From Profession to Passion: My Journey to Becoming a Personal Branding and Wedding Photographer
I have always loved photos – specifically the candid ones, the ones that make you feel seen.
I got a camera for my 18th birthday, a Sony A3000 to be exact, but it was my senior year and I had the self confidence of a door nail. “After graduation,” I told myself… but then before I knew it, I was engaged to a Marine and moving to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on or around a military base but the market saturation is insane, not to mention knowing I potentially would have to uproot my business and move on a dime? Did I mention I had the self confidence of a door nail? Looking back it was the perfect opportunity to start my business, I mean come on.. creating connections all over the world, ugh. I’m kicking myself now. This started my journey of getting my camera out every couple of months and telling myself this is it… This is the time I start my business…then life and kids would get crazy and she’d go back up on the shelf. I’ve worked as a waitress, at a halloween store (my favorite of all time, if you’re in Jacksonville, NC Halloween Express is the best), Tax Preparer, Stay-at Home-Mom, Emergency Medical Technician, Caregiver…I’m not kidding, I’ve done it all trying to find something I loved and was passionate about. Then we moved to Detroit Metro to be closer to my husband’s family and low and behold… there’s a photographer in our friend group! It felt like sign after sign the timing wasn’t right… my camera went from sitting around on a shelf for months to years.
After my daughter was born, I went back to school. Something about having a little girl has made it unacceptable to continue living doubting myself and playing small. I started my corporate job as a Provider Enrollment Specialist at a Medium sized Dental Company in my hometown, Tulsa, OK. This job ticked all my boxes, I was good at it, I liked it well enough, I was helping doctors and it was still small enough I could pick almost anyone’s brain to learn something new. I quickly started getting raises and promotions but my cup still felt like it had a hole drilled in the bottom…slowly draining everyday.
We decided to move to Knoxville, Tennessee in April 2023. Michigan winters and constant overcast had to be the reason I was always draining. While we were moving I pulled out my camera and then I just never put it away. I never dreamed of creating a business out of it, I was happy at my corporate job. It was work from home, I was in a good environment, I LOVED my team. Right before we moved, the company onboarded a new VP and I got promoted to Manager! I was ecstatic. I thought it was everything I ever wanted, but again, the high didn’t last long. When the new VP ended up calling me names, attempting to isolate me, coaching me to lie to everyone around me… I cried every day. This wasn’t the company I joined. My only joy was in photography. I started taking off work more and and doing photography. I eventually quit my job and went full time photography. Initially I thought I only wanted to do families…. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Personal Branding Photography is where my heart is…there is nothing I love more than helping businesses confidently build their brand and elevate their image while bringing in elements of their personality in a way that is classy and timeless. Quarterly shoots, events, and getting to work with website designers and strategizing a brand photoshoot for 3 months of content is something that just sets my soul on fire. I want your brand image to align so perfectly with what you’ve imagined you think “can she read my mind???”
I never planned to get into weddings… in fact, I specifically said I had no interest in weddings. Loudly. Proudly…. And then my dad said, don’t knock it ‘til you try it. So I decided to sign up for a second shooting opportunity. And there is just something about seeing people so madly in love and getting to be with them on one of the best days of their life. Capturing their love, romantic and timeless, candid connections. It’s something unmatched.
I always thought when I started photography I would have to niche down, but this is my business. I decide what stays and what goes. I want you to do the same, in your business or in your life. You are the creator of your own story.
xoxo- lily davis