I was born a California girl, but I’ve lived in Seattle, Washington, and the Pacific Northwest for the last 12 years. Before Click Love Grow, I had been an enthusiast photographer for a very long time. In fact, I took over my parent’s point and shoot cameras when I was only in the third grade! I took photography in high school for a semester, but dropped it because I loathed changing film in the dark room.

When I got my first DSLR at the end of college, but I only used it in auto mode. So my husband and I took a photography class through a local outdoors group, but manual just wouldn’t click for me and I got frustrated.

I didn’t take much time off from my teaching work when I had my eldest kiddo, so I just continued to take photos on auto. But when I had my daughter, I knew I was going to take more maternity leave and I decided it was finally time to prioritize learning manual mode and taking better photos.

I scrolled the internet a lot during feedings and stumbled upon CLG. I think I did one of their free challenges and really connected with Lou’s style and easy way she explains complicated photography concepts. I signed up for the Enthusiast Course right away and I’m so beyond grateful that I did. My confidence shooting in manual mode exploded thanks to such clear and easy explanations.

After the Enthusiast Course, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the Advanced Course. But I also knew that I wouldn’t have the same kind of time or mental energy for it once I returned to work after maternity leave. So, I dove into it immediately after graduating.

I really wanted to be able to document my family life in a deep way, so I joined with the goal to figure out my style, and learn more interesting techniques. In all of the  classes I had taken before CLG, I felt like they only taught the rule of thirds, and that was about it. Also, other classes I had taken didn’t talk about the various types of light, or if they did they didn’t show many examples or get you out practicing.

So I was thrilled to finally start a course that dived deep into complex compositional concepts than just the rule of thirds! And it was also the first time that I really learned the difference between diffused light, direct light, backlight, portrait lighting and different keys of light.

I got to see so many examples from the videos and then also got another layer of learning based on what the other students were practicing.

I always relied on finding the middle of the meter when trying to get a good exposure and it became a huge crutch, one that didn’t always pan out for me. So in that regard the Advanced Exposure lesson (with Advanced Light following closely behind) was invaluable.

That lesson really taught me to think about the kind of look I wanted to achieve, and how to guide and direct the image to get that result.

I had thought that I wanted to create more light and airy images, but after these lessons I found myself drawn to a dark and moody style, and the lesson taught me how to achieve that.

I learned how to shoot in any kind of light and how to use different kinds of light to enhance my images, and it helped me find my style.

I started paying more attention to golden hour light, as well as avoiding mixed lighting indoors. I also found myself completely drawn to golden hour light and discovering how it can warm up even the coldest Pacific Northwest day. I began to realize that even though I mostly wanted to document my kids, learning to recognise what kind of light we were in really raised the quality of my images.

Also, it really opened me up to the world of storytelling photography. I had never really thought of light as a character in our story until the Advanced Course!

When I began my photography journey with CLG I was still in public education coaching teachers, so when I joined CLG I definitely had no intentions of starting my own photography business. However I have now stepped away from education and I’m doing exactly that… running my own photography business!

I had my first paying clients in September of 2018 and started to get more serious about it November of 2019. Then pandemic life hit and I had to shut down for three months. But I ended up coming out of it with my first busy season this past fall!

I love that my photography business gives me the freedom to be home with my kids more.

My son is now 8 and my daughter just turned 4, and throughout 2020 I’ve been Mommy and homeschool coach and we still have no real end in site for back to school in person. So I’m really thankful I can work mostly nights on editing and business stuff) and weekends shooting sessions!

As I made my way through the courses, I just loved the community oriented, super positive group, and really clear feedback from Lou and Pam. In fact my favorite thing about the course was how engaged and interactive the instructors were, making sure to comment on everyone’s images as much as possible.

I also love the fact that the Grad’s group is so supportive!

As always, the customary before and after set to show side by side how far our students come in their photography after learning with CLG!