Origin Story.
I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for my photography business for a hot minute (or like, four years - whatever).
When I was a teenager, I had a blog on LiveJournal. I even tried to find it when I first sat down to start writing this morning. Each time I’ve attempted to start my first post here, I’ve kind of froze up. I end up hit ‘Save Draft’ and walking away. I don’t know - maybe I thought the fourteen year old iteration of myself might be a source of writing inspiration.
I guess my thirty-two year old self it going to have to take one for the team and figure this shit out.
When I was twenty-four years old, I was hired to teach English Language Arts at a middle school in central Maine. At the end of my first year teaching, my friend, Kelly, had convinced me to turn my photography hobby into a business. One afternoon in her living room, while I snapped pictures of her kids romping around, she said, “You should make money for your pictures.” I think I just stared at her for a moment. I’m being truthful when I say that I seriously had never thought about turning photography into any sort of living.
When I got home later that day, I took the super official step and…created a Facebook business page, She’s a Teacher Photography. A few days after publishing the page, I had a colleague ask, “Did you start your business so that one day you can leave the classroom?” Her question made me laugh nervously. How could I ever leave teaching? How could I ever lean on photography for any sense of security? Absolutely not.
“No way,” I said. “There’s no way I could ever be a photographer full-time. That’s way too scary. Plus, I love being a teacher.”
That was true. I loved being a teacher. Until I didn’t. That’s when Becky’s question became way more relevant than could’ve ever imagined. After seven years in education, I resigned.
What was there waiting for me to lean on it? Photography.
Over the course of those seven years, I’d spent the weekdays teaching, planning, and grading. On the weekends, I’d photograph families, the occasional wedding, friends, eclectic bands in puppet-filled warehouses. You know, typical things. I would photograph basically anything or anyone that came my way. I’m almost entirely self-taught, so I needed as much practice as I could get.
By the time teaching had started to take more from me than it gave back, my business was in a place where the future seemed far more hopeful than scary.
For the first eighteen or so months after I left public education, I worked a part-time job with a local chocolatier in Portland to supplement my income as I continued to learn how to market my business. On Valentine’s Day of this year, I was able to step away from my part-time gig and be self-employed exclusively.
I’m still learning. There’s so much more to being a photographer than clicking a button and using presets (editing is just as complex as mastering lighting and knowing how to use a camera). But I’m going to save the behind the scenes aspects for another post.
For now, I’ll just say thank you reading a part of my story.
Thank you for being here for what’s real.
-K
