First Entry {hello}

I have been wanting to start my photography blog for a while now but never sat down to start....until now. So I guess this is where I can let you know some about me. My name is Ashley. I am the mother of a 3 year old and the guardian of a 15 year old {my brother}. I have 3 jobs, photography is one. So yes, I am very BUSY! I never really had a nice camera so I never really took a lot of pictures until right after my son was born in 2008 which was when a whole new world was born. From the first time I snapped the very first picture with my Sony A200 DSLR I was in love and havent stopped. {well not including when all my equipment including my computer with all my pictures were stolen and i had to start from scratch...with a new Nikon D3000}. I originally started taking pictures of nature like items... flowers, sunsets, animals, landscapes. I then started following this blog which focused more on people which was challenging to me so I decided I would give it a try. I started by taking picture of friends kids and immediately got wonderful feedback and requests to do more. I decided to take a few photography classes at a local community college to learn how to really use my camera {yes, in M mode}. I taught myself how to work with photoshop {which I am still very amateur at} and became obsessed with learning post proccessing side. I then got my first paid work by doing a generational photoshoot for my best friend's family. After that I then did a boudior shoot for my other friend for her fiance {now hubby} and a few  of her friends started asking her about my pricing of which I had none at the time. I decided that if I wanted to do this I would have to start being more serious. So I made a website {www.lovealwaysphoto.com}, put together some pricing, and started doing more free shoots to build my portfolio.

I always knew I wanted to eventually get into weddings because I love everything about them, but knew I had to gain some respect and experience so it started with kids, families, maternity and slowing has been building  up to engagements and so far I have completed my first wedding along wtih 2 more bookings in the future. So far I have gotten a decent amount of work without really advertising just working through referrals. With every shoot, new clients are brought my way which is a good start. My goal in the next year is to put more into my art and make photography one of my main jobs so I can have more time to focus on my family. Right now my portfolios consists of the the "circle of life" as I like to call it. We start as one person {LOVE me}, we then become two {LOVE us} , that tuns into a unity {LOVE love} which most times results {LOVE bellies} leaving behind {LOVE kids} and we now have {LOVE family} and we are back at the beginning of our circle.

I love taking all type of photography but I will say I do want to get more involved with weddings. Yes I am scared of bridezillas, I know this job could be pretty demanding, but more importantly I am in love with LOVEEE and capturing that o-so-special moment between a new union {and all parties involved}. I  have been going through a lot of changes in my life lately, which have yes been stressful but I feel that these changes are nothing less then opportunities that are further opening the doors to my growing future including my photography. Welcome to my journey. What better way to start my new blog then with a post about my first wedding. But of course they deserve a post to themselves... stay tuned!!!

Love Always,

Ashley