Nice to meet you! I thought it would be appropriate for my first blog post to be introducing myself and putting a face to my photography business. I started my photography business in September, 2022. I have always loved photography and had so much respect for photographers. My dad is known for always having a camera and taking pictures in every situation and I used to complain all the time. Now, I understand why he does it and I’m so grateful to have these pictures and videos of our childhood.
In college, I tried to start taking pictures. I had a small Canon Powershot that I got as a high school graduation present and had been my trustworthy companion on a few international trips. I thought it was an AMAZING camera (and it is for basic photography) so I used it to take pictures of a couple of friends at Hermann Park and around Houston. I thought they were sooooo good. I don’t even remember what editing program I used, but I edited every single picture and was extremely proud of my work.
At this point, a couple of my friends had also started photography, and the comparison game had already started. I was nowhere near as talented as them and I didn’t have the eye for it, so naturally, I stopped. It was clear that my pictures weren’t as focused as theirs and overall just did not look as good. I still took pictures during my vacations and on my phone, but I stopped any idea of doing photography other than for myself.
In 2018 I got engaged so I started the process of finding a photographer for our wedding. During my search, every photographer that I fell in love with was out of budget. I started to realize that I had a very specific vision for my wedding photos and I would not budge. FINALLY, I found the wonderful Wolfheart Weddings, and Korina was incredible. It was my first time taking professional pictures and I was a nervous wreck. During our engagement session, she made us feel beautiful and after, my husband and I felt so much closer. After our wedding in 2019 and getting our gallery back, my brain could not handle how absolutely beautiful these photos were and I got so happy every time someone commented on how beautiful these pictures were. I really started to see photography more as art and less of just taking pictures at this point.
Fast forward to 2022. I was pregnant with my daughter and we got maternity pictures taken by the incredibly talented BG Visuals. After getting these photos back, I could not stop thinking about photography and how it’s a work of art, not just a picture of someone. I started following a bunch of photographer accounts and noticed all the different photography styles and which ones I leaned towards. I noticed how more and more pictures were less posed and were of people loving on each other. I fell in love.
Throughout 2022, I of course took a million pictures of my beautiful daughter. My amazing husband was on board for me buying a nicer camera so I bought the Nikon D3500, a classic beginner DSLR. I learned how to use the camera in manual mode and how to edit pictures in Lightroom. My daughter is the perfect model and helped me learn a lot in the first few months of owning my new camera.
After having my camera for a bit, my brother had his wedding. I was determined to take my camera and be the wedding photographer they weren’t having (luckily my dad was there taking pictures, too, so I knew that at least my dad would be getting some good pictures). I took pictures in super harsh direct sunlight, and to tell everyone the truth (sorry, Martin) I had no idea what I was doing. I tried to remember some prompts for them to do but my mind went blank. All confidence I had was shattered and I felt like I was back in college again wanting to put my camera down and quit.
I started editing the photos using some cheap presets that popped up on Facebook, and I realized that the pictures weren’t terrible. There were definitely harsh shadows and they were overexposed, but it was a good starting point.
See? Not terrible, but definitely not booking anymore weddings anytime soon. I decided to put out a model call knowing that I had plenty of friends that would want free pictures (and boy did they show up. I will never be able to thank you guys enough for letting me learn how to use a camera with your families). I started doing a bunch of online courses with Unraveled Academy and I started using Unscripted for posing ideas. I had 9 people sign up for pictures and I was READY to get out there and continue growing as a photographer.
After these sessions, I came to the realization that my camera wasn’t doing what I needed. I loved this camera as it really helped me learn and grow as a photographer, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t giving me the quality or speed that I needed. After a lot of research, I decided to upgrade to the Sony a7iii. I bought a 35mm and an 85mm lens and ran with it. I obviously took some pictures of my daughter to test it and THE DIFFERENCE OMG. I finished out the rest of my free sessions and then started to charge as people were coming to me now asking to take their pictures.
Now, I have been running my business for a few months and still freak out every single time someone purchases a package with me. I absolutely love taking peoples’ pictures and squeal every time someone changed their profile picture to one of my pictures.
My daughter, Lennon, is my world and a nickname for her is Lennon Lime, which is why I named my business Lennon Lime Photography. Everything I do is for her, and she is my inspiration every day. I want her to be proud of me as she grows up and sees the love that I have for what I do.
If you made it this far, thank you so much. I can’t wait to share my work with you and my thoughts about sessions and photography as I keep learning and growing in this business!
