HEY! I’M STEPH!
I’m a real life human and this is my face. I’m the personality behind Steph Sousa Photography (duh) and I wanna get to know you! Here’s a bit about me — tell me about YOU! Head over to the contact page to get in touch!
My Photography Style
I'm a huge fan of laughing and unposed shots. I'm a fine artist so I'm always looking for a cool angle, new shot, or artistic vibe. I know how awkward it can be to be photographed, so I'll be super involved in making sure you get the images you're looking for! I want to make sure you feel comfortable so I'll be interacting with you the entire shoot. It's super important to me that we ALL have FUN. Whether we're shooting a wedding, engagement, or lifestyle shoot, I want to make sure we all walk away thinking about how much fun we all had.
OH SO YA WANNA KNOW MORE?!
I’m a real person and you don’t want to read about me all day, so this is just a lil’ taste of who I am.
The basics: I’m a wife to my husband Paul, a human mom to my baby Eli, and a dog mom to my goldendoodle Westley.
I started my photography business when a friend asked me to take her engagement photos. I had a nice DSLR camera that I used for fun so I said why not! Well, after shooting their photos I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I loved every minute. Being outside with friends, talking about what they loved about each other, snapping moments that they will cherish for a lifetime -- I loved all of it! So Steph Sousa Photography was born.
My day job is being mama to my babe Eli who keeps me busy running around the park and beach trying to pet every dog he sees. When I’m not chasing Eli around or taking photos, I’m eating something tasty with my handsome husband Paul, heading to a spin class, hiking with a friend, or reading a novel. I’m super into Thai food, tacos, really good coffee, tequila (I see you, Casamigos,) and a big ole bowl of ice cream. Let’s grab a latte, tequila, marg, or a a scoop of ice cream in Pasadena. (Or grab a drink and hang out over FaceTime!) Let’s be friends!
Let’s Get Personal
I absolutely love meeting new people. It gives me life. I guess you could say I’m an extrovert. I try my best to love God and love my neighbor as I love myself. I really like taking care of the earth. Oh, and I can cut a rug on the dance floor. Wanna see my dance moves? Hire me to take photos at your wedding. Play something like Tell Me When To Go by E-40. (Bay Area girl over hereee.) My dancing is included free in every wedding package.
I met Paul through my older brother when I was 16. (Thanks, Kyle!) It was my senior year of high school and he was starting out at community college. We were such different people back then but as we grew and changed, we became closer and fell more deeply in love with each other’s core. Paul and I got married after college in 2013 in the hills of the Bay Area. We had been dating for 6 years through college and into our first jobs. After we wanted to grow our fam a bit, so we bought a big ball of fluff we named Westley.
We decided we were ready to move from our college town so we asked ourselves where would we want to live if we could live anywhere? San Diego, duh. So we packed up our stuff, drove down, and stuck our stuff in a storage unit. Everyone thought we were crazy.
We stayed on couches, house-sat and dog-sat for strangers, and bounced around until we both had jobs and could afford a deposit to rent an apartment.
We settled down in a little surf town named Encinitas on the north coast of San Diego. A few years later, we got the itch to be parents. It took us a year to get pregnant but nothing can describe the joy of the two pink lines on the pregnancy test! Our little Eli Cristovao Sousa was born in August 2018. Ask me about natural childbirth, cloth diapers, colicky babies, printmaking, or hiking.
A few years later in 2023, we had our second son, Leo Sergio Sousa. Paul’s job then took us to the Pasadena area and we’ve started our grand Los Angeles family adventure. I’ve really enjoyed being in a central spot and able to get to all my favorite places: Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, San Diego, and LA county! Not to mention the surprisingly good hiking trails, awesome food and drinks, and the sun always shining!
My giant Goldendoodle, Westley
The Beginning of Steph Sousa Photo
It started in third grade. Yes, third grade. We worked on an art project in class and the teacher loved mine so much that he praised it in front of the class. (If you like enneagram- I’m a 3, so that might explain a lot lol.) Well, in his praise I realized that I LOVE creating things. I decided right then that I would be an artist. I was surrounded by creative adults including well-known photographers (I see you, Catherine Ledner) and painters.
That’s me opening the door — we’re casting Bronze and Aluminum sculptures here.
When high school rolled around, I took every art-related elective including film photography. I went on to major in Fine Arts at California State University, Chico and emphasized in sculpture and printmaking. Fast forward a few years and I married the love of my life, got a dog, moved to San Diego, and had our baby boy Eli. I quit my 9-5 to stay home with our lil’ dude but I couldn’t shake my need to create. So when my friend asked me to take her engagement photos with my “fancy camera” I jumped on it. And I could feel a door open in me. This was it. This is what I had been waiting for. So I jumped in. I made a website, got on mentor calls, joined the Facebook groups, invested money in honing my skills, and took photos of every person I knew.
Here I am! Let’s talk!!