"We all start somewhere!"
This saying is something that has really meant a lot to me lately, and has me reminiscing on how I found this passion so many years ago, and how I've grown from it into launching my own side business. So let's go back to 2011 to my FIRST EVER paid session, and my clients were: My Grandparents. They wanted to support my dreams, and after much negotiating (me saying no many times) my Grandma hands me $40 and refuses to take it back. So off we were to conduct their session. I brought out all of my "professional" lighting equipment (that I didn't really need) and set it up in my moms driveway. Took a couple of test shots and we were on our way.
They came out ready to go and dressed to the nines. I directed them to the best of my ability and took their portraits. In the middle of the session, this happened:
My Grandpa kept giving Grandma bunny ears, and she was so stern because "they were paying for this session and I was a 'professional!'" I remember my Grandpa laughing so hard (which made all of us laugh until our stomachs hurt)!
To this day, this is one of my most favorite images I have ever taken because it shows emotion. It shows personality. It shows authenticity. It shows their relationship. It shows how my grandparents are/were in person.
All of those reasons are why in my work today, you see emotion, personality, authenticity, and love. I capture this because I want people to know who you are as a person, and to feel like they know you when they see your picture. I also strive to do this because we will not be on this earth forever, and I want people to know who the REAL person was in these images. So if you are questioning whether to step in front of my camera (or anyone's camera for that matter), I would urge you to do it. Allow me to capture those raw emotions with you and your person, you and your kids, you and your friends, you and whomever you want. I promise these images will be ones you will cherish forever, because that is how I feel about this image. This was one of the last times I was able to see my Grandma in person, and i will never forget it.