My love of photography didn't begin as a child...
I feel like that is the most common story I hear among photographers. "I got my first camera when I was in grade school and I knew I wanted to make a career out of it." Nope, not my story. I certainly had many Kodak disposable film cameras in my younger years, but I didn't see taking photos as anything more than documenting our cross country road trips. My "someday I'll be" answer in grade school was- an artist and a mom. I dabbled in various crafting side hustles through the years- selling homemade cards, selling homemade wreaths. Photography actually just fell on my lap...
It was December 2014, and our firstborn was 1 month old. Mind you, I didn't even have a smart phone at the time, and was using my husband's smart phone to photograph our precious newborn. (honestly, I was totally content with it) But my wonderful husband had been talking to his brother about Christmas presents and had learned that he was getting his wife a nice camera for Christmas. He thought that it would be a fun thing for me to dabble in too. So that Christmas, I received my first real camera- a cropped sensor, mirrorless Sony. I obviously had no idea what to do with it, turned it to automatic mode, and was floored with the quality! And there the knob stayed in automatic till 2019. At that point, I was becoming slightly more interested in working on my portraiture skills. This time, I was the one who put camera stuff on my wishlist- my first 50mm prime lens. Again, my wonderful husband put that gift under the tree, and I immediately swapped out my kit lens for the prime, and never turned back. At this point,
I switched to "aperture priority" mode and was so proud of myself. Taking on a whole setting made a huge difference, and I thought I'd be content to stay there forever. In camera years, I feel like I did, but in the back of my mind an idea was growing. "Someday, I'll learn how to do this for real and give parents the joy of getting photos holding their babies." Spring of 2023, I scheduled our first professional family photo session with Jessica Gardner Photography before our 5th baby was born. It was AMAZING. I was bracing myself for a whirlwind of fighting the kids for a single photo, but instead Jessica took it at their pace, chatting, and capturing real moments. I felt beautiful with my big belly, and my heart was full getting photos with all my favorite people. That fall, I scheduled her again and we got photos for our Christmas card and my husband gifted me a large wall portrait from that session for Christmas. I was hooked, I wanted to do this for others too. By mid 2024, I began to get more serious learning my camera and offering free sessions to get practice directing people whilst playing around with buttons and wheels that I had ignored for a decade. I spent all my extra time watching YouTube videos, signing up for free webinars, asking photographers for their tips, etc. Christmas 2024, my husband got me my full frame Sony A7iii and 2 lenses (a 55mm and an 85mm) so that I could pursue this business venture. Faster than I was expecting, I was launching my business at the beginning of 2025, ready or not. This year, I invested a lot in training and I am so happy to be here now, living my "someday I'll be" for real! In grade school, I had imagined my artist tool being a paintbrush, but it turns out that it's actually a camera. Haha! Thankful I get to be a mom and an artist.
If fun and playful family portraits are what you are longing for, please reach out! I'm based in Turlock, CA and also serve the surrounding areas in the Central Valley.
Thanks for reading, friends! Until next time!
Rachel
(P.S. Those are my parents at the top, aren't they adorable?)
