I began my photography journey in high school. After college, I ventured into blogging and started sharing my photos, marking the turning point in my photography journey.
Hi, I’m Emily, a Bay Area Maternity & Newborn Photographer. Some of you may only recognize me as a photographer, while others might recall my 12-year career in Education. This business has grown and shaped me over the past 6 years, and as I was taking some time to reflect on the journey, I thought I would share a little bit about it all.
Thinking about the path I took into my photography career, I looked up my old blog to reminisce. It took me a minute to find the blog title (I seriously tried to use the Wayback Machine), but eventually found the link in an email search. In that search I found an email I sent to my Dad in 2013 with a link to a recent blog post. He sent me back a quick email that made me smile. It simply said “Awesome once again. If you ever decide to hang up the counseling gig, you could easily become a master photographer. You already are!!”.
To look back at that blog, see that line from my dad and then realize that 10 years later I am actually living out that life, it is pretty freaking cool.
The Journey From School Counselor to Photographer
In 2013 I was just at the start of my school counseling career. I had moved to the Bay Area and was starting a new job as a high school counselor at a large East Bay high school. I loved my job. Every day was a new adventure; it was exciting, fun and challenging.
Over the next several years I built in my career in education (and blogged about it too!), taking on more and more leadership roles and considering a move into administration. All the while, I continued to take photos. I always brought my camera with me on trips, to family gatherings, and events.
In 2017 after a particularly difficult year, I was talking with a good friend on the phone. She asked me if I would be interested in photographing her brother’s wedding and if I had ever thought about doing photography more seriously. I took that conversation and ran with it. That night I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning and created my first website. Little did I know that 6 years later this would be my full time job!
From 2017-2023 I grew my business. I went from photographing anything and everything – families, couples, elopements, engagements & weddings – to niching down and focusing on Maternity & Newborn Photography. I found as I photographed more and more new families that I absolutely loved the newness, connection, confidence, beauty and love that came with maternity & newborn photography. It brings me joy like nothing else, and is 100% the genre of photography that I am meant to be in.
Full Time Photographer!
In early 2023, having moved from school counseling to school administration in 2021, I made the decision to leave my vice principal job at the end of the school year and pursue my photography business full time. So far, 5 months in, it is absolutely one of the best decisions I have ever made! I am so happy, and my life is so full of joy!
I am also so grateful for the incredible encouragement and support I have been given over the past 6 years as I built this business and journeyed into photography as a full time job. The enthusiasm that my family and friends have shown me as I decided to leave education in pursuit of photography as a full time job has been inspiring. I cannot wait to continue to grow this business and share that journey with you!
