A little over four years ago, I had a dream planted into my head.  A little seed that was planted there overnight, and quite suddenly. I was going to be a photographer.

Considering I had a Masters Degree in Education and spent four years teaching middle school math, and NEVER having any prior interest in photography, or any knowledge base. . . well, this was enough to raise my husband’s eyebrows and I think he may have laughed a little. And without discouraging me, because he is very good at taking fun new ideas and running with them in every direction possible (which is why we get along so well), he said, “Well, you’d better go take some classes.” And I did.  I took ONE class at this little building in the city and try to suck all the juice out of every second there. And a dream began to grow, slowly and steadily. Until I got my first inquiry from a family I didn’t know–a friend of a friend–who wanted me to take some family pictures for them.  And did I run toward that opportunity with open arms, embracing the dream that was within reach? No.  I didn’t. I came up with an excuse on why I could do it. My camera is having some problems lately–and I need to send it in to the shop. Maybe we could set something up when it’s fixed? Pathetic, I know. But you have to remember, I am one of the world’s most awkward people when it comes to social situations and carrying on a conversation with people. At least, that’s how I view myself anyways. A couple months later, after pathetically running away from a few other people–a friend from my MOPS group asked if I would do their family pictures. At that point, I guess I decided enough was enough with running away from something that I actually was trying to run toward.  And I said yes. I charged them $45, and gave them all the files I ended up with that I thought were “decent”. 4 1/2 years ago, I had my first paying family. And by golly, you could tell I really didn’t know what I was doing.  Here are a few images from our session.

Bless their hearts, my friend came back at the end of the following year for a holiday mini session. Thankfully, at that point, I had improved some. I had lighting down a little bit better. Composition was still a bit of an issue–notice the very angled close up shots. But all in all, I think it’s quite obvious that there was some improvement in the year.  I had finally stopped making excuses in 2010, and tried with everything I had to build some sort of business from scratch. I also had a new baby that year, so obviously, things were a little tricky with adding a new family member and trying to be a business woman (something which I had no knowledge of at all).

I was honored to see this family for a third time for another holiday mini session.  They snagged a last minute spot that was opened up when a family suddenly could not make their session.  It’s always so nice for me to see families come back–to watch their kids grow.  And to be able to provide them with some fun images to replace old ones on their walls, to give as gifts and to put away for the future. I’m so thankful for those families who trusted me from the beginning, even though I may have needed a lot more practice. And I’m thankful for those families who continue to see me and trust me now, even though I still need more practice! This is an ever changing business, and it will always be my goal to seek ways to improve my skills, my knowledge base and the way I run my business. What a joy it’s been though, to be able to see improvement, and to meet so many wonderful people–yes, even though I feel like I am a very socially awkward person. I sometimes tell this to people and they seem surprised that I feel that way about myself–I think it’s common. And I’m thankful that this whole photography thing has forced me out of my shell. Being on the outside is so much more rewarding!