Why I Chose Photography

Everything I’ve read about starting your own business begins with finding your ‘why’.  Whether you’re opening a flower shop, starting a plumbing business, or teaching English to immigrants, you will only be successful if you identify your purpose for starting this venture.  For a long time I told myself that my ‘why’ was simply the fact that I want to be my own boss and I enjoy the time I spend focusing on photography, but in my heart I knew that wasn’t really it.  There was this draw to photography, and I couldn’t put that feeling in my heart into words, yet I knew deep down that it was my purpose.

Finally, after two years of deceiving myself with this notion that my ‘why’ was as simple as ‘be your own boss’, it finally hit me.  I was sitting at my day job, answering yet another upset resident’s questions, when I minimized my Outlook and this picture was my desktop background:

My desktop background is a slideshow of all 1000+ wedding and engagement photos we received from our photographer, and it was pure chance that this photo was up at this random moment.  The moment when I was feeling burnt out, exhausted, and ready to give up.  I looked at this photo and everything else in the world melted away, because in that moment I was transported back to that moment in time; walking through that greenhouse with my soon-to-be husband in the drizzling rain.

I don’t remember what he whispered in my ear in that moment, but our photographer, Max, captured my genuine happiness in a way I didn’t think was possible.  I was flooded with the same love and happiness I felt in that moment, just by looking at this picture two years later, and I was re-invigorated to push through the burn-out and the exhaustion and fight for my dream.  I don’t think Max had any idea he was giving me that gift when he agreed to capture our big day, but I will forever be grateful for it.

We can’t always put into words the desires we feel in our heart and our gut, and that is what caused me to simplify my ‘why’ in the beginning.  But today I can say with confidence that I know why I am a photographer.  I want to share that joy with the world.  I want to give each and every one of my clients the opportunity to be pulled back in time to relive the moments and seasons of our lives with the same raw emotion that I felt looking at that photo.

Every single one of my clients has a different story to tell, you deserve to have all the important moments along the way memorialized in a way that reflects your true selves. Let’s work together to make that happen.