my story
I am a born and raised Okie who at 19 years old decided to pack up all the belongings that I could fit into my little Honda Civic and hit the road to Austin, TX. I fell in love with the city before it was as popping as it is today (this was 2014, haha)! It stole my heart, and has always felt like home!
That same year I met my hubby, a born and raised austenite; 3 years later we got married in the Hill Country and planned on Austin being our forever home. Fast forward 4 years later, God has blessed us with two beautiful and AMAZING children, Zealand and Indie and we landed back in Oklahoma. Crazy what happens when you have kiddos. Haha. We love being close to family and centrally located for easy road trips and new adventures and of course being just a short drive away from Austin!
how i got started
Soon after my hubby and I got married (spring of 2017) a friend asked me to take some portraits of her knowing that I had an old hobby camera that I brought out sometimes. I of course said yes and was excited to dive into this old hobby again. Well it quickly got my gears turning. I was in a season where I didn't really know what I wanted to do - I knew I didn't want to go back to school and I knew I had a passion for business but I had a new business idea every 24 hours... so wasn't going to pull the trigger on anything. I also knew the workload of starting a business and knew that I didn't think I could manage starting a business from the ground up and fulfilling my desires of becoming a mother. But once I started shooting again, I had a renewed passion for the hobby. My business gears started spinning again but this time it was something I knew I could do without sacrificing motherhood and that's when I said I was going to give this thing a shot. I wanted to learn all the ins and outs of photography and wanted to help create beautiful photos that had meaning for people so I joined as many online courses that I could find and starting taking photos of friends, and couples for free! Before I knew it people were asking to book sessions, so I started a little side hustle with my hobby camera. Haha. 8 months later I was able to leave my job and start doing photography full time. That was pre kiddos, now I am a full time mom, and editing wizard after the kiddos bedtime. Haha
This business has truly been the sweetest gift to our family! We have gotten to meet the most amazing people, and travel to new places and have learned to work HARD. The cool thing about photography is that it's always evolving so it keeps me on my toes and always learning! It's truly such an honor getting to help couples and families have the opportunity to relive some of the sweetest times in their lives. Whether it is your wedding day or you have just become first time parents, when photographed genuinely, photos not only have the ability to remind us of moments and seasons, but have the ability to awaken the emotions associated with them.
While I am a big fan of beautifully posed photos, I LOVE when the love shines through the most genuine smiles and belly laughs or in the way a groom looks at his bride. Those are the photos that I can't help but smile at while editing because I know my clients will FEEL that joy and that love when they look at these photos now and even 50 years from now.
If you have made it this far, thanks for tagging along - you rock & I hope to have the opportunity to meet you!
dani