One of the questions I get asked almost every photo shoot is how I became a photographer. I love this question, and it is by no means a direct answer.
I first started playing around with photography in high school. My school had recently renovated the art rooms and had installed a legit dark room the very year photography became an optional subject for me to study. I loved that dark room. I loved watching the images I had taken appear from nowhere with a little bit of exposure and a few chemicals.
Despite my passion for creating artwork I ended up not pursuing photography after high school, but by no means was I not doing something I loved. After a few years of trial and error, I found myself being hired as a corporate flight attendant at one of the most prestigious business jet manufactures in the world. I spent the later part of my twenties and early thirties traveling the world in absolute luxury to the nth degree. It was my dream job. I spent six month of each year on the “road” and my camera was never far from my side. The job taught me how to focus, pay attention to the small details, to not be afraid of technology and provide the most kick-arse customer experience in the industry, something I strive to achieve every day with Amanda Joy Photography.
When my husband was offered an assignment to live and work in Basel, we simply could not turn it down! We arrived six years ago and immediately fell pregnant with our first baby boy. Our two year contract turned into three and then we decided to make it a permanent move.
When my eldest was born I was so overwhelmed by being a new mum I had nothing left for myself. It was even harder still when I became pregnant with baby number two. It was a tough two years for me. When my second baby boy arrived, I felt like a new start line had been drawn and I could get down to business managing two babies and having something just for me. I once again went back to my camera and began to shoot. I photographed everything about our days. The camera sat in my buggy and where we went, it came too. I took workshops online when the kids were in bed for the evening, devouring any and all information I could get my hands on. Eventually this led to friends asking me to take photos of their newborns and families. It gave me so much pride and joy to be able to create works of art that touched my friends in such a deep and meaningful way. My business seemed to grow organically and I found I offered a style of photography that was not available at the time in Basel.
I have big dreams for this craft and business of mine. The readers of this blog are a huge part of it. I hope to inspire, create, teach, learn and grow in this space and my wish is for you to join me on the ride.
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