When I received my first high-quality camera for my 16th birthday, my plans for using it consisted of snapping pictures of flowers or anything of nature I could conveniently find in my own backyard. As time progressed, I started thinking of ideas for photo shoots for which my friends happily volunteered to be models.
At first these photo shoots were nothing more than an experiment, or a way to take up time on an otherwise boring weekend. My intention was to edit the pictures and possibly show them to my friends and parents. Otherwise, the only purpose they served was to take up memory on my computer.
However, I eventually posted them on Facebook to see what people thought about them; fortunately, I received more positive responses than I had anticipated. In a matter of a couple months after publicly posting my pictures, friends and family started e-mailing me to ask if I would be interested in taking their family portraits or senior photos.
Considering they only asked if I was “interested” and never established a date for when they wanted to hire me, I thought the chance of actually getting paid for taking pictures was slim.
To my surprise, however, near the end of my junior year, my friend and ’10 alumna Nacoya Villegas requested that I take her senior pictures to be handed out at the end of the year in her graduation party invitations.
Although I was excited that someone chose me, an unprofessional and inexperienced student, to take their senior photos, I was even more ecstatic that this would be my first paying job. I was nervous to take on this new responsibility, but trusted that Villegas would give me a second chance if I did not do so well the first time around.
Fortunately, Villegas was satisfied with her photos and proceeded to recommend me to other graduating classmates such as Heather Lichti, Daniel Hopper and Da Eun Sunwoo. I took senior photos for each of them. They each had the option of choosing up to two locations for their photo sessions, and I promised to have their pictures to them within a week.
Considering I do not do any of my own printing, I burn all of the edited pictures onto a disc. This makes it easy for users to load and print as many pictures as they want at their own expense.
I definitely enjoy taking senior photos, and look forward to taking more this year for anyone who is interested.
For more information on pricing and location details, send me an e-mail. View the slideshow for more examples of my work.
