Photographer Chelsea Aldrich snaps pictures of her dog and business mascot Jasper.[/caption]

Katy photographer Chelsea Aldrich did not initially set out to take pictures as a career path. Instead, she slowly landed on it, creating a business called Art Famine Photography eight years ago.

“I’ve always had a passion for taking photos but [I] never had a nice camera,” Aldrich said. “I was working at this antique store in Katy. They had a really nice camera and I was running their website and putting their inventory online, so I was using their camera to take pictures,” Aldrich said.

Aldrich was raised in Katy and had studied acting in college, and she said she was drawn to photographing people.

The owners of the antique shop had a grandson who regularly came into the store. He was Aldrich’s first photo subject.

“He was just the perfect model,” Aldrich said.

From there, Aldrich called upon her actor friends to take their headshots, and her company took shape. She branched out into portraits and family photos.

“It’s just kind of slowly grown into what it is today,” Aldrich said.

Aldrich said she also started shooting weddings and events along with experimenting with gallery-quality fine art photography.

She said she likes to take pictures in nature and wherever else she feels the urge to snap a photo.

“I just love to take pictures—whatever strikes me in the moment, and a lot of times that’s just people,” Aldrich said. “I find people really captivating. Some people you see and [you] can tell they have a story and it’s in their face. I just like to photograph that.”

Art Famine is based in Aldrich’s in-home studio on Avenue A. Photography clients come to her studio, or she makes arrangements to meet them on location in the Katy and Houston areas or at event venues.

“[Art Famine is] kind of a play on ‘starving artist’ and kind of starving for art and especially [how] different parts of the world are more in need of art than others,” Aldrich said.

While Aldrich has a photography business, she still pursues acting, filmmaking and directing. A film she wrote and directed called “The Lioness Club” made it to the Lady Filmmakers Festival in Beverly Hills.

Aldrich said her job at the antique store ended up changing her career.

“It’s actually funny that a lot of these things kind of blossomed working at that antique store,” Aldrich said. “I kind of taught myself all these skills beginning working there.”