it’s a question i get asked a lot. it’s a question i’ve always lightly touched on but never really gave much depth to. i'd like to think its because i'm my mother's daughter. she has always be super creative, one that rubbed her talent on everything she touched; including me and my three sisters. photography/art has always be in our lives since I can remember. it's what we did, well that and sports [we are a huge basketball family, but that's besides the point =]
i can give you the easy answer. i love color. i love the challenge. i love how when you get the perfect light, subject, composition, and moment, all at the same split second, magic appears right in front of your eyes. i can go on and on about these things. i can talk about how i love feeling invisible, yet important behind a lens.
but i would have to say that my mom is the main reason behind why i became a photographer. her creativeness and drive for art pushed me to want to have that same drive and passion she always showed. now i like to think that photography and being creative is also a genetic trait, but everyone is untitled to their own opinions.
there has been certain experiences in my life that lead me to become a photographer. when i was in sixth grade our entire class took a trip to yosemite national park for a week. and this may sound silly but during that whole trip i took hundreds of pictures [using a kodak disposable camera] of course. but there was one picture while we were hiking up to this amazing waterfall that i just snapped that always gave me hope as a child that i would one day say that i am a photographer. still till this day i look at that picture and know that i have always wanted to be a photographer and not just a career i chose. i think it chose me.
you get the question, "what do you want to do" career wise during high school a lot. and some know, some think they know, and then there's me who dreamed about being a photographer. now i think during that stage in my life that you couldn't say a photographer because it wasn't a prestigious job. so i didn't say that. i said something in business, maybe a marketing coordinator because i love the art/graphics in the job. so that's what i set out to do. well that didn't last long. my first year of college i took business classes and ya i liked them, but i much rather do the art/graphic/photography for a company. and so that's what i did.
There has been many who pushed and helped me make my dream come true of becoming a photographer. i had taken photography classes and plenty of graphic design classes to be successful, but still doubted myself. i didn't know i could do it, be a professional photographer. I moved to provo, ut and what more of a perfect place to start shooting. poor college students looking for good photos and at a low price. so i said what do i have to lose and jumped right in.
there is a reason everyone does what they do. we all have different backgrounds, experiences, relationships, challenges, strengths and weaknesses, dreams, expectations, and goals that when combined make up this one unique person (me) that is different from everybody else. i will never be the same as any other photographer that exists. this is a good thing (though sometimes i wishing i could be jose villa or ansel adams). this is the very thing that sets me apart from others, and makes me the perfect fit for a certain client that connects with what i have to offer.
