I love people. . . your personality, your quirks, all of it! I sincerely believe that you are beautiful, and my goal is to show you just how true that is. Your self-perceived imperfection and flaws are perfect to me, just the way you are, and I aim to help your confidence shine through, so the world can see it too! Here’s my story, here’s my why.
My interest in photography honestly started on a whim. When I was around 20 years old, I was going out with some friends, and spontaneously stopped by Best Buy and purchased my first DSLR, a Canon T3i; my sister and her husband had the exact same model, so I decided to give it a try. I went exploring with my friends that weekend, took some horrendous photos, and even caught some super creative photos of some frost on the roof of my car. There wasn’t anything that just talked to me and pulled me in, I just liked taking photos. I started off mostly taking landscape photos, and then, like most of my hobbies, it ultimately slowed down as I was distracted by nursing school.
I became a nurse for much the same reason I enjoy photography; I love people! Not long after graduating, I moved to the South, where I worked in an emergency department. Slowly, photography rolled back into my life. At this point I was all for it! I was reading articles, watching videos, and taking courses. Just as I continue to do so now, I wanted to improve and hone my skills as a photographer. During this point in my career, I was quite randomly introduced to my coworkers relative. No really, my coworker said, “she’s crying,” told me why, and then “can you please take her photos, she’s graduating, and maybe it will cheer her up!” The nurse in me said “YES,” but the photographer in me said “uh, me?” After I met her, and as we went out around Birmingham taking her photos, I witnessed the tears dry up, her red face soften, her smile brighten, and her confidence shine. Months later she said, “thank you so much for this! It really did turn my crappy day into a day I’ll never forget!” This is the most important story of my career.
Working with her taught me so much about myself. Yes, as a nurse, I knew I made people comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. As a photographer, though, I can do more than that! By being myself, having no expectations of my clients, and believing in them more than they do themselves, photography gives me the opportunity to light them up (sometimes quite literally) with confidence!