Once Upon a Time, I decided to become a Photographer

FIRST. A WARNING: THIS POST WILL CONTAIN EMBARRASSING IMAGES OF MYSELF

and lots of cute pictures of my family. Enjoy!

Remember when we were kids and the question of your life was "What do you wanna be when you grow up"? We all had different, extraordinary visions of tight rope walkers, Astronauts, President, Lawyers, Doctors, Ballerinas, Rock stars, a Ninja Turtle... the list was endless and ever changing, right? (I could TOTALLY be a tight rope walking, Donatello!) oh yeah- that's me. with my little sister the pumpkin. LOL

But as we grew up some of our dreams dropped off, some of them became goals, and new interests and possibilities introduced themselves. I personally, fell in love with the military and aspired to be a journalist on the front lines, I also joined a team in high school for aspiring attorneys, Mock Trial.

Well, Even though 5 year old Amber would be furious that we're not up on a tight rope or fighting crime and eating pizza constantly- I'd say being my own boss and witnessing true love on a daily basis is a preeeetttty close second!

See, my husband has always been the hobby guy. I mean- cars, dirt bikes, guns, gaming, you name it. He ALWAYS had a new project. Meanwhile, I was home, with 2 kids and way too much time on my hands. I was BORED. I stayed home because, lets be real, daycare is EXPENSIVE and the hubster was an airman in the military- so we were totally broke. His solution? you guessed it. A hobby.

The question was always, what? what made me happy? not as a mom, or a wife, but what made Amber happy? I always enjoyed taking pictures. i enjoyed being in them. i loved having tons of pictures of my kids.... So my husband saved up, and went out to bought my very first camera.

Heres a nice little picture circa 2005 when we were dating. and yes, I did make him coordinate outfits with me... LOL

My whole goal with my brand new, shiny camera was to take awesome pictures of our awesome kids! These poor kids got so sick of me sitting them in front of the camera and yelling " say cheeeeeeeese"

But come on- look how cute these two are! (these were taken in 2010)

I quickly took to learning my new toy and looking up how to videos and reading SO. MANY. BLOGS. I wanted to learn everything I could.

Not too long after sharing all my new supercooltotallyawesome pictures, I started having friends ask to take photos for them. seeing the opportunity to give my two super models a break, I tried my hand. My friends loved them. and then their friends started asking and next thing I know, my little camera was making people offer me money!! Awesome right? not so much... I learned quickly that claiming you're a photographer and BEING a photographer were two separate animals.

Heres a REAL LIFE picture of something I shot in the beginning of my "business"

Ohh yeah, buddy. watermarked and everything. But I'm writing this blog post in full transparency.. I was in over my head. I didn't know the first thing about business. But guess what? It didn't stop me from learning. I started looking up tax forms, and pricing stuff, contracts, the list goes on and on. I paid for classes, mentorships. I reached out to photographers around me with questions, because I LOVE photography, and made a decision, right then. To become a photographer.

I have spent the past several years in different niches of photography. I shot Boudoir exclusively for what seemed like forever. I loved seeing women who rediscovered how beautiful they are. Still, something was missing... and then I got a phone call. A friend invited me to go shoot a wedding with her. After shooting that wedding, after crying my eyes out during the vows, and the dances, after the rush of making sure every single detail was covered... I went home, I sat down, and I said "Weddings are my JAM!!"

So fast forward about *cough* 10 years, ok 13... post high school and Heres me. Happy. Laughing at myself in a Christmas Tree farm while my baby sister (yep the pumpkin from above) snaps a couple shots. I took a hobby, and built it into this beautiful life. I Love my clients. I LOVE, love.

I Am A Photographer.