I'm so glad that you've made it to my blog and this, my flagship post. I am a St. Louis photographer. Those words never sounded so big and scary in all of my life. A few months ago, I left my full-time job. That may have been one of the most terrifying things I've ever done in my life - it took courage, support from the people who care about me, and an internal knowledge that everything was going to be okay.
When I left, I'd already taken about 5 months off from my photography. My photography business had been doing so well - but my full-time job was very demanding and often required extra hours and I felt like it was too much for me to continue to try to do both. I wasn't enjoying the photography like I used to because I had too much business to be just a part-time photographer and didn't feel like I was investing in my photos the way that I could. I lost confidence in myself.
During my time away from everything, I took a few months to soul search and to de-stress. I hiked a lot of Missouri parks on my own and then...I took a road trip by myself. I drove from St. Louis to Johnson City, TN; Asheville, NC; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Jacksonville, FL; West Palm Beach, FL, and finally, Key West where I visited the home of Ernest Hemingway - one of my all-time favorite authors and creatives. I had dreamt of visiting his home for years - and was finally able to do that. I headed home after that, through the pan handle of Florida, into Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee - and upon arriving home, found myself with so many photos, wonderful memories of old friends I'd visited along the way, and most importantly, a desire to return to portrait photography. I was home for about 2 weeks, when a family emergency took me to Portland, Oregon to visit my sister. We got out and did some hiking (one of my favorite things to do in the St. Louis area) and spent a full day, driving down the Oregon Coast. When I returned to St. Louis, I again found myself on a flight, this time, headed for San Diego, California - where I spent 2 full days, exploring the coast and enjoying other parts of Southern California. Photos from my trips can be found on my Instagram account: Eward328 and many of my travel photography photos will soon be available for purchase in the Fine Art Photography section of my website.
In the middle of June, my parents came to town from Arizona and I road tripped with them up to Northwestern Ohio for my Grandmother's 80th birthday. A few months before I left my full-time job, an old friend from elementary school, had contacted me and asked if I would shoot his daughter's [Madeline's] senior portraits. I booked the session but not without the anxiety that I hadn't shot portraits in a while and it was a little scary for me to commit to at the time. However, I knew my grandmother's birthday was coming, and knew I would be in that area of the country - so, I decided to do it. Madeline shoot went really well.
That decision, set me on the path to finally follow my passion - it restored the self confidence I had misplaced and reminded me of why I got started in portrait photography to begin with. I love it. I'm passionate about it and I love creating images for clients that are unlike anything else I've done. So, welcome to my fresh start - welcome to endless possibilities in your portrait photography! I'm back - and I couldn't be happier! What are you passionate about? When have you lost confidence in yourself? What did you do to find it again? Tell me in the comments!