I thought it fitting for my first blog post to be about my photography journey and why I got started! My love for photography started in High School in two ways. I used to run around my backyard with my phone and see how much detail I could capture in the plants and critters in our backyard. I loved the intricacies in the leaves and flowers and wanted to see what I could capture in a photograph.
The second way I fell in love with photography was actually being in front of the camera, not behind it. My best friend Sammi had a camera that she got from her mom for her birthday, and we used to go out on photoshoots all the time. Sammi was always the one behind the camera taking pictures of my other best friend Sarah and me. This is where I fell in love with posing and learned a lot from the client's point of view and the importance of being a great personality and making people feel comfortable from behind the camera, something Sammi excelled at.
Shortly after we began our usual photoshoots, I moved away from Maryland, and my friends Sarah and Sammi and I moved to Oklahoma. None of my friends here were into photography, and I desperately wanted to go on photoshoots again. I got my first camera that next Christmas, a Rebel T6 (A cannon event in every photographer's journey). I began taking pictures of my friends and absolutely loved making people feel confident in front of the camera.
I did photography as a hobby but never as a serious career choice or paid gigs. I just did it because it was fun. I remember the first time that I thought about Photography as a serious career choice. I was driving with my cousin Andrew on our way to the college we both attended telling him that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. He said, “What about photography?” and I remember thinking, “Oh yeah, if only that could work. That would be a dream.” He continued, “You are so talented with photography and when I think of you I think of photography.” At that point, it was just a dream. Him pointing that out was the first seed that made me start toiling with it in my mind and trying to see if this was something I really could do for the rest of my life, and how to even start a business with it.
Fast forward, I met my husband Zack. He had already been doing video professionally for years. He had been a lead Videographer for a wedding company throughout his college career. He was the one who put it into action for me. It’s crazy to think about now, but I had not thought about weddings until I met him. I just did pictures of friends and maybe senior photos so weddings were a faraway idea for me. But he pushed me to get better at my craft and encouraged me that this is something I could turn into a career.
Flash forward again, we’ve been married for 2 years and launched Ideal Wedding Photo together, and I could not be more excited for the future of our business! I have so many ideas for developing my photography and getting better, and that is an exciting place to be!
