinking, “how would I want someone to direct me in what it is that I am doing on my own?” I’ll then relay that during shoots with my subjects. If there is one thing my clients have told me time and time again, it’s that I have a knack for making them feel super comfortable in front of the camera, and 90 percent of my clients are not accustomed to having their photo taken. I believe that my experience of being in front of my own camera translates well to my subjects because I can easily put myself in their shoes.

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