My career as a photographer started back in 2009.  I was just a “kid with a nice camera”, but I wasted no time teaching myself all the different ins and outs of photography.  I got to know my camera and took business lessons from other photographers.  The first photography business I opened catered to everyone – landscape, commercial, maternity, newborn, families, boudoir, pet – you name it, I did it.  In 2012, I moved with my family from Middle Tennessee to Northern Virginia.  Time off during the move had afforded me a little reflection on lessons learned while in business.  I realized that I was jaded by the business side of photography because I was forcing myself to take pictures other people wanted and not what I wanted – I was a photographer for everyone else but needed to be a photographer for me, for my passion.  I needed to re-ignite my passion for photography by focusing on what I love – GLAMOUR!  In 2012, I founded Authentic Portrait.  The name is indicative of my re-focused career path as well as my desire to help the modern woman find herself and her own true beauty again.

2. What equipment do you use?

I mostly use a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 50mm 1.4G

We are located in Fairfax, Virginia and serve the greater DC Metro area.

I believe in posing all the way.  I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t walk around looking like a super model all day and certainly don’t appear graceful in everything I do.  I want to bring out the natural feminine features and gorgeous curves in every woman that comes to my studio.  It’s amazing how different a picture can look with a slight turn of the hand or pointed toes.  As a photographer, I certainly have the ability to make someone look 10 pounds heavier or 10 pounds lighter with how I position a body, but weight isn’t the point.  Poses direct the viewer to focus on what’s important.  What’s important for me is that when you look at one of my portraits, you aren’t distracted by human flaws, but can focus on the beauty of their soul as seen through their eyes.

I have always been slightly obsessive over taking pictures.  It probably started when I got my first digital camera in high school.

I love seeing how a session can change a client’s attitude about herself.  We kick the inner critical voice to the curb.

Don’t search for approval.  It doesn’t matter what people think about your photography because it’s your art.  Love it because it’s yours.  All that matters is that your client has the best picture of themselves.

Know your worth!  Learn the business side of photography as well – that’s what differentiates you from the amateurs.