I’m Stephanie Manuel, born on the beautiful little island of Mauritius. After several years in an office job working in the branding and design field for a spa & wellness company, I decided to take the leap out my comfort zone, quit my job and start a rediscovery of my passion for travel and photography. At the beginning of this journey, I bought my first reflex camera in France and it became my favorite travel companion.

After working as a consultant in communication and marketing for 2 years, photography was still a wonderful hobby and I learned to improved my skills through daily practice and the love of exploration. Living on such a gorgeous island as Mauritius, inspiration is simply everywhere!

2015 started as the year where my photography was ready to be on center stage.

I joined an online group of international female entrepreneurs and the boost of motivation that it provided me increased my progress with big shifts happening one after this other.

Challenge

This saying makes all sense “when life gives you lemon, make lemonade”. When I first bought my reflex camera in France, I also bought a warranty that was supposed to enable me to get a new part when there’ was an issue.

In February 2015, when my lens got stuck, I wanted to use the warranty and sent my camera back to France to be checked. I was expecting my camera and a new lens quickly after the verification at the warranty service. But instead, this whole process took more than 7 months with lots of frustration, errors from the insurance company and photography work cancelled. Do you know that weird feeling of being out in nature, seeing something worth shooting and not having your camera with you?!

Well I dealt with that and wanting to keep up with my choice to give my photography more exposure this year, I decided to reach out by submitting my pictures to wildlife magazines and conservation organisation. One of the greatest achievements is the creation of my own photography website in less than 15 days, with the help and advice from members in my group of entrepreneurs and my own research. This just happened, after hesitating for more than 2 years, thinking that I had to wait for a web designer to do that. I learned to be proud of my skills and grew as an entrepreneur through sharing and be open to learn.

Today I do realise that without these challenges with my camera, I might not have created my website, got the time to reach out to the media, build up my presence on social media platforms or most of all, how I got a special idea to create a website community. I wanted to share this story with you as it forms part of this big project. We all experienced ups and downs and it takes time to understand and acknowledge the lessons learned.

Now, how an idea is becoming an amazing reality…

Female_nature_photography_logo

It started when a friend asked me that special life-changing question “OK so you want to continue as a female nature photographer, is there someone you know whom you look up to and who inspires you as being in the same field as you?” My answer was the amazing idea of actually creating a community of female nature photographer because in fact I realized that all female nature photographers inspire me as each of them have their own style and vision of nature to share. 

Then my friend’s advice was “Well if you wanna grow and feel motivated, the best way is to connect with that person”

For more fun in the adventure of Female Nature Photography, I invited my dear friend Nicola Boulton to join me in the creation of this dream project. She’s such a talented nature photographer and a brilliant wildlife guide on the stunning Isle of Skye.

Here we are ladies, let’s CONNECT to inspire, support, tell our stories and most of all share our vision of the beauty of nature all around the world.

Why a Female Community?

I read several articles where men nature photographers ask where are the women in that specific field. Female Nature Photography is also a way to show that we, female nature photographers, are present out there in the world, enjoying the job that we love and are passionate about. Together, as talented ladies, we are sharing our work and each of our pictures are telling an important story and making a difference in the conservation of NATURE.

I’m a proud and happy member of an international female entrepreneur association. I learned a lot about how to support my passion through creating a business that I love through online marketing, social media consistency, website creation, opt-in offers, lead magnet, branding, productivity and so much more interesting topics.

Since a photographer is also an entrepreneur with a business, I want to bring that knowledge and positive energy in our community. My project aims to help you continue building a dream photography business and enjoy a fulfilling life.

Experts in specific fields will be invited to collaborate in the creation of exclusive bundles such as graphic design to personalised your website, designing eye-catching social media posts, grow your audience, how to get the chance to feature in brilliant wildlife magazine…and much more

Cheers

Stéphanie x

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Stéphanie Manuel’s Story

Stephanie_Manuel
FOUNDER

Stéphanie Manuel is a passionate photographer specialised in nature, wildlife, portrait and travel photography. She lives in Mauritius, a beautiful little island in the heart of the Indian Ocean.

Attentive to the light, colours and the rich biodiversity, which reflect on the multicultural people there, she improved her skills through observation and exploration.

Fascinated by the tropical nature and environment, she volunteer in a local wildlife conservation organisation to immerse herself for several days into a world of the endemic species of Mauritius. This was the turning point: photography is her dream job.

With a sensitive and poetic approach to photography, she likes to have a closer look at unexpected beauty and always aspires to share the subject’s genuine feeling beyond the lens!

View her portfolio

Connect with her on Facebook

Follow her on Instagram

www.stephaniemanuelphotography.com

 

 

Nicola Boulton’s Story

Nicola_Boulton
INSPIRATION BUDDY

Growing up in the British countryside, Nicola became captivated with nature from a young age.

After graduating with a degree in Zoo Biology she pursued a career in Wildlife Tour Guiding, which has lead her to some stunning locations across the Western coast of Scotland.

Her love of photography comes from wanting to share the beauty of the natural world with others, and hopefully to enthuse the younger generation to preserve it. Her favourite thing to photograph is wildlife in action, always looking for a shot that has the ‘wow’ factor and gives away some of the charisma of her chosen species.

Working on boats gives her the rare opportunity to photograph whales, dolphins and seabirds in their natural habitat, which are often her favourite animals to photograph.

View her portfolio

      Connect with her on Facebook

      www.nicolaboulton.com

 

  1. Nidheesh Nair
    | Reply

    Hellow
    Excellent and highly motivating photography group All the well wishes to you.

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