Why I became a photographer

Photo taken by Prickly Pear Photography

     Do you ever feel that you were made for something specific in life, and either you have found it, or you are still searching? I didn't know until recently, but this was/is photography for me. Obviously, I love being a mother and a wife, but I am talking about having a passion that fuels your creative side. Even after graduating and getting my degree, I was never fully satisfied. I wanted more and didn't feel the passion that you see in movies or read about in books. I just wanted more; I wanted a place that felt like a home away from home. Growing up, I truly believed that I wasn't destined to do much of anything because most of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do already. Thinking back to it all now, mine was always photography even if I wasn't very good back then.  

     As a teenager, the only cameras I could get my hands on were disposable cameras. I went through so many of those before I got my first camera that took batteries. I even once traded a CD for a disposable camera, which was obviously a great deal to me. I met my best friend, Constance, when I was 13 and we bonded over our love for taking photos (among other things). We used to take photos of anything and everything; trash cans, vehicles, mall clothes that we couldn't afford, badly dyed hair etc. The hardest part was taking these to the store to wait for them to develop and realizing that only a few came out decent, but that was the fun part of film.  

     I went through many cheap cameras in my late teens and 20's. At the end of 2018, I decided to get myself my very first dslr camera. In January 2019, my friend Brittney really wanted photos done for a pregnancy announcement and I had just gotten a Canon Rebel T6 a couple months prior, so I offered to take them for her. Listen, I didn't even read the manual and shot all the photos on auto. I went home right after and bought a random preset off Etsy and sent them over to her one at a time through email. I am sure some of you creatives are cringing at the thought of taking "professional" photos with a brand new out of the box camera.  She did love them though, and that's all that mattered in the end. After that day, I told myself I really wanted to learn my camera. 
 

Photo taken by Rachel Strelka

   My biggest goal, was that I wanted to learn manual. I wanted my camera to take amazing pictures, because I was creating them with the settings that I was using with the information that I had learned. I also wanted to learn lighting, posing, editing etc. So, I created a page called "Seeing Life through a Lens" on Facebook. I started asking everyone I knew if I could take their picture for free. With each person I got better, I learned something new at each session I did. I would take the pictures, go home and write down what I did wrong to do better the next time. I started getting on You Tube, buying books, reading articles and asking other photographers. I wanted to learn as much as I could. Over 8 months, I did over 25 free shoots and it was worth every single one. I now shoot with a Canon Mark II and my main lens is a 35mm 1.4 L series. I also have a 50mm 1.8 and hope to upgrade this to a 50mm 1.4 in the future. Photography is an art in itself. To control what my camera does and the photo result in the exact image that you were imagining is an amazing feeling. The most exciting part is that there is always something new to learn in photography, so I can continue to grow.  

      Personally, I think when learning new things its okay to ask for help. I was lucky enough to have good friends to help me along the way. Now that I am charging for my sessions, I am eager to branch out to help others and work with other photographers. There was always new things to learn every day, so why not help others, because perhaps I will learn something too. I am still trying to decide where my path will take me. Up until recently, I was only working with seniors, couple and families, but I have since branched out into boudoir. I normally only do photo shoots outdoors around sunsets, so working in a studio was foreign to me. Last weekend, I did a photo shoot in a studio, so i could market for my soon to be marathon weekends coming up on January 18th and January 26th. I absolutely loved working in a studio doing something different like boudoir. I know my heart is in portrait photography and I really love the look of magazine type photos. So, I think I am starting to find my place in the photography world. 

Photo taken by Shelbie Vickery

     I am incredibly lucky to have a husband that is supportive of this. I am a stay at home mom, so i get to spend a lot of time working on my business. I have so much planned for this coming year and I plan to go into 2020 with a positive attitude. We only have a one life to live, so why not make the most out of it? My end goal/dream is to become a traveling photographer. I love adventure and photography, so what is stopping me from combining the two? 

     There shouldn't be a timeline on how life is suppose to be. It's okay to pick up a new hobby at any point when you want to take detour from your normal day to day. Life should be lived with excitement and without fear. If there's something calling out to you like photography called to me, I say go grab it! Take that dream of yours and run with it. Try not to fear failing, because when you actually put your mind to something, I am sure you can do amazing things!

XOXO
Kristen