My photography career, if you will, officially started out in June of 2022. Although I’ve grown up in the photography world, I wanted to gain some experience building my own style as an individual creator. Photography for me was something fun & a new thing to play around with. I reached out to a few friends to offer some complimentary sessions, and Liberty’s was one of my first.
Back then I truly was experimenting - editing, light, posing. I didn’t have much of a concept of how to bring to life what I was imagining and my idea of bringing color to a photo was to crank the saturation & vibrance..which definitely shows haha. But it was a good starting point, one that I look back on with so much appreciation.
Off the bat, I knew that I loved movement. That I wanted to blend posed and candid. I knew I loved colors, even if I didn’t know how to achieve the warmer, softer tones I now edit in. I knew that I wanted those in front of my camera to feel beautiful, to capture them in a way that complimented who they were. I remember being so proud of this session, it was the start of something truly precious even though I had no idea how much I would grow. .
Three years later, and with many sessions in between (both with Liberty and others), she reached out to me with a creative session in mind. We went to a location I had scouted on a drive with my friend - one of my summer favorites - to capture one of my favorite sessions to date.
When I delivered her final edited gallery, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude. I retained my love for movement and posing and learned how to play with the light and achieve soft skin texture & crisp photos. Direct sun became a friend, not an enemy, and the beautiful warm light in my photos made sense…and complimented the person in front of me.
As I look at these photos next to each other, same beautiful girl, same truck, and same love for highlighting the light in the ones I get to work with, I’m truly so thankful for every trial & error, for every late night editing session, for every person who trusted me as I continued to grow. I don’t think I realized, at least for the first couple years, how much my eye for light and editing would change and evolve, but looking back on this session and all the many others, it really does feel full circle. I’m proud of where I started and even more excited about where I am headed. Sometimes growth isn’t dramatic, it’s steady, it’s consistent, and it’s a collaboration of a hundred little choices to keep going.
Whether you’re just starting out your photography journey or you’re well established with a style you adore - whether you’re the one behind the camera or the one in front - whatever endeavor, creative expression, and goal you're chasing, let this be an encouragement to you to keep going! Keep developing your craft, whatever that may be. And don’t forget to slow down, look back, and be proud of the milestones you’ve created along the way :)
Grace Funk :)
