How I got into photography
I guess this is a familiar story for many photographers. It's something you've always loved and at a certain point, you decide to go further with it.
Photography classes
Our local Center for the Arts has a very good educational program: they offer all kinds of art classes. Photography happens to be one of them.
I enrolled. And according to my teacher I was pretty good. I must say I was happy with the results too.
Not too long after that class, I decided to combine my two passions so I enrolled in an online course specifically focused on equine photography.
And once again, I was enthralled. I really felt that this was something I wanted to explore even further.
Time for new gear
With all this practicing and education I ran into the limits of my then camera. I took a lot of research and looking at my bank account, researched some more. But I finally decided to go test out my first choice. I went home like a giddy kid with my brand new, utterly fancy 😉 camera. And gosh, I'm still discovering new cool stuff on it every day!
Taking small steps toward my own equine photography business
Feeling motivated and getting out there
I practiced, practiced and practiced some more. In the meantime I've found my own style but I keep taking classes and online courses because, well, you're never done learning.
After a few test photo shoots with our own horses and my husband and daughter, I figured it was time to get other people in front of my camera. I put out an ad for a model call, got a great response and had the opportunity of doing photoshoots with awesome people.
I also spent a lot of time in the back office to optimize and test my workflow, payment tools and other very office-y tools.
After a few months of hard work, learning a lot of IT stuff, getting acquainted with sales tax and the likes, I was finally ready: I was all set to start my business.
And then ... the pandemic happened.
Horrible times for everyone. I can't even begin to imagine what those who were on the front lines and those affected are going through. Up until now, my family has been doing well under the circumstances so we are very lucky.
In order to stay sane, I try to see the positive of it all. For me personally, it gives me time to practice even more and to perfect my workflow, take more courses, research, compare samples, ...
But when all is back to normal (or closer to), I will be more than ready to go!
Missed part 1 and part 2?
I bet you are excited to meet the zoo!