How I Came To Photography
#MyPhotographyJourney
Where did my love of photography even begin? As a child of the 1900s, I started with a small film camera. I remember it was purple and shaped like a rectangle. I don't remember much after that, but sometime around middle school, I started bringing a camera with me on trips and to friends' houses. I remember posing friends and asking them to really get into character. I recall one particular moment of making a friend pretend to be a forlorn captive while waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a blast!
Flash forward to college, and I remember making the huge decision to buy my first "big" camera. It was a Canon Rebel—still film, as digital was new and I wasn't ready for it. I'd like to say this was the moment it all clicked and I figured out how to take amazing photos. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I could never get the numbers to work properly in manual mode, and I was like any other person with a big camera and no clue how to use it properly!
Around the time I had my first daughter, I decided to try again. I really wanted to master the camera and take images I could be proud of. I bought another Canon camera, this time a big digital camera. I had been using point-and-shoot cameras until this point, and it was time to move forward. I took several classes and met some amazing people. This is where the seeds started to sprout. My whole life, it felt like they were creating a web of roots. Maybe my journey is like bamboo. They say before bamboo comes above ground, it has created a whole world of roots beneath the surface. Once I grasped manual mode and the exposure triangle, I really had the urge to start working with other people. It took me a few years before I gathered the courage to work with people who weren't my close friends.
I started my first business in 2015, and I had a blast. I focused on families and mini-sessions, and it was so fun to see those little kids shine on camera. I've always been better with small humans versus their larger counterparts! I was attempting this balance while my husband traveled and I had two young kids at home. It worked for the most part. I wasn't able to fully dive into it, though, because of the time constraints.
Flash forward to 2018, and I had my final baby. Something about this time pulled me away from photography. I couldn't find the motivation to get out there and take photos! When one is a photographer such as myself, my favorite part is being with the clients and then presenting the images to them. The part you don't hear about is the post-processing. It is the part that takes hours. It is the part that no one knows about, but it is what makes the images shine. It's the culling, editing, continued education, skin corrections, etc., etc., etc. I have a streak of perfectionism, which I have learned is actually anxiety. Every time I share a gallery, I want to throw up a little bit! It's one of the most vulnerable acts in my life. I'm sharing my heart, but there's a chance you won't like what you see, and if you don't like it, I have failed—and that's not a good feeling! These are all perhaps reasons I shelved my business in 2018.
In 2024, I jumped back in. With children who had grown enough to help me and were all in school full-time, I had a pull to get back out there. This time with a focus on teens and specifically high school seniors! Let me tell you, this is 100% the perfect place for me. I love being a part of their lives. I love seeing the world through their eyes for a moment. Now I have a full business an LLC actually! I have products and customers and I get paid. How cool is that??
