Meet Kali Steenbergh | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kali Steenbergh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kali, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I think risk is very important, especially if you want to be successful. Staying in your comfort zone does not help you excel. I have taken many risks in my business, and I continue to take them! When I first started my business I was doing photography for other people. I was creating the art I thought people wanted from me, and it wasn’t making me happy. I was not doing anything creative, just “stand there and smile at the camera”. I thought people wanted picture perfect photos. I knew I wanted to create art again, so I took the risk of doing a complete 180 and changing my entire mindset of taking photos. I started creating art I felt proud of, and that felt like it was coming from my soul. That was the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. It helped me find my people, it jumped started my entire career. Since then I have made many more decisions that were risky, and each one has panned out to be exactly what I needed.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a cinematic photographer! I draw inspiration from everyday life, movies, music and many more forms of art! I have always loved leaving a movie theatre and truly feeling like I was in the movie. Feeling every emotion from the characters like they were my own. That’s how I want the audience to view my photography. I want you to feel every single photo. Photography to me is capturing a memory and freezing it in time forever.

My business name is 222 Photo.Graphy and that is deeply inspired by my late Grandma Betty Hummel. While looking for a name for my business I kept seeing “222” everywhere. When my Grandma was alive we would always look up numerology. So, I googled what it meant and the short version is that I am on the correct path, and to trust that everything is working out exactly how it’s supposed to. To let go and have faith.

To get where I am today was very hard, and I’m still not done growing and learning! I have had my triumphs in the beginning. Days that I felt like I should just quit, that it was too hard. I just kept pushing through. I learned how I wanted to take photos and direct photoshoots. How I wanted to edit to provoke certain emotions. How I wanted to incorporate cinematography into each photoshoot.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Betty Janes Bar and Grill! It’s my families bar so I’d love for them to check that out first!!

Then I’d take them downtown Detroit. Walk around the city, grab some lunch and some dessert at Canelle. Check out the Heidelberg Project on the way out of the city.

I would love to take them to Port Huron to see one of the Great Lakes & look for petoskey stones.

Lastly I’d take them to one of our parks (preferably up north) so they could see how green and beautiful Michigan is!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My Mother, Jamie Hummel. I would be no where in my career or my life without the help, physically and emotionally, of my Mom. Anyone who is lucky enough to know her, knows just how special she is. I’m so thankful everyday that I have someone so amazing in my corner cheering me on.

Website: https://222photo-graphy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/222photo.graphy?igsh=em9pZmdvZm5mdWYz&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Kali Steenbergh, 222 Photo.Graphy