Climbing The Ladder

Feb 20, 2018
4 min read

So let's just dive right in! Brand new website, I need a little explanation as to why I've decided to do this, right? The first memory I have of using a camera was when I was probably about 5 or 6 years old at a wedding with my parents. The tables all had these little white disposable cameras and I felt that it was my job to capture all the pictures I thought were important for the bride and groom! I remember walking around and taking pictures like I had seen in different families wedding albums and of the guests that I thought were "pretty!" I had so much fun with that little camera, so my parents bought me a small film camera and some rolls of film.

As I grew up, I took my camera to school and took probably the worst pictures ever of my friends. I became known as the girl that takes all the pictures...at the worst times. I had so much fun with it, though, and I loved taking my film to CVS and getting it developed! It was almost as much fun as taking the pictures themselves! I got to look at them and sort them and put them in my albums. When I was a little older, maybe 15 or 16, I got my first digital camera! They were pretty new so I think I had like a 2 megapixel camera! The images were HORRIBLE (looking back) but I thought I was taking some pretty good pictures! To this day, my friends and I still cherish the pictures I took as a kid because they captured moments that we would have otherwise forgotten.

I love the moments of "oh my gosh I completely forgot about that!!" where we spend hours looking through pictures and remembering how silly we were as kids. Here's where it starts to get interesting! When I was 18 years old, I bought my first "big girl" camera. It was a Canon T3i rebel. I thought I was HOT. STUFF. (I pretty much was) I did photoshoots with my friends pretending to be really good. The pictures were definitely a lot better than the ones on my first ever digital camera, but definitely not professional grade! I loved to take pictures of events, outings and any other social events I went to. Then, I got engaged! Then I got very disappointed. My dad agreed to pay for engagement pictures and I fell in LOVE with them. I had never had my pictures professionally done before..there was just one downfall..it was SO EXPENSIVE! We had a very small budget and we just could not afford a professional photographer for our wedding. Luckily, we have a sister in law that does pictures professionally and she was able to do our pictures for free! I wished, that day, I had the ability to find someone affordable, yet amazing at photography so that people that had a small budget could still receive quality photos. Then, something terrible happened..My husband and I had been married for almost a year and we hit a point where we couldn't afford to live, eat, anything! It was a major beans and rice situation. We decided to sell Francesca (my camera). I had to settle for phone pictures and mental images. BUT (don't you love when there's a but!!) We got our lives together, saved up some money, and 2 years later, I was able to get myself a new camera! This was a Canon T6 and I fell in love. I did sessions for friends for free just to practice (that's where most of my portfolio comes from!) and I was able to watch webinars from professionals and decided that was something I wanted to pursue. In October of 2017, the unthinkable happened! I lost my job at the Veterinary Clinic and was stopped in my tracks. The plan I thought I was going for was completely torn away from me. (God had better plans for me!!) then 2 weeks later, my husband lost his job too. So there we were, jobless, moneyless (is that even a word?) yet completely faithful and excited to see what God was going to make from it. My husband, from this point on we will just call him Cameron, received a job offer, and it was too good to be true. Only, it was true! So that was when I decided I would pursue my career in photography. I got professional equipment, lighting, backdrops, a computer and photography software. That brings us to today! (phew! that was a long adventure!) We truly feel God's hand in all of this and we are excited to take this journey together to provide professional photos at an affordable price. So there we are! I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about me and why I decided photography was for me! I will try and make posts at least once a week, maybe more depending on the workload! Please check out my facebook and instagram for more examples of my work!

-Sheana Drake