If I can be honest for a minute, I’ll tell you a little bit about this journey of mine.

Almost 6 years ago–following the excitement of our wedding and an awesome experience with some post-wedding photos–I picked up a Nikon D40. It was a DSLR stashed in our house…a gift from my in-laws that neither of us knew how to use. Armed with a new-found desire to be a photographer after being a ‘model’ at a shoot, and a budding-baby fever, I posted an add on Craigslist and offered to shoot families/babies for free in order to grow my “portfolio” –and I use that term loosely.

Here’s the honest part: I had no idea what I was doing. I was shooting in auto-mode. I was using on-camera flash. The results? Well, they can speak for themselves. 

Every rule that exists in newborn photography…well, I broke them. And not in a good way. I’m grateful, of course, to the family that let me into their home and near their baby, but…if I could apologize today, I most certainly would.

Fast forward a year…I was still on this “I want to be a photographer!” train. But, I was also still on the “I have no idea what I’m doing!” train. I decided to take a workshop with Big Star Studios. I loved their work (they had taken fabulous photos of me that I’ll cherish forever!), and I assumed I would learn an endless amount, and walk away from the day with a newfound education in all things photography.
And, despite all of their help, I knew nothing when I left. I was still shooting in auto-mode, so when I over heard them talking about their “f-stops” and “ISO”…well, I just twiddled my thumbs and went about my day. I didn’t bother to ask for help. And, when the day was over and the shoots were done, I uploaded my .jpeg photos to my iPad, and edited with my downloaded apps from the app store :/

I shot for at least two more years, not charging….and not growing. I was too scared to leave auto-mode. I didn’t have a clue as to what I was actually doing. My composition was off, I didn’t understand lighting, and I would often miss focus. From time to time, I’d take a good shot, but there was no consistency to my work.

Eventually, I took the dive into shooting in manual. I figured out my camera, and I made every attempt to figure out how to shoot. But, it felt like I was stuck in my own growth, especially when it came to newborn photography. It all looked so easy. I mean, how hard could it possibly be to get those perfect little curled up shots the other photographers were getting?! —so, I reached out to other local photographers until I found someone who would be willing to mentor me in person. I mentored with Tracy at Memories by TLC in Raleigh, North Carolina–it was a huge investment, and a total game changer. I may have been a self-taught photographer, but, despite being a mom myself, I didn’t know the first thing about posing a baby.

I’ve since gone on to take online editing workshops with Meg Bitton, and a newborn and family eWorkshop with Rachel Vanoven; I signed up for an online Newborn Retreat this past January, and I have an in-person workshop in Wisconsin with Twig & Olive in August. Once upon a time, I spent endless hours and ridiculous amounts of money on my undergrad and master’s degrees—I needed to view my education for photography in a similar light. After all, this is my passion, and I’m so eager to grow and learn.

Am I where I want to be? No. I don’t know if I ever will be. But, I take that as a good sign…a sign that I can look back on my past work and see the good, but also see where improvement is needed. I’m forever grateful to the families who helped me on this journey (and I’m forever sorry for the less-than-technically-perfect images I provided them with 😉 ).

Photography isn’t even my full-time job. So, if I’m going to spend all of my free evenings and weekends shooting, and all of my nighttimes editing, I want to make sure I’m constantly improving and always sending my clients the best images I can possibly take.

I still have room to grow. Lots of room to grow. But I’m at a place where I am proud of the work I do, and am humbled by the journey.

It’s been a long road, and I’ve still got a lot of distance to travel.

Ps. Feedback post-shoot is what keeps me going 😉 As long as I keep getting responses from client’s like this, I’ll know I’m heading in the right direction <3