it's time.

It's no surprise to say that a huge hobby of mine is photography. Growing up I went through endless amounts of disposable cameras, developing them as quick as I could drag my Mom to the drugstore. During my summers at Dad's I would take stacks of photos to share with my Florida family, sharing a little insight to my life back in Ohio. You could say that taking and keeping photographs was always one of my "obsessions" as many know is typical for me. One year on a family vacation to Hawaii I remember my siblings spending their saved cash on a kayaking trip, and being teased for purchasing an underwater disposable camera instead. But of course no one complained when we had amazing memories in and out of water captured because of that. Things never really changed besides my standards of REAL images. Disposables stopped cutting it , and I never left home without my point and shoot cameras throughout college. Yes CAMERA'S' because I don't think anyone could keep track of how many I lost, broke, or had "stolen" aka lost without admit.  The moment we had our first mister,  pixilated blury image quality was just not acceptable. Sweet southern santa blessed me with my first real camera in 2010... life changing. < by Santa I mean my amazing husband who has always supported my hobbies, both emotionally and financially> I finally was able to capture the beauty in everyday life as my eyes saw and felt it.

In those 4 years I have slowly moved from basic Nikon on "green Auto" with trendy over-processing to an upgraded Canon body, 5 lenses, speed light, lightroom editing, manual shooting, and ( thanks to a hugely inspirational and talented friend) even shooting off camera flash now. The correct way would have been taking classes, but instead I read books/magazines/online articles and simply practiced with whoever was around to let me.

Something is very cliche about being an Army wife , Mom, and Photographer. Many do it and I know of only a handful that do it really well. My fear has always been falling into the category of the others. It's like buying a guitar without learning to play, and expecting to sell a record. It's embarrassing for everyone involved and leaves clients with poor quality work.

A year ago in a church service in Enterprise Alabama,  God totally began to speak to me about a business name. At the time I wasn't sure what to do with it but I wanted the name Believe Studio with scripture tied in somehow. Our pastor was speaking on making christ evident in all that you do, and it just came to me. I want the part of the B that looks like a 3 to stand out, and the L to look like a number 1. In the midst of the word BELIEVE ( a word that I find to be the most powerful to the human mind, that I had tattooed on me at 18, and continues to change my life today ) I wanted the number 31 to stand out in reference to proverbs 31.  The name studio instead of photography leaves possibilities open to sell other handmade items, or even someday be partially fitness related as well.

Since deciding on a name I have taken VERY slow but semi-steady steps . Last spring I obtained an official business trade name through the city, secured a Facebook page, upgraded my camera, and simply started practicing more. The nerves that I get before a shoot, and the pure joy after a successful one tells me that it is exactly what I need to keep doing.

I am in no way ready to start a full time business or even try too compete with the phenomenal local photographers in Tucson . But it's time to finally let extended friends and family know -HEY! Next time you need a photographer for something small, keep me in mind! - if my schedule is free and I have someone to watch my kids, I would be honored to work with you.

Feel free to check out or LIKE my FB page at

https://www.facebook.com/believe31studio?ref=hl

Or just search Believe studio.

Some pictures I have on there are from older sessions , so if you have been behind my lens and would rather it not be public just let me know! Privacy is important to a lot of people and I totally understand that. Feel free to tag yourself in any shots as well :) spread the love.