Hi and welcome to my little piece of the internet. Today I’d like to introduce myself to the newest fans and clients and tell all the ones who have been here since the beginning a few fun new facts about me. My name is Liz and I am a 25 year old college graduate working as an admissions representative and grinding my way towards my dream of a full time photography business. I am a Sagittarius and thus always busy. Some say I’m a workaholic and I can definitely agree to that. I can usually be found sitting in front of my computer, in my office working on editing, social media, or other business ventures. I’m an introvert and an extrovert which makes me great at fading into the background of your wedding day and capturing the emotions as they happen. It also makes me great at being able to take charge and pose you and your loved ones quickly and beautifully. I spent 6 years in Nashville as I attended Watkins College of Art for photography and then worked in Nashville for the first year after I graduated. I now call Clarksville, TN home once again. On any given day you can either find me in my office working or lounging on the couch with my boyfriend watching tv. I have an unnatural obsession with Mexican food and could eat my weight in chips and salsa. (shout out to anyone else who loves Mexican food!)
I am a hopeless romantic. From the time I was little, I have always been in love with weddings (said almost every woman ever, I know), but I can’t help it. It’s not so much the glitz and the glam as the look on the groom’s face when he or she sees the love of their life. That look, that moment says it all…YOU are their forever and every bit of stress and worry during the wedding planning process was worth it as they watched you walk down that aisle and finally said I DO. As for families: I love the soft tender touch of a parent with their child. When two parents look at each other and realize how much more they love each other now that they’ve created another human for them to love. I’ve heard people say that they couldn’t imagine loving their spouse any more than they did on their wedding day, until they had a child, and then they loved their spouse in an even deeper way.
Those are the moments you can’t get back and the moments you’ll want to look back on and remember when you’ve had a fight or you’re having a rough day. Those are the moments you’ll want your grandchildren to see and think, “Man they really loved each other.” Those are the moments I capture for you.
So why exactly do I love photography? How did I get into this crazy business that I can’t imagine not doing?
It all started in high school. That’s usually where it starts right? Everyone was asking me, “What do you want to do with your life?” Junior year I would have told you I wanted to be an estate lawyer. There was something so calming to me about being the person that helped the ones leaving this earth get their lives in order. I don’t know what it is about it but I woke up one day and that’s what I wanted to do. Well obviously I didn’t do that and I sure am glad I didn’t. Law is hard and definitely not for me. Senior year, I wanted to be a pastry chef…for the first half of the year. I had always loved baking and thought it was my calling. I was finally tapping into the creative potential that would one day become my life. The second half of senior year I took a photography class and that was it. Let’s just say it was love at first sight. I got my first camera for Christmas that year and couldn’t put it down. It was like something in my soul was awakened and all I wanted to do was photography. At that point the race was on. Applications for college were due March 1st and I had to scramble to do the photography exercises and apply if I wanted any hope of getting in. I applied to Brooks Institute, my first choice. The school is located in California and their work is incredible! I knew I wanted to be a wedding photographer and so I desperately wanted to go there. Watkins was my second choice. It’s a fine art school but still close to home and had some great work and faculty. Like anyone desperately trying to get out of their hometown, I applied to Austin Peay as my backup. I’m not saying Austin Peay is a bad school but I wanted to “see the world” and I couldn’t do that being stuck in Clarksville. I eventually went with Watkins. While I loved Brooks, it was a little too far and Watkins was just the right distance to go home if I needed but still feel independent.
I photographed my first wedding in 2012. It was the wedding of Amanda and Luke Harper. I was so nervous I thought I was going to be sick. This was one of the biggest days of someone’s life and they had entrusted me to photograph it for them. I’ll tell you this though…as soon as I got to that little chapel and walked into the bridal room to meet the bride and her ladies, I was cool, calm and ready to ROCK! Now let me remind you, this was my first wedding…EVER…but as soon as I walked into that room, it was like I had walked into what I had been meant to be doing for the rest of my life. I knew exactly what I should be doing and photographing (let’s be honest…the months of studying and learning had also helped) but I was ready and I couldn’t wait to capture the start of their lives together. Each and every wedding I’ve done since then has only added to the excitement.
My first full on family session was for the Govindasamy’s. They hired me for the birth of their second child, their son. I had so much fun photographing them. I’ve always loved kids and am very good with them. The trick is to let your kids be wild. Don’t try to stifle them because then you get the stiff smiles of kids who don’t want to sit still. I remember chatting up Katelyn and getting her to laugh as she told me all about school and this boy she was crushing on. I remember the look on Devan’s face as he looked at Brittany and the love I saw there overwhelmed me. Those are the moments I want to capture. I got to watch little Connor grow into quite the little flirt and got to watch Katelyn grow up and get more comfortable with me. I love laughing with my clients and their children and making them feel comfortable being around me. Those priceless moments, your child’s little quirks..they might not be picture perfect but they are the moments that make your child exactly who they are.
Want me to photograph your own memories?
