Birmingham, Alabama | Wedding Photographer
I get asked this all. the. time. How did you get started? Did you go to school to learn how to be a photographer? How were you able to turn a hobby into a business? How do you balance motherhood and running a small business?
The sort-of short answer is that I did not have any plan to become a professional photographer, much less a wedding photographer. I was a banker. With a business degree in marketing. Working 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Until Harper. I knew I wanted to be home with her. I had a brand new camera and a brand new baby. I took lots of pictures of my new little muse. Every once in a while I would take a really good picture. Those few and far between “really good ones” spurred me on to figure out how to consistently achieve those results. And here’s the big secret of how I did this. Ready? I read my camera manual. You know, the one that actually comes in the box with your shiny, new camera. Not once, but dozens of times. I learned my camera. It was a tool that I was hungry to master. I wrestled with it. I took thousands of terrible pictures. Over time, consistency came. I started shooting images that I was happy with. I was proud to share them with family and friends. Friends started asking me to take photos of their kids. I wanted to do a good job, so I studied more. I taught myself how to use Photoshop and camera raw…and later, Lightroom (I actually won Photoshop from a contest on The Pioneer Woman‘s website, talk about a God-send!).
I rocked along for a few years shooting primarily family and newborn sessions. I was ready to learn something new and push myself again. I reached out to my friend and partner in crime and wedding-cake-eating, Hillary Gamble of JeVois Photography. She is primarily a wedding photographer. I wanted to learn from her, and she needed a reliable second shooter for her weddings. After shooting a multitude of weddings with her and working out all the nerves that come along with being entrusted to handle such a BIG day, I gained the confidence and working knowledge I needed to go it on my own. Weddings are so much fun to capture. I view them the same way that I view a family session, through the lens of storytelling (which I will expand on in another post).
As far as finding balance. Really, aren’t we all just doing our best? We set aside time each day to make sure our kids know they are known and loved deeply, and we hustle in the fringe hours. My turn around time is not where I want it to be. I am not as organized as I want to be. My website needs attention. I would love to take some online creative classes. There is so much room for improvement. BUT, my kids are only little one time. So, I do my best. Just like you.
