My Journey as a Photographer

Back in 2010, I got my first camera. It was a small blue digital Kodak camera that my dad had bought me for Christmas (I still have it to this day). I remember being so infatuated with that camera and just taking pictures of everything. Flowers, bees, trees, shoes, you name it I probably had a picture of it. A year later my grandpa would get me a new camera which I still have to this day as well. When I got that camera I started taking photos of people and not just objects. My sister and some of my friends were my subjects. In 2012 I started a Facebook page for my photography, thinking that it would be easier to maintain my photos. By this time I was using a Nikon camera that one of my mom's friends was letting me borrow(thanks Jennifer!). I had already by this point photographed a few people but I never made them pay because I thought they could help be my free advertisement.

In 2013, on my 18th birthday to be exact, my mom bought me my first ever DSLR camera. When I tell you that I was incredibly excited I mean it!! I had been eyeballing the Nikon D3400 for months and I finally had it in my hands!!! I was photographing people but I still wasn't charging anyone, and if I did I only charged them fifty dollars, which obviously wasn't smart. The other big mistake I made was I never held much of a social media appearance. I've learned that for photographers social media is your greatest Ally. The only time I posted anything was just to post pictures on Facebook. I never tried to promote my business like the other photographers I knew. I didn’t want to take any risks. To be completely honest, it was because I was living in fear. I had a close relative of mine tell me that I would never be successful as a photographer and that really hit me right in the tender bits of my heart. So I was constantly living this lie that I would never be successful and I was too afraid to take risks. Any business owner can tell you that taking risks is key for your growth.

I spent the next seven, yes seven, years feeling completely unworthy of my craft. I really couldn't tell you how many times I wanted to give up(it was a lot). I had a number of people telling me that my hard work would pay off, but I really did not feel like it would. However, God knew exactly what was gonna happen. Currently, I am working at a small local restaurant and my bosses also own a deli. Late in January of this year they asked me if I could photograph some of the food so they could post them on social media and even print them off. I had already done some photos for them when they first opened the deli so I was obviously on board with the idea. So I went to good ole Pinterest to get some inspiration and I immediately went to Walmart to purchase a number of items for this project. I was going to give this my all!! After that day I felt so accomplished, I felt like I had finally gotten my "mojo" back.

In February I decided I was going to take a leap of faith and really dive into my business. I took the entire month to learn from other photographers on lighting, posing, camera settings, etc. I worked up what I wanted to do every single month for the whole year. I was so ready! I had a big project prepared for March, it was going to be empowering and even free as just a sign of gratitude to new clients. Unfortunately, not a single person reached out to me for my project. I honestly couldn't tell you how defeated I felt. My first big project in my new business endeavor and it completely failed. Shortly after that, this lovely thing called Covid happened. Of course the year that I decided to put my heart and soul into this a virus would happen causing people to stay inside. I hope you can feel my eyes rolling from all the chaos. After a few months I started seeing friends of mine who are also photographers having shoots left and right. So now I'm thinking to myself, is there something wrong with me? I was really starting to lose hope.

Even though I felt defeated there was a small light at the end of my tunnel. I was asked to photograph a friend's wedding in September. So even if I didn't have anything else throughout the rest of the year at least I would have this. To give you some context, I was averaging about 2 photoshoots a year…..a year! Most photographers have two a day or a week. I had already done some headshots for an old co-worker and the photos for work so I was content to have at least one more for the year. A few weeks before the wedding, my good friend Kenna came to my house to give some pointers about editing. She also gave me permission to use her Lightroom account(she's the real MVP). I wasn't very good at editing so I spent the next few weeks before the big day just playing with Lightroom and learning what worked for me. The wedding came and went and I felt a breath of fresh air. I actually had some pictures to post on social media too! A week or two later I had an old friend from school message me for photos. Holy crap, you mean I'll have four photoshoots this year!!?? This is great!

After that session, I finally felt like I had it! Something was working out, I didn't know what it was, but I didn't care!! I decided to do some mini Christmas shoots, to try and bring in more people. After spending way too much money, posting on social media just about everyday and countless hours of just figuring out the small details I had eleven satisfied clients for Christmas. Eleven……….do you know how exciting that was for me?! After that I just continued to gather more clients. I've had more business in 2020 than I ever have in the last seven years!! I'm so incredibly blessed to be where I am today and thankful for all the support from my friends and family. I really wouldn't be here today sharing my journey if I had quit(obviously). I can't wait to share more from my heart with all of you. Thank you for reading this super long first blog!!

Love, your friendly neighborhood photographer.

Below: Photos taken by me anywhere between 2012-2020.

Equipment used(From left to right): Panasonic Lumix DC-G9, Nikon D3400(2-4), GE X500(5-6)