We All Start Somewhere – Stacy Mae Photography

Isn’t that the truth! I remember when I first got into photography, I tried anything and everything. I photographed birthday parties, baptisms, communions, sweet 16’s, boudoir, weddings. You name it, I’ve photographed it. Over the years, as I’ve grown, I’ve come to realize that my passion is photographing children and families and that’s what I wanted Stacy Mae Photography to be all about. I like things on a smaller scale and big events like weddings and parties were too stressful for me. I never liked the idea of going up to someone and asking if I could take their picture. It made me uncomfortable. So I started saying no to people who would inquire for that type of photography. I was terrified at first, but much to my surprise, it actually felt good. Why would those people want me photographing their event if my heart wasn’t in it anyway? The more I photographed families, the more I fell in love with my job. And that’s the dream for so many of us right? To love what we do. It took a while to get to this point though. I went into business a lot sooner than I should have. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I never gave up. When I look back on the images I took 5 or 6  years ago, I can see just how far I’ve come. I went back through my FB page to pull some of my early shots. Want to see them?

I’m still a sucker for close-ups, but I’ve toned down on the overly sharpened eyes. Lol! These were all taken in 2009 when I didn’t have the expensive gear or the technical know-how. Every session I shot I learned something new. I had no clue about pricing or products or Photoshop. I learned as I went and have been seriously amazed at all the people who have stood by me. My style has evolved so much and my tastes as well. I still have a lot I want to work on. Want to hear my goals for this year? Well, you have no choice so here goes.

Shoot more storytelling images. Get more detail shots. I’m always so focused on what the client wants (rightly so), that I forget to slow down, take a breath, and shoot for me too. I have been thinking about starting a personal project where I photograph only details. No faces.

Shoot vertical. I took an online workshop with Lexi Vornberg of Lemonade and Lenses that focused on how to submit your images for publication and I learned a lot about what blog and magazines are looking for. One really simple, but really important thing was to shoot vertical more often. I never even realized how much I shoot horizontal. I just forget to turn the camera! This leads me to my next goal.

Get published. I have been so afraid to submit my images in the past, but one of my goals this year is to submit as often as possible in the hopes of getting published in a magazine or blog.

Maybe you can check back in with me and ask how I’m doing with my goals? Ya know, to keep me on track.

Oh and I can’t end this blog post without showing how much I’ve grown over the years. <3