Humble beginnings! Daring to share a couple of my first photos with you guys… From my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wildflowerstudiophoto – a #flashbackfriday to 11 years ago at my second photo session I’d ever done. I had done one paid one right before this one.

Did you know that this whole photography job was not planned, but was actually a gift that was given to me?

Let me tell you my story… 11 years ago a woman reached out to me on FB & offered to pay me to take photos of her family. I had NEVER done a photo shoot before, nor was I advertising to be a professional photographer! However, I had always loved photography so much, but I didn’t have a big fancy expensive professional camera or any expensive professional editing software. I was honest, told her I’d never done this before & that I didn’t have professional equipment, etc. She didn’t care! She had seen photos that I had taken of my own kids on FB & wanted me to do that for her- what a gift this was for me!

So back to these photos- Today I was at a dear friend’s home & I caught a glimpse of 2 blown up and framed photos that I had taken right after that first session- 11 years ago! After that first session, I got the bug, I was hooked! I wanted to photograph kids and families and finally had the confidence to try this passion out as a job! So while I was on vacation with my friend & both of our families I had already decided that this was something I wanted to do from now on- be a photographer! But I needed practice!

I know it’s backward to be paid first and practice later, but that’s how it went! Here are the 2 photos I saw today at her house that took me down memory lane. I don’t take that magic for granted 1 bit, let me tell you! 💫✨ Thanks for allowing me to share my beginnings & my photography journey.

(PS. for photographers interested- my first shoots were done with a Nikon D40 and the lenses that came with it. I saved up all of the money from working a whole year on photo shoots to buy my first professional camera- a Nikon D700. I wanted only the money I earned from photo shoots to go into buying that camera to really commit myself & not to mention we were scraping by & didn’t have extra $ to use even if I wanted to, haha!)

If you like this kind of behind the scenes story stuff, please let me know & I’ll post more of my journey in the future! 💗🙏
xo Shell