Why photography? Why not?

My entire life I was going to be a doctor and deep down I really wish I would have chased that dream a little longer, but....life happens.  Right as I was going to start getting all my ducks in a row, two lines appeared on this little plastic stick!  Yep!  I was pregnant.  Could I got to school for 10 more years, take out a ridiculous amount of student loans, rely on my husband to support our family of 3 and be away from my baby for hours and hours and hours every single day?  Nope.  It wasn't in the cards for me to be a doc.....and I am cool with that.

So I decided to take it down a notch and become a nurse.  The medical field has always been the only way I wanted to go.  I loved blood and guts.  I loved helping heal people.  I loved a stethoscope and scrubs.  Yep, I am that girl.  So I did it, even though there were plenty of people that said I couldn't, I went through a fast track program and was a nurse before I knew what happened.  When I say fast track, I mean FAST TRACK.  I went to school Monday-Friday from 745-4 or 5....so when am I going to work?  Well....I'm not!  Yeah right!  If you know anything about me, you should know that I like money.  I like my own money.  I like to shop.  So....I picked up my camera like I had done thousands of times in the past.

Right before I started nursing school, I had been really enjoying a part time stent as a "fauxtographer."  You know? The mom that got the camera, that thought she was good at picture takin'?  I had a few families toot my horn and tell me that I did good and they wanted me to do their pictures....so I did!  Never would I accept money....I couldn't do that!  I wasn't good enough.  I may have an "eye" for it, but that eye didn't produce images I would hang on my wall.

Once I started nursing school, I started not only studying how to start an IV and put an NG tube in, I also started reading up on my cool camera and all the neat things it could do.  I was hooked!  Three months into school, I started advertising for sessions for literally dirt cheap.  Not because I wanted to be rich, but because I wanted to help my hubby pay some bills and support my Starbucks obsession.

I did sessions periodically, more for family than for clients, but I practiced.......a lot.

Then nursing school ended, I had my ugly white nursing cap and see through white scrubs.  I had my first job lined out before I even graduated and literally got pinned on Thursday and started working on Monday.  So much for down time after graduation!

That first job....yeah I hated it.  It was not the "nursing" job I had dreamed of.  There were no needles, no splints, no blood pressure cuffs....heck, we could hardly wear scrubs.  I toughed it out for a while, but people are people and it ended on a note that we can discuss in private if you so desire LOL

Then came my dream job.  I was working amazing hours at an Urgent Care.  I loved the company.  I loved my coworkers.  I loved the randomness of patients that came through the doors.  I loved the job.  I would literally work 7 shifts in a row, ranging from 12-14 hours.  Then I would have 7 days off.  That's right, a vacation twice a month.  It was beautiful :)

Then.....I got pregnant.  No biggie, right?  Until you are put on bed rest at only 15 weeks :(  There I was at a job for 4 months and then comes the unthinkable.  I was told they would hold my job because I was great at what I did.  We all thought that I would have a couple weeks of bed rest and then I could talk my favorite doc into letting me go back to work.  Nope.  Quite the opposite happened.  I was told I needed to see a high risk doctor because things were not looking good.  I was not only put on bed rest.....I was put on STRICT bed rest at only 20 weeks.  That soon followed with hospital bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy :(

That's right!  HOSPITAL BED REST!  Let me tell you how much that sucks!

Unfortunately, my two weeks of leave turned into 25 weeks followed by 6 after delivery.  They couldn't hold my job that long.  I couldn't make them.  So there I was.  Jobless.  But that is ok.

They took Ryan 6 weeks early and she was small.  Really small.  Nothing like the 8 pound chunker of Brock.  Not only was she small, she had 3 heart disorders that she would need to see a cardiologist for. Surgery?  She may need surgery?  No way.  Through God's grace, she has been able to live a normal life thus far without any surgeries or complications and I pray it stays that way forever.

But how could I leave my little girl at home while I went and worked 12 and 14 hour shifts?  You know most nurses do that?  Geeeesh!  I couldn't!  So I picked up a part-time job doing pediatric home health and once again, I fell in LOVE with my job and my patient.  I really found what I was meant to do.  Pediatrics had always held a special place in my heart, but after starting this job, I knew that it was where I was meant to be.  Time went by and Ryan grew bigger and got healthier.  I needed more.  More responsibility.  More work.  More money.  More. More. More.

I did it again.  I started taking online photog classes and mentoring sessions with my photog idols and I really started pushing my business.  My baby.  My other love.  I worked hard.  I practiced different manual settings.  I just did it!  I dove into one of the top 3 amazing creations that I MADE....my photography.  I talked to an attorney.  I got insurance.  I hired an accountant.  I got all my ducks in a row and I advertised, and marketed, and networked.  I literally poured my heart and soul into my business and though it is far from being where I want it to be, it is me.  I did this.  I had no help, just lots of support.

Please know that this is not a get rich quick kind of gig.  I seriously LOVE what I do and could not imagine ever loving something this much.  I see other people all the time that think that it is merely a cool camera and a person to push the button.  It is so much more than that.  Actually, that is not even 10% of the job.  If that were all it meant, I would be a superstar by now.  I wish you could sit with me just one day and truly get a feel for what I do.  It is a lot more work and sweat and tears than you could ever imagine.  My day is centered around my kids first and foremost, but when they are asleep or it is my editing day, I am slaving away at my computer.  I spend hours each day marketing in various ways.  I pay 35% of every single dollar I make back in taxes.  I pay an attorney.  I pay my accountant.  I do these things because I want to be the best.  I want to have that name that other photographers are like, "I want to be as good as Natalie Renae one day!"  I want to be better.  I strive to be the best.  I am here to stay and I am thankful for all I have been through that has led me RIGHT HERE!

So.  Now that you know even more, I hope you stick around and let me share my passion with you!