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Welcome to the June 2021 TPF Member Spotlight!
Our Member Spotlight interviews are designed, quite simply, to showcase our members. It’s not meant to be a pretentious show, or make anyone feel self-conscious about their work style or artistic preferences. These interviews are casual chats just to get to know each other better - a celebration of our wide, diverse group of photographers who, despite coming from a variety of backgrounds, all come to TPF because of a shared love for photography.
TPF is a wonderful community and it’s worthwhile to shine the spotlight on our members. This means YOU, reading this – don’t be surprised if you hear from us asking for an interview!
Remember, each interview segment will be left open like a regular thread, so you can ask your own questions or comment on things you may have learned. This is our new way to highlight the skill sets and display the unique styles of our wonderful community.
Enjoy!
Now, onto our interview – member paigew!
Paige, we’ll start out our usual way, with you telling us about your background in photography. How did you first get into photography, back in the day?
Since I can remember, I have been obsessed with taking photos. Every $5 I got, I spent on a new disposable film camera (one hour develop, ALWAYS got doubles!). I took photos of everything….I distinctly remember climbing to the top of my swing set and taking a photo of the cow pasture behind, so I would never forget what it looked like. Pretty sure there is a giant subdivision there now. My obsession with photos continued, and I took thousands of (mostly bad) photos through the years with my point and shoot. I never had official training in photography until my mid/late 20’s when I became a member here! I am so thankful for public knowledge, and for the time my mentors here on TPF spent helping me.
“This is one of my favorite places in the world. You know those perfect days when the kids get along and your life feels like a dream...this was that day. Every time I look at this photo it brings back the best memories!”
I had spent so much time (here [at TPF]) reading about photography, that by the time I could afford my very first DSLR I already “knew” the mechanics of a camera. Now it was about putting it in to practice….which turned out to be much harder than expected. In order to learn, I committed myself to shooting almost 24-7. My camera went EVERYWHERE with me. I was a mom with two young kids, the perfect subjects! And I devoted myself to capturing every second of it. I think I went through 3 consecutive 365 projects those first few years!
“Some of my favorite client work from the past year.”
You now have an established photography business, don’t you? How did this evolve – and how hard was it to get off the ground?
I first got my camera after the birth of my son. I had somewhat of a traumatic birth (I wasn’t awake when he was born) so maybe that had something to do with my need to capture EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. I envisioned myself as being a renowned birth photographer. I love capturing drama, emotions, and unscripted moments. While I did do birth photography for a while, it soon became evident that the on call life wasn’t for me and I chose to take another path in my career. Through what seems like fate (in reality was really blood, sweat, tears, and hundreds of hours), I now have a company austinschoolportraits.com that provides fine art school portraits to many Austin Area Schools. I am so thankful to my schools, and the families that I serve. It has been an unexpected, but amazing and fulfilling journey!
In addition to school photography I still take newborn, family, and wedding clients, which provides a great creative outlet for me. I love working with so many different genres!
“I still take the occasional birth client, especially if they are friends or past clients.”
When you’re working, what is your favorite type of client? How come?
My favorites are those who are easy going...go with the flow kinda clients ….oh, and dogs.
Give me all the dogs.
“An example of my fine art school portraits. Occasionally I get invited to families homes to do these (which is why there is a puppers in this one!)”
When you shoot for pleasure, what kind of gear do you carry?
If I am shooting around the property I try to grab one lens and focus on that one focal length. If I am traveling I have a super hard time deciding what gear to bring. I remember once, packing for a trip saying to my husband….”maybe I should put back my 2nd body, people don’t bring 2 bodies on vacation, do they?” (I still don’t know the answer...do they?!?!) I have invested in some nice zoom lenses so that is typically what I take on travels, but I do love shooting with primes. I wish I could just carry all my gear with me, everywhere, and spend hours getting all the possible shots!
“I enjoy showing things in magical, new ways. Which is why I love macro! This is one of my favorites b/c the color is just perfection and the detail in the flower parts is so sharp, delicate.”
Do you have a favorite style of photography outside of the studio?
Outside of work I enjoy macro, mainly plant life and flowers. I also love landscape photography! My kids are tweens now, so I have moved on from using them as subjects.
“I debated including this, but it IS one of my faves b/c it makes me crack up each time I see it. It is such a perfect representation of my kids’ personalities!”
What’s your go-to dish if you have to make dinner? Do you like spending time in the kitchen?
We are currently building our dream home (almost done!!) but we have been living in an RV on our property for about two years now. I love baking and will occasionally go all out and bake an amazing pie in the toaster oven. For now my go to meal is any sort of soup (potato!!) that can go in the Instant Pot. I can’t wait to cook in my new kitchen!!
What’s your most hated chore? How come?
Dishes, self-explanatory!! (plus RV = no dishwasher)
To date, what do you believe to be your most satisfying accomplishment? (This could be of a personal or professional nature.) Tell us why it strikes you as the most satisfying.
Seeing our house come to completion is probably my most satisfying accomplishment. Also surviving as a family of 4 +2 dogs in an rv for two years + quarantine + Texas snowpocalypse.
“I love underwater photography, the light, the motion, it's so magical! I shot these with my GoPro+dome attachment...so fun to use!”
If time and money were no object, where in the world would you like to visit? Why this place?
Somewhere with nice weather, hardly any people, and amazing hiking trails/views would be perfect. There are so many places on my list it would be hard to choose one!
“Took this photo this summer. A fave because it's beautiful and just an incredible, almost spiritual, experience (Chimney Rock National Monument, in Colorado)”
Thanks so much for participating in our TPF Member Spotlight series, Paige. A fun interview!
“An older photo, but a favorite. I spent probably an hour trying to get this shot!! (not Photoshopped!”
This completes the interview part of our member spotlight. As a reminder, our members are welcomed - and encouraged - to participate in our interviews. Ask Paige more questions, or comment as you wish.
Take it away!
Our Member Spotlight interviews are designed, quite simply, to showcase our members. It’s not meant to be a pretentious show, or make anyone feel self-conscious about their work style or artistic preferences. These interviews are casual chats just to get to know each other better - a celebration of our wide, diverse group of photographers who, despite coming from a variety of backgrounds, all come to TPF because of a shared love for photography.
TPF is a wonderful community and it’s worthwhile to shine the spotlight on our members. This means YOU, reading this – don’t be surprised if you hear from us asking for an interview!
Remember, each interview segment will be left open like a regular thread, so you can ask your own questions or comment on things you may have learned. This is our new way to highlight the skill sets and display the unique styles of our wonderful community.
Enjoy!
Now, onto our interview – member paigew!
Paige, we’ll start out our usual way, with you telling us about your background in photography. How did you first get into photography, back in the day?
Since I can remember, I have been obsessed with taking photos. Every $5 I got, I spent on a new disposable film camera (one hour develop, ALWAYS got doubles!). I took photos of everything….I distinctly remember climbing to the top of my swing set and taking a photo of the cow pasture behind, so I would never forget what it looked like. Pretty sure there is a giant subdivision there now. My obsession with photos continued, and I took thousands of (mostly bad) photos through the years with my point and shoot. I never had official training in photography until my mid/late 20’s when I became a member here! I am so thankful for public knowledge, and for the time my mentors here on TPF spent helping me.
“This is one of my favorite places in the world. You know those perfect days when the kids get along and your life feels like a dream...this was that day. Every time I look at this photo it brings back the best memories!”
I had spent so much time (here [at TPF]) reading about photography, that by the time I could afford my very first DSLR I already “knew” the mechanics of a camera. Now it was about putting it in to practice….which turned out to be much harder than expected. In order to learn, I committed myself to shooting almost 24-7. My camera went EVERYWHERE with me. I was a mom with two young kids, the perfect subjects! And I devoted myself to capturing every second of it. I think I went through 3 consecutive 365 projects those first few years!
“Some of my favorite client work from the past year.”
You now have an established photography business, don’t you? How did this evolve – and how hard was it to get off the ground?
I first got my camera after the birth of my son. I had somewhat of a traumatic birth (I wasn’t awake when he was born) so maybe that had something to do with my need to capture EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. I envisioned myself as being a renowned birth photographer. I love capturing drama, emotions, and unscripted moments. While I did do birth photography for a while, it soon became evident that the on call life wasn’t for me and I chose to take another path in my career. Through what seems like fate (in reality was really blood, sweat, tears, and hundreds of hours), I now have a company austinschoolportraits.com that provides fine art school portraits to many Austin Area Schools. I am so thankful to my schools, and the families that I serve. It has been an unexpected, but amazing and fulfilling journey!
In addition to school photography I still take newborn, family, and wedding clients, which provides a great creative outlet for me. I love working with so many different genres!
“I still take the occasional birth client, especially if they are friends or past clients.”
When you’re working, what is your favorite type of client? How come?
My favorites are those who are easy going...go with the flow kinda clients ….oh, and dogs.
Give me all the dogs.“An example of my fine art school portraits. Occasionally I get invited to families homes to do these (which is why there is a puppers in this one!)”
When you shoot for pleasure, what kind of gear do you carry?
If I am shooting around the property I try to grab one lens and focus on that one focal length. If I am traveling I have a super hard time deciding what gear to bring. I remember once, packing for a trip saying to my husband….”maybe I should put back my 2nd body, people don’t bring 2 bodies on vacation, do they?” (I still don’t know the answer...do they?!?!) I have invested in some nice zoom lenses so that is typically what I take on travels, but I do love shooting with primes. I wish I could just carry all my gear with me, everywhere, and spend hours getting all the possible shots!
“I enjoy showing things in magical, new ways. Which is why I love macro! This is one of my favorites b/c the color is just perfection and the detail in the flower parts is so sharp, delicate.”
Do you have a favorite style of photography outside of the studio?
Outside of work I enjoy macro, mainly plant life and flowers. I also love landscape photography! My kids are tweens now, so I have moved on from using them as subjects.
“I debated including this, but it IS one of my faves b/c it makes me crack up each time I see it. It is such a perfect representation of my kids’ personalities!”
What’s your go-to dish if you have to make dinner? Do you like spending time in the kitchen?
We are currently building our dream home (almost done!!) but we have been living in an RV on our property for about two years now. I love baking and will occasionally go all out and bake an amazing pie in the toaster oven. For now my go to meal is any sort of soup (potato!!) that can go in the Instant Pot. I can’t wait to cook in my new kitchen!!
What’s your most hated chore? How come?
Dishes, self-explanatory!! (plus RV = no dishwasher)
To date, what do you believe to be your most satisfying accomplishment? (This could be of a personal or professional nature.) Tell us why it strikes you as the most satisfying.
Seeing our house come to completion is probably my most satisfying accomplishment. Also surviving as a family of 4 +2 dogs in an rv for two years + quarantine + Texas snowpocalypse.
“I love underwater photography, the light, the motion, it's so magical! I shot these with my GoPro+dome attachment...so fun to use!”
If time and money were no object, where in the world would you like to visit? Why this place?
Somewhere with nice weather, hardly any people, and amazing hiking trails/views would be perfect. There are so many places on my list it would be hard to choose one!
“Took this photo this summer. A fave because it's beautiful and just an incredible, almost spiritual, experience (Chimney Rock National Monument, in Colorado)”
Thanks so much for participating in our TPF Member Spotlight series, Paige. A fun interview!
“An older photo, but a favorite. I spent probably an hour trying to get this shot!! (not Photoshopped!”
This completes the interview part of our member spotlight. As a reminder, our members are welcomed - and encouraged - to participate in our interviews. Ask Paige more questions, or comment as you wish.
Take it away!
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