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I can honestly say I never thought I would be sitting here writing a blog post. Life has a way of twisting and turning and often times placing you in the most unpredictable of places.

Three years ago Easter weekend, I picked up my first DSLR camera (a Canon t2i with 2 kit lenses) determined to capture images of my first son, Carter. My point and shoot just wasn’t cutting it. As not quite 1 year olds often do, he was constantly turning his head, closing his eyes, or otherwise managing to stop whatever cuteness I was attempting to capture JUST before the shutter of my cheap camera could snap. It was so frustrating to always miss the moments I wanted so badly to freeze forever.

My new camera was a dream! The shutter released so quickly- it seemed like warp speed compared to my old point and shoot. It was amazing to actually capture the awesomeness of my toddler. Check out this little sweetie, eating a stick and all!

I was in love with this image. While it is amusing to look back on, I was so proud to be able to capture his personality in a picture that I could always treasure. I. Was. Hooked. There was no turning back!

Immediately, I started scouring the internet for info geared to new DSLR users. I picked up a new lens (Canon 50 mm 1.8 – “Nifty Fifty”), started practicing constantly, and set up a mentoring session with a local photographer to try to learn a little more.

My mentoring session with Ashley from Swartz Photography turned into an amazing job opportunity. For the next two years, I worked under Ryan & Ashley soaking up every piece of information they had to share. From gear advice to lighting set ups and guiding me through shooting in manual, learning from their knowledge and experience first hand was absolutely invaluable to me.

Although I never imagined I would photograph a wedding, I was addicted after my very first one. Capturing the love, emotion, and story of a wedding day is exhilarating. When Ryan & Ashley announced that their business was headed a more commercial direction (check out their work at swartz.photography- amazing!) and that they were dropping wedding services from their offerings, I was once again pulled in an unexpected direction.

– Nikki

[Be sure to check in tomorrow for part 2!]

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