My Photography Journey

Hello all!

I am so excited! So excited for many reasons, first being this is my first blog about myself and second this is my first blog on my new website (that I have been working on for months)! My Photography journey starts 20 years ago…yes I am only 25 and it started 20 years ago! This is when I started to grow a love for photography, not because I was behind the camera but because I was in front of it. You see, I have 3 older sisters and my mom would take all four of us girls out to random places in the country to have photo shoots! I loved it! It was so much fun! I got to feel like a real model.  I got to wear cute outfits and explore different locations! It made me feel pretty and confident, even at 5! That’s the feeling I want my clients to feel. I want them to feel good about themselves but most importantly to have fun!

Fast forward maybe 10 years to when I received my first (nice) camera, it was the Canon rebel XS.  I was through the roof with excitement! It was the newest on the market and I was gifted it!! Now I was 15 and I didn’t even know the first thing about this camera, so it stayed on auto for, wellll the whole time I had it honestly! I lived in Nebraska at this time and my friends had a great time being my models! It got its use out of it. I practiced a lot and I found a huge passion for photography. Still the thought had never crossed my mind that I might want to do this for my career. It wasn’t till I bought my second camera when I was about 22. It was a used but new version of my old camera. I took the jump about a year after getting it and set it to manual! That’s when I actually became a photographer. I still hadn’t found my style or even realize that I would ever make this into my only living. It wasn’t till I started having people ask to “book” with me, when I thought to myself “What if I made this into a business?!”. Little did I know it was going to be the hardest thing I have done, and I have had a baby ya’ll! I was young with a 2 year old, I lived with my parents, and I was nannying for three little boys. But I decided life is so short. Why not do exactly what you love? What brings so much joy to the world? I saved and saved and I bought my new and amazing camera. I bought classes, editing classes, shooting classes, posing classes, and business classes! I studied (I’m still studying!!) a lot! I gave up all my free time. I stayed up till 4am most nights working and pulled at least two all-nighters a week! Don’t forget I have a 2 year old also!  I had so many moments where I asked myself “ Is this worth it?!”. I’m talking crying on the floor with so much doubt, wondering if it was ever going to get easier…but I had the best person to believe in me. She  encouraged me and gave me nothing but positivity and knowledge. Never did she question me or try to make me feel like I couldn’t do this. The doubt started to fade and slowly but surly it turned into full on determination. I stayed  disciplined, I took it one day at a time. I stayed up countless hours studying and working. I used my time wisely, if I wasn’t playing with Lenora I was working. On my bad days I prayed hard and prayed for strength. I did a lot of reading and put my hope into God that this was part of my purpose. I am happy to say I am now a full time photographer, supporting myself and my amazing little one in my own little apartment and it feels sooooo good!! It was worth it!   Don’t get me wrong, it’s still so hard!  I still have so much work to do to get to where I want to be but that’s what I love, I can always grow in my career! I can always push myself and move up the ladder with a lot of hard work and dedication!

I do this because it not only brings me joy but it brings others joy. We all forget things. We don’t remember five years ago and then we see a picture and it brings all those memory’s back! I love being able to capture memory’s in such a beautiful way it makes people smile. It gives them that feeling back that they had in that moment. During the (engagement) session I get to bring two people together and make them feel soooo awkward… “wait did she say awkward?!” Yes…. yes I really did! Haha I start my session off by saying “if you feel awkward you are doing it right!” But they look at the back of my camera and say “wow! We look great!” That’s what makes me happy! Making people look great! They have a fun time being silly with their love, and get amazing memory’s to post around their home! It’s a feeling of joy! I feel it’s my purpose to bring kindness to the world through pictures, through sessions, and through people!

I am truly a very private person so writing this blog, my first personal blog was very hard for me! I like to think of myself as a pretty put together person so when I let the world know I cried on the floor because I doubted myself and this journey so much, kinda makes me nervous! BUT I know I’m human, I know someone can relate! I know that sharing my journey could lead to someone else’s hope or just bring my life closer to my wonderful clients! This has been my photography journey, it hasn’t been very beautiful, it definitely hasn’t been easy but I can now say it has been worth it. I will continue to push on, to move forward. I will trust in the Lord and see where this path takes me!