Being a professional photographer is so much more than a lifelong dream being fulfilled; I am blessed with the privilege of telling people’s stories through my art.
Although my photography journey technically started in 2015, to answer the question of ‘Why I became a photographer’, I must first go back to the time when I was born. However, therein lies the problem.
When you sift through my family's photo albums, there are no pictures of me as a baby. As a matter of fact, there are no pictures of me before the age of four. I have no clue what or who I looked like before then.
You might be wondering why there are no photos of me during that time in my life? I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, it was probably because my family couldn’t afford it. Regardless of the reasons, not knowing what I looked like, or who I may have resembled, has created an emptiness within me that has never gone away. As it turns out, THAT pain would later prove to be a driving force urging me to become a photographer so many years later.
At the age of 18, when my first baby was born, I vowed to make sure that she would never feel the same kind of void that I felt, so I ALWAYS took pictures of her. Documenting her life with photos and memories became such a priority to me that I easily kept the disposable camera companies in business.
From her birth, and throughout her life to the present day, I not only make certain that my daughter’s life is celebrated, but more importantly, I ensure that she will never have to go through life wondering what or who she looked like. These photos and memories are for her and her children as much as they are for me.
Fast forward to when my son came along. The only thing that had changed were the times, and at this point in my life, I included a video recorder to my arsenal of ‘memory making tools’. Not only did I take a ton of photos of him throughout his life, but I also took lots of videos.
Like his sister, I made sure my son would never have to question how much hair he had, the color of his eyes, or who he looked like. He would know!
When I had Paige, my youngest baby, things changed again. At this point in my life, my pictures and videos were taken via cell phone. This was also when Facebook was popular.
Like so many other people, I was posting pictures of my baby to social media, and the positive feedback I received from my friends and family surprised me. Over time, a few people reached out to me privately to say that they thought I should research photography because the pictures I was taking of Paige were amazing. I had “the eye”, they said, and a gift for taking beautiful pictures.
I thought to myself, “Yeah right. You're saying that because you're my friend/family member and you love me.”
But then a few more people approached me saying the same thing, and I thought to myself, “Could that many people be wrong? Should I really consider this?”
After discussing this with my husband, who happened to agree with everyone, I began to seriously entertain the idea. In my heart, it really did make sense! I had always loved photography and from as far back as I can remember it had always been an important part of my life. Honestly, it never occurred to me that my love for photos was something that I could turn into a career until people started planting the seed in my head.
Making the decision to pursue photography was not an easy one. I would go back and forth; one minute, I would love the idea so much, but then doubt would soon follow. Fear would set in, and I would remind myself that I knew NOTHING about photography. I mean, nothing!
I was that person who never took my compact camera out of its auto setting because I was afraid that if I accidentally touched something, or changed something, I would mess it all up, and then have no idea how to fix it!
I pondered over various concerns, such as: “Is this something I could learn? Could I actually be good at it?” But one of the beliefs that I struggled with was the idea that I could start a career in my thirties. Although I was not ‘using a walker’ kind of old, I also wasn’t as young as I used to be.
I often asked myself, “Do people my age actually start teaching themselves a new craft and then turn that into a career?” I don’t think I was intentionally trying to talk myself out of pursuing this dream, but my fears and anxiety were no joke.
Unfortunately, the way that I was raised, we were not encouraged to chase our dreams. You don't take those kinds of risks, and you certainly don't just wake up one day and decide to become an entrepreneur. No one in my family had ever done that, so I had no point of reference to follow or role models to imitate. As a matter of fact, my sister was the only person in my family to graduate college, so starting my own business was not something that I would have ever been encouraged to do, nor believed I could do.
However, times had changed, and at this point in my life, I DID have people who believed in me, and they all encouraged me to chase after my dreams. The people who MATTERED believed in me and supported me, which made all the difference in the world.
Their support began to take root as confidence began to grow inside of me and before you know it, I started to believe in myself and my dream of becoming a professional photographer. And then I knew: “I'm gonna do this!” Yes, the idea really scared me, and stepping out of my comfort zone scared me, but I wasn’t going to let fear hold me back! I was going to give it all I had!
Not having a camera did not stunt or slow the process of learning for me. Although I only had the camera on my phone, I wasn’t going to waste any time, so I decided to take the first step toward realizing my newly found dream and I downloaded Photoshop. If you know anything about Photoshop, you know it is one of the most intricate and intimidating programs available. You can do one thing a million different ways!
My friend Todd spent time on the phone with me and we would work on the same image together and he would go on to explain the basics of the tools. I'll never forget the first image I edited without any assistance.
I look back on that image now and think, “ Holy cow, that's terrible!” but we all start somewhere and THAT is where I started!
I even started posting some of these pictures on my Facebook page, “Hey, look what I did to this photo in Photoshop”. I received so much love and support from the people in my life who continued to encourage me. That support fueled my passion to do more and learn more. They made me want to keep on going!
I began joining photography related groups on Facebook and that is when my education moved into the next state and things started getting serious. I was a lurker. I had nothing to contribute to the groups at this early stage in my development, but I took notes religiously and soaked up any bit of knowledge that I could from my peers.
In late 2014, my husband told me he wanted to buy me a REAL camera for Christmas, so I started researching my options. I eventually went with the Nikon D3200 bundle, which came with a kit lens.
Fast forward to Christmas morning. There it was, under my tree! I acted completely surprised when I unwrapped it! I was so happy! Then I set the new camera, still in its box, on my kitchen table where, I promise you, it sat for days before I had the courage to open it up.
Again, I knew absolutely nothing about photography or cameras, so I was very afraid that I was going to take it out of the box, press something that maybe I shouldn't have, and I was going to break it. This was too expensive to break!
Instead, I opened the box just to take the manual out, and kind of thumbed through that. And between the manual, YouTube, and the help of my brother Kenny, who had also been a photographer, I was able to set up the basics.
Taking the camera out of the box was scarier to me then opening Photoshop was, but, once I set it all up, I wasted no time at all! I will never forget the very first test image that I took. It was of Paige while she was eating at the kitchen table.
When I saw how sharp the image was, and how in focus her eyes were, and how beautiful her hair looked, I was HOOKED! From that moment, I knew without a doubt that I was a photographer, an actual photographer. Any doubts that I may have had before were completely gone after taking those first pictures!
Seeing those photos on the back of my camera not only solidified the idea that I was going to become a real photographer, but more importantly, that I was going to be good at it!
Fast forward six years and I could not be prouder of how far I have come!! I eat, sleep, and breathe photography! And not only have I continued to hone my craft with constant education and practice, but I am building an impressive portfolio.
I want to give a special thank you to my daughter Paige, who inspired me and has grown up in front of the camera and is a complete natural. She is a photographer's dream. She takes direction well and she has ‘the look’. I've learned so much with her as my muse.
My desire to learn and become a better photographer is unwavering because my passion is just as strong today as it was back then.
Thank you to all who have believed in me and pushed me, for without you, I wouldn't be on one of the best rides in my life!
Special thanks to,
Paige
Travis
Todd
Donna
Kenny
Steve
Paul K
Rachel
0 Comments