The Begining
This journey started when I was a sophomore in high school and my closest friends. When there was an event we would always take pictures with one our dads cameras, (it was always the dads that had a camera ahaha.) So when we would go out to take pictures it would just be my firends and I so I was really comfortable with being in front of the camera because I could be silly and be myself. I never thought much of wanting to get a camera for myself, but i knew that I loved taking pictures with everyone, I didn't even know how to work settings let alone what different settings were. Then I took a class that taught me what the setting were, and what they do. I learned how to shoot in Manual and ended up falling in love with taking photos. From there I continued to try my very best in class and take the best photos out of everyone. Sadly my favorite photo was not the class favorite so it pushed me to be better the following day and eventually got there. The thing is we were taking photos of plants & anything outside such as light poles, buildings and more. I already had the love to take photos when I went out with my friends so I knew I loved taking pictures of people more.
Getting My First Camera
The day that I got my driver's license I started working at my first job and learned what the value of money was like. At that point, I still didn't know if I was going to college or not because I didn't know what was required of me. Throughout high school, I felt that school was getting in the way of so many cool opportunities that I could've been a part of that I had to miss because I couldn't miss school. So when I was saving up my money from my job I was just putting money there thinking that I was going to put it in there for me to move out one day. But as senior year came around I still hadn't looked for any colleges or applied to any. So I was stressed because all I wanted to do was graphic design/ fashion design for my church. So I applied for that job and made it to the second round of interviews but then I didn't get it. I was extremely sad and disappointed in myself. I thought that was the end of it and I had nothing, but that wasn't true. I ended up purchasing my first big purchase which was a G7X Mark III ( a point and shoot camera.) Then fell in love with it I loved making little vlog videos with it but also the pictures on it were amazing. Then I thought to myself that maybe that's what I'm made for to take pictures and videos. I mean my first big purchase was a camera lol. So from there, I saved 2 months' worth of tips and paychecks to afford my camera. That taught me a lot about working for the things that I wanted, when the day finally came to be able to purchase my camera I was shaking in excitement.
Having My Camera
When my camera finally came in the mail I was so anxious to receive it that I was checking the shipping every hour every day. When it was delivered I was at work and everyone knew how excited I was about getting it and how long I saved up to purchase this workhorse. They let me drive to my home pick it up and come back, when I got back I unboxed it and showed everyone my new camera. All I wanted to do at that point was go home and look at everything, all my hard work paid off and was finally in my hands for the first time. The rest of the day seemed to go by so slow because I was only waiting until we could head home. I finally got home and later realized that I had no clients to actually take pictures of, so I texted one of my coworkers if they wanted to model for me for free, and she agreed! I had a 50's wedding dress that I thrifted from Goodwill in Arkansas, and it was a perfect fit for her. We picked out a day we both had a day off and went on a two hour shoot and I was absolutely happy the whole time. I also asked a few of my friends if they wanted to model for me and they agreed so from there I was doing really good I was able to start charging for sessions, and my youth leader was getting proposed to and her now husband reached out to me and asked if I could take their photos, and I agreed. 7 months later I photographed their wedding ( my first wedding, so at that point they were my first paid clients and my first wedding that I had done within 8 months of starting my business! The rest is history, and I'm so beyond grateful for all the opportunities that I have gotten to experience since starting. I truly believe that I have the best job ever because all I see are happy people, people in love, and people who are stepping into new chapters of their lives. Now here I am almost 2 years later living my best life happier then ever!
