Where It All Started - Part One
Let's start at the beginning...
It all started with a girl who had no entrepreneurial spirit or desire to start a business, until one day she realized maybe she actually could.
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This story doesn't start with me saying I've always wanted to have my own photography business for three reasons:
I didn't think it was possible for me
I didn't think I was good enough
I didn't know how
Photography has always been my passion, I love taking something in front of me and turning it into something beautiful and permanent. I often find myself taking two steps backward to capture something I saw that just looks right for a photo. My first real exposure (haha didn't mean to make that a pun) to photography was in high school when I took photography class. I used my mom's old Yashica Film camera and we were taught how to use it and how to develop our own film. Watching images slowly come into view on a blank white paper while it soaked in the tray was like watching something come to life. It was addicting.
In 2011, I created @_teacupandsaucer_. It was an Instagram account dedicated to sharing my photography which at that time was mostly taken on my phone or a borrowed camera. The name was inspired by my very British Great Grandma Ruby and the many memories I have of sharing a cup of tea with her, so it was fitting that my first picture was a picture of a cup of tea. I liked having a little hobby and somewhere to share my work but hadn't thought about it being anything beyond that. My friends and I lovingly referred to it as Teacup and Sausage because one of them had misread Saucer as Sausage and it stuck.
Over the years I expanded my photography and improved my technical skills. I started taking portraits of my friends and family every chance I had, everyone got free pictures of their kids, free family pictures and anniversary pictures all done with a Canon Powershot Point and Shoot camera. I documented our travels to Europe and to this day those are some of my favourite pictures (if you scroll back far enough on the Gram you'll see them).
My love for it grew and eventually led me to buying my very first DSLR. It was a $500 Canon Rebel T3i that we bought from a sketchy dude we found on Kijiji and it came with a 50mm lens and a zoom lens (it was a good deal). I was SO excited and felt like the photography world was my oyster.
I did more and more family portraits and eventually started getting inquiries from other families which finally gave me the confidence to start charging for my work. Within a few months a friend of mine asked me to photograph her wedding. I offered to do it for free as a gift (and also because I hadn't done a wedding before so had no idea how it was going to turn out). They turned out great btw.
This was all before Pinterest was really big so I learned how to be creative with posing without having a preset plan.
Eventually, between being busy with life, my part-time job in banking and having my first baby, the camera was put away and only brought out on special occasions like family celebrations or to do a fun photoshoot with my daughter. I still didn't believe I was good enough to have a proper photography business or where to start.
@_teacupandsaucer_ stayed open but mostly unused. Like most new moms I had shifted into 'mom' mode and it took me a while to adjust to that massive change in my life. You're so focused on being a mom that you forget who you were before and it's hard to figure out how to still be your own person.
Through a lot of growth and personal development, Postpartum Anxiety/OCD, pandemic and having my second daughter I was ready to re-connect with what made me, me. While on maternity leave with my second daughter I was ready to pick up my camera. But it was different this time...
Stay tuned for Part Two.