Way back in the day, my Dad handed me my first camera. It was a film camera and I seriously took that camera everywhere with me. I loved it! I loved the thought of being able to take a picture of someone or something. Although half of my photos were insanely out of focus, I still enjoyed taking photographs. That is when I fell in love with photography!

I always made sure that I had a camera. If one would break, I’d either beg my parents for a new one or save up to buy one myself. It was my must have item! I always thought that one day I’d like to become a professional photographer, but the time was never right! So when our youngest daughter was born and I found myself staying home with the kids, I decided to finally give it a try!

I quickly learned that it wasn’t as easy as I had expected. Learning the technical aspects of how to actually take a great photo plus marketing, running a business, it was a lot to learn! Plus I didn’t really know what type of photography I wanted to do. Growing up, my parents had these huge family albums of our family. I loved looking through the photos of our family. Seeing my parents when they were younger and seeing myself as a baby. Seeing family that I’d never met before. It was amazing to have the ability to look back in time. I wanted everyone to experience that. Initially I decided to photograph families.

Then one day, my sister said that she was getting married and asked if I could photograph her wedding! I had only been to a couple of weddings in my lifetime. But after reading lots of tutorials and blogs, I felt like I knew enough about photography and weddings. Boy was I wrong! But life is about learning and growing. And I definitely learned and grew from both of those experiences. I also realized that I loved weddings. I love the emotions that are involved in a wedding day. I love watching the groom stare down the aisle at his bride as she enters the room. I love the excitement of seeing the bride in her dress. Wedding days can be stressful but they’re so rewarding and special. That is how and why I became a wedding photographer!