Self Worth, Love, and Discovery
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Self Worth, Love, and Discovery 〰️
Let’s take a '“rewind in time.” In the beginning, “amari.edits” my instagram handle / business trade mark didn’t originate with a camera in my hand. Sixteen-year-old me was an editor, graphic art, retouching, and the photoshop guru. It wasn’t until I became the editor to lighten creative’s “workload.” With doing so, I had to market my service somehow which led to my peers having the misconception that I was the photographer. “Why am I not a photographer?” I asked myself. I look at composition, lighting, and color tones day in and day out. Before I knew it, My Journey BEGAN! Starting from the good ole’ 757 area. I photographed portraits, school sports, district legislatures, food, real estate, influencers and so on. During this time, I had 2 mentors set me up for success when I would continue this journey alone.
Upon graduating high school, it was time to leave VA. Leaving my clients, my friends/family, nonetheless, my entire support system. My journey then led me to Texas, where I had to rebrand in a new area. There’s a first time for everything they always say, but this time I left lost, not inspired, pressured against myself. Until I realized, sometimes you have to say f**k it! I simply walked around with a camera just doing street photography, until people began asking me for my card, socials, etc and then I was off. Lots of memories and lessons learned from this experience. Months later, Florida was up next, which became a cake walk. I was riding the confidence train for being a creative professional. Again, shortly after the high, became a halt.
Moving to Alaska, yikes, who would want to go there? Surprisingly, I did and I’m grateful for that experience until this day. The Arctic was the ultimate challenge for my career in this industry being distant from everything around me. Attempting to land gigs in an area with such high cost-of-living. Meeting people who aren’t willing to pay what you’re worth and my solution was to escape the cold. I developed a pretty stellar in-home-studio where people didn’t want me be cold, showed my professionalism, and I was able to out-weigh the competition around me. Just because there’s a lot of creators in one area, don’t do what they do. In order to get bookings. Stay consistent in what YOU BELIEVE. That is the most important. People reach out to you for your work and YOUR style, just because someone else is “cheaper” don’t take that negotiation, allow them to get the cheap images and unhappy. Because you know YOUR WORTH. Spending 3 years in Alaska taught me things, no mentor could prepare you for.
And so, as the title reads, My Journey Continues. Now in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. I can’t wait to see what I become. Stay tuned!