The Art of Me
Where to begin.
Since a young age, I've had a passion for the arts. From music and theatre to film and photography.
Over my 40+ years, my photography grew from a hobby to a career with lots of twists and turns. I am excited to share my hobby with the world again just for fun!
Born and raised in Indiana, I still reside in the same small town. While I may crave travel, I thrive in the community of my family. I raised my children here and currently live with my husband and 3 dogs.
CAREER TIMELINE
2006 Portrait Photography
I began by accident when showing some photos to a friend I took of my own children. With my best friend and business partner, we formed Red Barn Photography after the requests continue to come in for photos.
In the beginning, only the elite had smart phones and the cameras on them were trash. By the time I retired the portrait studio in 2018, the digital world was more advanced than I could have imagined. The desire for art was being overshadowed by the need for instant gratification and I found myself burning out trying to keep up.
During those 12 years, I explored many facets of the photography world. While my focus was always people, I sought out other ways to see beauty in the world. I traveled when I could find the time and began to develop my landscape skills.
2017 Commercial Photography
When I closed the studio, I started looking for other ways to earn an income with my photography skills. I began with Real Estate and spammed every realtor I could find an email for. It worked! This combined my love of architecture/decor and photography - what a dream! Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pay the bills, so I kept exploring.
This is when I discovered "Gig" photography, mostly for online sellers (Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, etc). YES! This added my knack for design into the mix and I was able to learn more about graphics and designing as I grew this side of my skillset.
I found that perfecting an image for a commercial client was so rewarding! And using my creativity to improve their brand.
2020 Dog Photography
I began to weed out my commercial work when I adopted my first (of 3) Cockapoos. I fell in love with the breed.
We all know how crazy 2020 was - imagine that but with puppies - EVERYONE in the entire world wanted to adopt in April of that year. I joined the staff of a local breeder helping sort the 100s of applications for adoption between photoshoots of puppies. Here I learned how fun Video content can be to create and grew my duties to include all social media and photography for our team.
I still do this job day in and day out and I enjoy finding new ways to improve my work and spread the love of animals through imagery.
2024 Wildlife Photography
On a trip to Alaska in 2014, I dabbled in wildlife photography when I rented a super-zoom lens for a whale watching tour. Because I had to send the lens back at the end of the trip, and was returning to my busy portrait studio, I didn't think about wildlife much again.
Until a 2024 trip to Yellowstone. I rented the super-zoom lens again and my world was changed. I studied and you-tubed every video on wildlife photography and was blown away with the opportunities I found out west to see majestic animals in their native habitats.
While going into year 5 as a Dog Photographer, I have begun to devote my free time to the study and improvement of my skills in the area of wildlife. In the next few years, I hope to explore a variety of National Parks in both US & Canada, as well as areas of Alaska, New England, and Florida to find wildlife.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about my journey!
Amy