Meet Stephanie“Appreciate where you are in your journey, even if it’s not where you want to be. Every season serves a purpose."
-Unknown
Welcome!
I’m Stephanie.
Born and raised in Arizona, I have desert vibes to my core. The warm sun fuels me, and the unmatched Arizona skies have me morning and night. Appreciating the beauty of nature is just one of the things that drives my passion for this craft. Living those fleeting moments of family and understanding their importance is the other!!!
I am wife to my first love and mother to 3 beautiful wildflowers. Growing up I always knew that I was meant to be a mother. Even after college and starting my career as a high school teacher I knew that I could not mother the way I had dreamt while pouring so much into the classroom. My children, my family… they are the most precious things to me, and each day I know that moments pass by that I will never again see. This fuels my passion for freezing everything important.
“Photography is putting one's eye and one’s heart on the same axis.”- Henri Cartier Bresson
As so many, my passion for photographing families began with my own.
I was that mom that hired a photographer for all the milestones. In early motherhood years, my husband was out of town, and the only way he could experience all that they were was through cell phone updates. Each second I could capture moments of us all together, or selfishly, moments of me with my children (as I didn’t have dad to capture anything for me), I didn’t hesitate!!!
What’s more though, is even growing up, for longer than I can remember, every gift was centered around photography. A new camera, more film, a case, a frame, whatever! I’ve always loved photographs and how they brought me back to the frozen moment. Ask me about my metal trash can I’ve lugged around for decades full of printed images from as far back as ten years old… I live for my images!!
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that is gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” -Karl Lagerfeld
So here we are now, my passion turned into my craft that I can juggle while living my purpose as a mother each and every day.
Years into this business, I’ve learned one very important thing about how I am as an artist… a perfectly posed image is not my goal! The emotion elicited when viewing an image is different depending on what you see.
Think back to a moment when you snapped a picture on your phone of your kids, an image where they are all looking and all smiling… you may remember how you stood there saying okay smile, just one for mom, I’ll give you a prize, etc etc etc…
Now let’s take that picture, same moment... where the ask wasn’t please pose but rather please be yourself… and you smile remembering all that each person was at that time, as a person, as a sibling, as a child….
My style of photography is centered on the emotion, interaction, and love within a family unit; the important things are the perfectly imperfect moments. Life is that way, and my aim is to snapshot your life so you can always remember the sweet nuances of your most cherished ones.
“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”-Elliot Erwitt
OH… and very lastly, but certainly not least:
Proudly, I love to gloat that I am five generations Arizonan. Great Mexican food makes me happy… as does wine, flammin’ hot Cheetos, and a little bit of coffee in my creamer, ha! With my family, I love exploring our incredible state and snuggling to evening movies at home.
I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend. I am stubborn and passionate and loyal. I am a clean freak, which is something I’ve had to let go of as a mother of 3. I rearrange furniture… all the time. If I could hire a chef I would! I love food but cooking is not my path in life, unless I’m hosting - I love to host.
Having an open door with a full house makes my heart sing. I’m a night owl! Getting snoozy in the afternoon happens daily, but come nighttime I get a serge of energy which I regret every single morning! One day my thumb will turn green and I’ll start a garden and finish landscaping our backyard!
