I love it when my assignments involve portrait sessions—especially when they’re with a beautiful girl like Jenny. How gorgeous is she?! A big thanks to her for helping me out and for being such a wonderful model!
Check out the PASS gallery here!
^Favorite. Love, love, love!
Every few quarters, the college I attend hosts a gallery show full of work from us students. For each one, the professor in charge asks one of the student designers to create all of the advertisements for the show, and this time I got to do it!
The concept I chose was an infographic—cute illustrations paired with lots of event details. Somehow I managed to squeeze all of the information onto a small postcard invitation, and I just love them so much! And yes, that’s a life-like illustration of my college.
On Wednesday, I was told to write a one page paper for a class assignment about my future plans. This is what I wrote. This is my story.
“Rewind three years from now. I was sixteen, a junior in high school, planning to attend North Carolina State University to become the world’s greatest Spanish teacher. I had it all figured out. I even had a roommate lined up for when I moved into the dormitory.
Then I started my senior year.
I realized I hated Spanish, and even more so—I hated high school. I hated it so much—the drama, the age, the lack of freedom. I didn’t want to be stuck in a high school classroom for the rest of my life. I didn’t want to endure one of my biggest fears—public speaking—every single day. I didn’t want that life.
So, what was I going to do? I would be graduating in a few short months, and I no longer knew what I wanted to major in, much less what college I wanted to attend.
Then I picked up a camera.
It started with a Sony point-and-shoot. I took pictures for fun all the time—at major events, on school trips, just so I could remember.
Then it hit me.
I loved photography. I loved creating images. I loved turning them into works of art. I loved the joyful reactions I received when people saw the images I took. I loved how happy I made people and how happy making them happy made me.
Then I realized I could turn this new-found love into a career.
So that’s what I did. I knew from then on photography was what I was put on this earth to do. I applied to Living Arts College in the fall of 2010 and was accepted soon after. Throughout my time there, I’ve worked hard to build an incredible portfolio. I’ve photographed everything I could—people, objects, buildings—everything. But what I’ve come to love most of all is photographing love.
Documenting a couple’s journey through matrimony is my passion. I love the excitement they have leading up to the most important day of their lives. I love the beautiful decorations. I love the tender moments. I love showing them how magnificently beautiful their love is. And I love turning their new images into tangible artwork that they can keep for generations.
Now that I know this is what I’m supposed to do with my life, I will spend the next year preparing myself for the launch of my own wedding photography business. I will keep building my portfolio. I will learn everything I can during my time as an intern. I will research everything I need to know to start my business and run it successfully.
Then I will launch my business after I graduate.
I’ll most likely move to a new city. I’ll marry my best friend and hopefully have a few babies of my own. Meanwhile, I’ll spend the rest of my time photographing hundreds of love stories. And I’ll be thankful—thankful that I found my calling, thankful that I get the privilege to spend time with beautiful people during the happiest times of their lives, and most of all, thankful that I’m living my dream and documenting yours.”
This is me. This is where I’ve been. And this is where I plan to go. I do hope you’ll come with me.
