How did we get here?
I thought it would be nice to give you guys a little backstory on myself and how I ended up with this career path. I honestly never thought I’d end up here, but boy am I glad I did. Let’s dive on in!
I recently took a bunch of photographs from my parents house to go through for fun, and boy did it unlock a bunch of memories. I think since we now have cameras literally in our pockets, its easy to take advantage of the principal of photography. Our memory is selective, we don’t remember every single thing that has ever happened to us, so thats why photos should be extremely cherished. A photo means that that exact moment that you see was important to someone. Every person has a different eye, or holds things to different values, but you can tell what someone cared greatly about by seeing what they photograph. We’re gonna dive into some photos here and take a little trip down memory lane, starting with my parents. Mike & Joanne.
My parents always supported my goals,and still do everyday. They were always there to push me but also make sure I was headed the right direction. When my dad proposed to my mom, he had the ring hidden in his camera bag, so from the start photography was the way. Growing up my dad and I always went fishing, hung out in the garden, and acted like goofballs. My mom was behind the scenes watching us act like said goofballs but was always there. Today my dad and I are still goofballs, and my mom still rolls her eyes at us.
Born in the 90s (1990 to be exact) I believe I had the best decade to grow up in. The music was great, cellphones didn’t really exist, and you were always so excited to go to Claire’s at the mall with your allowance money from doing chores that week. You know you needed those butterfly clips and blow up chair!
I’m an only child, and grew up in the Lehigh Valley of PA. My dad always had a camera in his hands since I can remember, and I always loved going to pick up the photos when they were developed. I would flip through them over and over just always thinking it was so cool that you could freeze time. From the little tomato gremlin that I was to dressing up in gowns making myself into a bride or just one fancy gal, my dad always documented my interests. Also, holy crap I had bangs?
I worked at a dental office filing and scanning paperwork for my first job, and I saved up enough money to buy a Sony Cybershot. Yes the silver box with the retractable lens that made a weird noise when you turned it on and off. I came home from school EVERYDAY and took photos in my backyard, I had my two little neighbors be my muses from time to time, and when I got my license the camera was always in the car with me. I would come home from school everyday and take photos of anything and everything that was in front of me. Whether it was a flower, a tree, grass, or my cat, everyday was a photo day. You can see my first works below (insert crying laughing emoji here)
In my senior year of high school (where I met Christian, my fiance) we had to do a senior project on…anything really! I decided to do my project on photography and all of the different career paths you could take with it. I had examples of macro photography, landscape photography, children’s portraits, pet portraits, and an “artistic” photo of a tree. I should mention at the time that I was enrolled in community college to get my basic credits then decide what I actually wanted to do. After presenting my project, my panel of judges said that I should seriously look into photography school. That June, scheduled an appointment to interview for Antonelli Institute for Photography & Graphic Design (found out about this school through a friend, I modeled for his sister who went here as well). I had a 1:1 interview with the dean of the school and he accepted me right on the spot. I withdrew from community college immediately and started Antonelli in the fall of 2009. (Subject 1 is me mocking taking a photo not knowing what it would later mean in my life. We have my senior portrait (taken at the studio that I then worked at). Finally we have me opening my grandmothers film camera, this would be the camera I used for my first year of college.)
Our first year was black & white film, and our second year was digital color. We learned how to shoot and process film from start to finish, then went on to color and learned the ins and outs of Photoshop and Lightroom. I graduated in 2011 with an Associates Degree in Specialized Technology and haven’t looked back since. After graduating I worked for a company that essentially did “picture day” at all of the local school districts, then was trained to photograph senior portraits during the summer months, which then led me to working for an e-commerce company photographing high-end consignment until 2017. Here’s some photos from my first year of black and white film as well as my college graduation with my parents, and Lauren Fletcher from Love, Lorraine!
In 2013 while working for the school portrait company, I shot my first wedding for a high school friend. After posting some of the images, I just started to have people ask me, “So you’re a wedding photographer? Will you photograph my wedding?”, and honestly it just started to take off from there. In late May of 2017 I was out on a small photo adventure for myself (which I often do) and had a sudden realization..why couldn’t I just do this full time? What was holding me back from working for myself and making the most of my time? At the beginning of June, I put in my months notice and started to prepare myself for the big jump I was about to make. I had 15 weddings to photograph from June - December and I really wanted this to stick. I’m proud to say that each year it just kept growing and growing which has led us to where we are today. (Frist weddings photos located below)
I was highly motivated by my fiance, Christian, and his own passion for his music career. Watching him work so hard for something he loves so much opened my eyes up to the possibility of having my own dreams come true. I am extremely fortunate to have a supportive family to continuously keep pursuing my career, and I most definitely would not be where I am today without all of my amazing couples who have helped me along the way.
I am thankful to call this my job, I am honored to tell your stories, and I am thrilled to keep going.
See you guys soon, and thanks for reading!
XOXO,
Amiee
