How I Started My Photography Journey…
My boyfriend, Paul, and I have currently been dating for (almost) nine wonderful years. When I say wonderful, I don’t mean sunshine and rainbows, but they are definitely the best years of my life thus far. He has always found a way of supporting me in ways I didn’t know I needed support, yet somehow the support comes at exactly the right time…
In 2014, Paul and I had been dating for almost two years and he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. My baby sister had purchased a camera in the beginning of that year and I thought that was so cool. She and I had always loved taking pictures because our dad loved photography and even majored in it in college. Off the cuff, I told Paul that I wanted a camera. I was just giving him options and different price points. Come Christmas Day, he delivered a Nikon D5200 starter kit to me. I was blown away. Nobody had ever spent that kind of money on me expecting nothing in return. You would think that I would have put that camera to good use being that it meant so much to me… but no. The camera sat there day in and day out and when we would go on adventures together, Paul would always say “and WHERE is your camera?!?” Oops.
I took a few photos here and there, but never had a burning passion for it.
Fast forward a year, Paul asks me what I want for Christmas (2015). I say, well, maybe the reason I don’t use my camera as much is because I don’t have a way to do anything with them after. I don’t have a c0mputer to edit them on so I can print them out looking nice. So what does he do? That’s right. Laptop under the Christmas tree. This guy…
Still, I don’t use the camera that often. We move apartments a few times and the camera sits in my closet just waiting for some use.
Here comes 2017 and my baby sister graduates from high school. She’s the first person I photograph for a reason. And I fall in love….
I was so proud of those dang pictures! I tell you what!
But then my full-time “real job” career takes off and I’m busier than ever creating the dream job I thought I always wanted. I’m a department manager with my own store for the best retailing company in the world!
Then my best friend of 15+ years finds out she’s pregnant. I take pictures of her because she asks. And the flame gets a little bigger. I do a couple of “session” for her once the baby girl is born and I think “wow, this could be super cool”.
Then it’s March 2020… and the pandemic hits. None of us know what to think or what to do. We’re not sure if we’re all going to die or if this is mass hysteria. A lot of my employees were high school/college aged kids and almost everyone cancels in person graduation for fear of spreading the virus. So my job decided to throw a ceremony and party for the employees and I decided to bring my camera to document the occasion. Those photos are some of my most viewed photos. The emotion that was captured… pure joy, nerves, elation, uncertainty… was the very thing that sent my small fire into billowing flames that touched the sky.
So I tell myself that I’m going to start this business and photograph people and tell their stories for the rest of my life. In November of 2020, I start asking friends and family and coworkers to let me photograph them as practice. Some people volunteer excitedly, some people not so much, and some people I give no choice.
In January of 2021, I file a DBA with Bexar County and book my first session in March of 2021.
In July of 2021, I made enough money to buy a new camera and a new computer.
They say it takes a village to raise a kid but I think it takes a village to raise anybody. Even when you’re an adult, you need a village. A village of people that support you and love you and encourage you even when you don’t know what you need or how you’re going to get it.
If you’ve made it this far, consider me part of your village. I’m here for you and I will cheer you on for whatever you need.
Now, please view some of my favorite photos, from the beginning of my journey until now. And give a little grace to your girl for those earlier photos. I know not what I do!
Much love,
-E
