I’ve been a photographer for about 7 years now. That’s crazy to say (or write) out loud. Basically, I got the urge to get my dad’s old Pentax film camera out and buy a couple rolls of film. I had never even loaded a roll of film prior to this said urge. So, I hopped my pretty bum on over to YouTube and got a tutorial on loading film. I also watched some basic camera demos on exposure, aperture and ISO. That’s about it. I headed on out to The Toledo Botanical Garden with my then boyfriend Ryan. We used up that roll of film on some nice landscape scenes as well as each other. I also took a roll to the Smokey Mountains. Lets just say some were grainy, some blurry. Take a gander at these!
I used those lessons and shutter snaps to carry on my new found love…I bought a used DIGITAL DSLR from a friend. Now we are REALLY talking LOL. It was so used that it had a crooked sensor. This didn’t effect the images so I was OK with it. I used the savings to really get my feel for correctly exposing and learning the ins and outs of photography. It was about a year later that I upgraded to a new full frame Nikon and started photographing friends and family.
Fast forward to my first born birth…That’s when it ALL changed. My husband bought me my first “prime” lens. It was a 50mm. Perfect for portraits. I took my sons “newborn” photos with what knowledge I had and captured his innocence with what creative energies I had after having a natural birth. I fell IN LOVE. I couldn’t put my camera down after that. I captured so many images of him. Playing with light, composition and exposure, I learned so much about photography thanks to my son. Here is one of the first photos I took my my son.
Let me also tell you that in addition to being a photographer and full time mommy and wife, I am also a RN. So with that being said, I will fast forward about a year. I was talking with a co worker about her son recently becoming engaged and how she was looking for someone to take some engagement photos. Insert ears raising upward with visions of golden hour here. I told her how I recently took up photography as a “hobby” and how I would do them if she was interested. I did them. They were great. Everyone on the social inter webs loved them. I had a message inbox full of inquires. That was the defining moment in my portrait photography journey. I booked a few sessions after that and the rest is history. I started a Facebook page (because you know EVERYTHING has to be Facebook official) and a short time later, my husband created my website. Here are a few from that engagement session.
We all have a story. This, all in all, is a summary of mine. I started out with a curious mind and a Pentax. I’ve had some pretty awesome adventures within the realm of photography. I am beyond excited for all of the adventures that lie ahead!
That is all. Thanks for reading. I’ll leave you with a fun long exposure self portrait I recently took!
Peace Friends 🙂
