stacy’s story

I did not find photography, photography found me. About ten years ago I discovered that if I put black and white film in my point and shoot camera, I could on occasion get some really great pictures of my kids. I would follow them around snapping away and out of a roll of 24 get maybe two frameable pictures. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. Then, when my third child was born in 2003 my grandmother gave me her old film camera and in the right lighting it took breathtaking images. I was hooked.

But I think my journey into being a professional photographer actually began when a friend asked me to take pictures of her daughter. Watching her as she gushed over the images left me wanting more. Now, looking back the pictures were not technically perfect; they were nothing that I would even dare to show a paying client now but her reaction was enough. I had an eye for the creative side of photography and I could learn the technical side.

So, I bought my first digital SLR camera, a Nikon D70. When it arrived I pulled it out of the box, so excited at the future that awaited me, so anxious to go out and find more people that I could share my magic with (LOL). And then a funny thing happened. I realized that I did not know the first thing about how to use this camera. How do I get the person in focus and everything behind them blurred out? How do I get their skin tone to look so creamy and delicious? How do I get the evening sun to light up the crown of their head like that? I opened up the manual; surely it would give me some morsel of information into how to to achieve these things. Nope. No such luck. So, I put the camera down for three months. I picked it up to take an occasional picture of my kids just to be reminded of how little I knew. After I got over pouting about how frustrated this expensive piece of equipment could make me feel, I decided to do something about it. No more sitting around feeling bad for myself, I was going to figure it out no matter how long it took me. I spent countless hours surfing the Internet, looking at other photographers’ sites and one day I discovered a photography forum! I hit the jack pot, more information than I could possibly imagine was laid out before me. So I slowly pieced all that information together, took some photography courses, read every book I could get my hands on and eventually pieced together enough information to understand the basic functions of my camera. I somehow, mostly by trial and error became happier and happier with the quality of my photos and slowly learned how to piece together a business.

Looking back, I spent an incredible amount of time and energy (not to mention money) trying to break into this industry. I truly believe that anything worth having is worth working for, and it is hard work. But I also believe that there is an easier path than the one I took. Photography means so much to me in so many ways and I am eternally grateful that it found its way into my life. To be at the point where I am teaching others is an incredibly humbling experience and I have found that I love teaching as much as I love shooting. I am a lucky girl