Salt+Light Photography

Confession:
I’ve found myself dependent on my phone when it comes to capturing pictures of my own life and my kids. After baby #2 came along so quickly after baby #1, I found myself picking up my camera less and less. Clearly, my hands and arms were already full of, well, babies. Taking my camera anywhere felt like hauling a third child places. While I’ve come out of the fog of those days (that I desperately miss), I’ve grown reliant on my phone’s aging and now, sub par camera to capture the memories I cherish.
I’m not one for New Years resolutions, but I did make a little goal for myself this year...use my camera to capture our days. Not every single day, but those ones I know that I’d be standing there thinking “Gosh, I wish I had my camera.”
Yesterday, was one of those days. Our homeschool group gathered at one of our community’s family’s home and ranch. It was a beautiful day in the hills of De Luz and reminiscent of my childhood growing up on a Fallbrook avocado grove. The children ran through the groves and paths, hopped over streams, climbed trees to harvest hanging fruit, fed animals, and played with their friends. I didn’t curate or coordinate their outfits for photos and I didn’t ask them to “look at me” or “smile” for any of these that I’ve shared here. Don’t get me wrong, I got those too, but I’m of the fence about publicly sharing my children’s faces these days (that’s a whole other stream of thought though). Anyways, there is beauty in all of it and as this business of mine changes and takes shape this year, I’m changing my focus (ha, another one!) and intention when it comes to the photographs I take. This life is beautiful friends and I don’t want to miss it.

A little about me....
When I first ventured into this world of photography (as a business), I was in college and had fallen in love with the idea of building a business around something that brought me so much joy. I worked in a private preschool and had several adorable subjects at my fingertips to photograph each day and practice my skill. It was a win-win for myself and the parents who raved about the photos I’d post in their children’s classrooms and later give them. I decided to boldly contact several professional photographers in the area to see if any would be willing to hire me. I wanted to see, feel, and touch the business side of this dream I had. I am ever thankful to one Orange County photographer who gave me that chance! Sofia Walters Photography gave me the hands on experience I needed, and better yet she paid me for it! I look back on that time with so much fondness. She gave me guidance, trusted me to come along side her, and became my friend ❤️ Neither of us were mothers at the time, but she had a dream of what her business would look like down the road and she shared that with me too. Over time, our lives have taken us all over the country. Our businesses have grown, waned, and changed depending on our personal lives and so have our dreams.
Today, we are both mothers, but separated by several states and a few time zones. I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about what I want my business to look like during this time in my life and it’s caused me to spend some time going back and thinking about what has shaped it into what it is today. If I looked at just the numbers, it would look like a failure, but when I’m looking at the whole picture (ha, unintended pun there) it is such a beautiful success story. It’s a story that wouldn’t be without the support of many people along the way and without the dreams of others I was welcomed into. All that to say, thank you Sofia for pouring into me all those years ago, for the invaluable experiences, and for friendship that we still have, albeit virtually, today! I love that we are both mothers who still get to pursue our artistic passions and bring smiles to the faces of families both on and off camera!

SOFIA WALTERS PHOTOGRAPHY SOFIA WALTERS PHOTOGRAPHY

• home •
There are so many great parks and locations here in So Cal to take family portraits, but there is something so very special when portraits are taken at your own home.
This family’s country home in the early spring of 2019 was the perfect place to capture their little ones’ BIG personalities.

After an over-three year hiatus from Instagram, I am back up running! I currently seem to be much better at keeping the IG world up to date with photos than the FB world. If you have IG, come follow along 🙂

salt+light photography (@saltlightphotography) • Instagram photos and videos 130 Followers, 8 Following, 39 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from salt+light photography ()