When I first began my photography journey it was all about taking pictures of everything. People, places and animals. I began with taking any opportunity thrown at me. Newborns, in studio corporate headshots, weddings, real estate, product photography, high school seniors, sports team pictures and family sessions. I was a photographer after all. I had a fancy camera and lenses so I must photograph whatever I can. Ha ha right. I soon hit a burnout period and began to question what the heck I was doing. What was my reason for accepting any kind of photography stint I could take? Who was I? I felt like an imposter and fake.

Truth. I thought I could be a photographer to anything and to anyone. I figured I could do it all. Isn’t that what a photographer is supposed to do? Photograph everything? I soon learned, yes, I could be a photographer to all of these things but did I really want to? Did I love taking pictures of newborns, products I had no connections with, team sports, men in business suits? Did this make me happy? Was I in my comfort zone photographing these things? Hell no. It stressed me out. I wasn’t in my comfort zone. I didn’t enjoy it. I would cringe when an email or phone call arrived inquiring about these types of sessions. But I wanted my name out there. I wanted my business to grow.

After a few years of this strategy I finally had a heart to heart with myself. My business was growing. My name was out there. But I was unhappy with it all. So much of it wasn’t who Amy Elisabeth Photography was about. This was not how I envisioned I would feel about my photography. When I sat down and took a long, hard look at everything I was photographing I picked apart all of my pictures. And it was then I realized what brought me the most happiness, excitement, passion and contentment while being behind my camera. High school senior photography fed my creativity and gave me so much joy.  Weddings, even though they scared and intimidated me early on, I loved being a part of such a joyous day and to have the incredible gift to document someone’s love story! For everything else, I threw it all out the window. I was no longer the “everything photographer”. Yay! I found my niche and specialty. I felt relieved. I had this drive to move my photography forward with this new outlook and business plan.

Today, my focus is still on high school senior and wedding photography. This is what I am all about. My brand portrays what I specialize in. When people inquire about my services, they are wanting me as their wedding photographer or to create their son or daughter’s senior portraits.  Of course I still do a handful of family sessions  or team sports pictures(Go Wildcats!) each year because I do enjoy these! But I’ve stayed true to what I love to photograph the most and my business has grown immensely because of this.  Finding my niche and fulfilling my dream of creating portraits for people they will forever treasure, to hold as heirlooms for generations to come, has truly been how I had envisioned my photography journey to be.