The picture used for this post is my daughter, Amelia. It was the first picture I took with a real backdrop. Thus begins the story of how I became a portrait photographer.

It all started back in 2013. I was asked to take pictures of our dance studio's jazz and tap ensemble, Pure Dance as well as their ballet company, South Bay Ballet Arts. These pictures would be used to create a collage poster that would be placed in the lobby on show days. The first year things were bare bones basic - no backdrop, no lights, studio brick wall and marley floor. The next year the company director brought in 2 flood lights that we used with the same set up as the previous year. After a year or two of that, I decided to take the plunge and buy a paper backdrop. The first year we used white (the picture above was that backdrop, but set up for a test run in my living room). The next year I bought a black paper backdrop.

The Pure Dance group eventually fizzled and would be replaced with a competition team. Everything up until this point was volunteer. I did a few sessions with the comp team and would eventually take on larger jobs where I began to charge for pictures that I took. Little by little things grew and I started calling myself a professional photographer...