I have loved photography since I was a teenager and have always known that I wanted to be a wedding photographer. My parents got me a little point and shoot film camera for my 15th birthday and I took it everywhere I went. All my friends and family knew they could count on me to show up at an event with a camera in hand to capture the moment. I have always been intrigued by wedding photographers when we went to weddings and I just knew that was what I wanted to do when I grew up.
My mom pursued an opportunity for me to work in Jim LaForce’s studio in Chico for a few months when I was 17. I worked in the lab and sat in on a few studio sessions. That just made me more excited to pursue photography but those plans were laid aside for a year or two as I married my high school sweetheart and we had our first baby. Soon I was taking all these pictures of my baby girl and I really wanted to learn more about taking great pictures. This was back in the day before the internet so there was not easy way to learn other than go to a class. I signed up for a B&W photography class at Butte College and fell in love. Soon I had even talked my husband into building me a dark room in my laundry room. I would sneak down there during my daughter’s nap and work on pictures that I was developing. Photography was becoming a driving passion of mine and I started to pursue my AA in photography at Butte College.
Life changed quickly though and soon Josh and I moved to Phoenix and then around the country so that he could finish his Master’s degree. I spent a couple years taking care of my babies in tiny apartments reading all I could on photography (We had internet by then!).When we finally landed in Visalia, CA two years later I began to work for a wedding photographer. I spent a couple of summers learning from her the inside of wedding photography before we moved to Reno in 2006. I opened my own wedding photography business in Reno in 2006 photographing weddings in Reno, Tahoe and the surrounding areas for the next 5 years. I have continued my photography education through books, photography forums, seminars and classes.
Our last home in Reno had a space for me to have my own studio for working with babies as well as a space for meeting with wedding clients for consults. I really loved having a space of my own and can not wait until I have my own space again. Until then I am meeting with clients at Starbucks for consults and only doing location photography. With the move to Redding I see a great opportunity here expand my business. In the next year we hope to purchase a home with property for a onsite studio space where I can photograph babies, children, and families. My other passion besides weddings is children’s portraiture. We may also have room on the property for me to do onsite outdoor sessions. Hopefully it will all fall into place like I have planned in my head!
My journey into photography has been a wonderful experience for me. I had always thought that I would do weddings when my babies were out of the house so it was a very distant dream for a long time. After being trained in it I realized that I could do it now and I could do well at it! I have enjoyed learning how to run my business better and giving my clients an experience they will enjoy and seek again and again as they move through the important moments. I have seniors that I have photographed asking me to do their weddings and brides that I have had in the past ask me to take portraits of their newborns. It is so fun to watch these couples grow into families and I look forward to capturing a lifetime of memories for them!
Because no blog post is complete without a picture, here is one of me and my baby this last summer. Isn’t she cute?!
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