Although my sweet mama claims otherwise, I was in the midst of full-fledged NERD YEARS, a month away from turning thirteen years old, when my family purchased an SLR camera.

As soon as the light flashed green, I ripped the battery out of it’s charger, jammed it into the camera, and dashed out the door. My dad and I ran around our yard just after a dewy rainfall, getting down at eye level to get the perfect angle of flowers, leaves, and blades of grass. I remember loading the pictures on the computer later and feeling like I was BIG TIME.

I decided later that week that I was going to be a photographer. No, no, not a wedding and portrait photographer… I was going to be a nature photographer. Yes, Internet, I do hear you laughing with at me. But I really did make the decision that I was going to exclusively be a nature photographer, and nothing else. Because let’s face it, daisies’ expectations aren’t scary, people’s are. Thankfully, I came to my senses. I left nature in the dust, ahem, literally; deciding I liked photographing people better. Because let’s face it, people are interesting, daisies aren’t.

And so it was. You may accuse me of exaggeration, but I literally spent thousands of hours reading photography blogs and forums, studying pictures and their specs, stalking casually viewing photographer’s work, teaching myself every detail about my camera, and practicing. Constantly. So frequently, in fact, that the camera ended up breaking a few years down the road because of overuse.

Soon I began accepting offers to take extended family members’ pictures. My cousin’s senior pictures, my uncle’s engagement pictures, my second cousin’s family Christmas card picture. Any and every opportunity that would arise, I would heartily accept. During that time, a shift began to take place. I was turning from hobbyist to professional. I was changing from child to young adult; growing into who I am now.

And then…I was being contacted by people who I wasn’t related to with requests. I was having my mom drive me to sessions. I was teachings myself photoshop. I was getting payed to do what I loved. I was spending thousands of dollars on my very own gear. I was teaching myself HTML. I was making a website. I was shooting my first wedding on my own. I was going to meet with potential wedding clients at Starbucks. I was making a Facebook fan page. I was booking session after session. I was buying a MacBook. I was making a blog. I was ordering custom packaging. I was getting my legal ducks in a row. I was going to workshops. I was booking more weddings. I was running a business.

Crazy crazy crazy.

(Taken just after I got home from shooting my first wedding on my own at age fourteen… I will always treasure this picture. :)
I love to look back and see how far I’ve come, and yet at the same time, I have a feeling that in a few more years I’ll be looking at this stage and be thinking the very same thing. The truth is, I’m only on Chapter Three or Four of a super long novel called My Story. I don’t know what’s to come in the following chapters, but I do know this: God knows what’s ahead and HE holds the future… and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Can’t wait to see what will unfold in the chapters to come!