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December 4, 2012

A Dream Come True

I’ve been thinking about this post for a really long time.  And I’m still not sure if I’m going to do it justice!

After college, I went to Brussels, Belgium for a semester to teach English and work with some missionaries.  I’d just graduated with a degree in French, sold my car, left all of my stuff in my mom’s small apartment and moved across the ocean.  I had no clue what I was going to do when I returned home, but I had 5 whole months for God to show me what He wanted me to do.  And when it was time to come home, I still had no clue.  But, God was slowly opening doors and making things happen.  I remember before I left several of us were sitting around and I asked for prayer about my next steps.  Someone asked that fully open ended question of, “If you could do anything, what would you do?”  And my first response was photography.  But I had NO CLUE where to even start with that.  I still felt like I’d have to go back to school and get a degree and really learn how to develop my film in a dark room before I could actually pursue a career in it.  But, like I said, God was working, and all I could do was to keep moving forward.

In 2008, I bought my first DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and started a blog during my lunch break (you can see that first post here – remember when the black and white pictures with a pop of color was so popular??).  It was digital photography that really began to open the door… not to mention blogs and websites and all kinds of online help that got me started.  Soon after that, friends who were already in this business began to take me under their wing and show me the ropes.

Now, this part of the story is a little embarrassing, because it means I have to admit what kind of shows I watch on tv.  So, here it goes… In 2009, I was sitting on the couch watching the new 90210 (there, I said it!) and the mom in the show is/was (don’t know if it’s still on!) a photographer.  I remember getting online and searching for photography jobs, but nothing was coming up.  I’d loved my job at the time, but I’d been feeling restless for about6 or 7 months and could’t put my finger on WHY.  But it was that weekend that I realized something big was in the works.  That week, I sat down with my boss and told him that I didn’t know what was going to happen, how it was going to happen, or when it was going to happen, but I knew that 2009 would be my last year there.  Some people might call me crazy for putting myself (and my job!) out there like that, but I had a really great boss that knew photography was a big deal to me.  And later that year, my church approached me about coming on staff.  Changing to this job would mean no more travelling around the world and no work in the office on Fridays.  All of this meant that I would be at home on the weekends and could actually start booking weddings and sessions and using Fridays to solely focus on photography!

And slowly, ever so slowly, God continued to open doors.  Ben and I met, he shot a wedding with me, we got engaged, I had the busiest month of my photography life in October 2011, we got married, we booked more weddings, we shot 9 of our 11 weddings together in 2012 and we already have 4 weddings for 2013.  To say this past year has been full and fun and exciting, would be a huge understatement!  We decided back in the summer that I needed to go part time at church.  My photography work load was becoming more than I could handle and I wanted to make sure my clients were getting the attention and service that they deserved and that I wanted to be giving them!  So, with another day and a half at home and a more flexible schedule, my head was spinning a little less and I was even able to get more work done during the day and not have to be on my computer as much in the evenings when Ben was home.  Yay!

But, as the months went by and we began booking for next year, we realized it was time to focus on photography full time.  Yes, that’s right!  As of December 20, I’ll be a full time photographer!  Which means, when people ask what I do, my one and only response will be that I’m a photographer!  Part of me still can’t believe it.  Part of me is scared out of my mind (What if this is the wrong decision?  What if we don’t book any more weddings?  What if….?).  And part of me feels like I’m having an out of body experience!  When I got my Nikon N50 way back in 1997, I had NO idea where I was headed.  And even though it seems as though “I’ve arrived”, we still have a long way to go.  We still have dreams, we still have goals (which will be written down for this coming year!!), we still have things to figure out and work for.  But I’m SO excited to be starting 2013 with this.  It’ll also be the first time since getting my Nikon D90 that I’ll only have one job :-D

Before I end this post, I just want to say THANK YOU.  To each of you that reads this blog, to each of you that has encouraged me over the years, to each of you that has entrusted me with your photos (even way back at the beginning!), to each of you that has passed my name onto someone else… THANK YOU.  And thank you to my amazing husband.  Since the first week we met and he came to my photography show, he’s encouraged me in this.  And now that we shoot together, he really fully gets it and he continues to push me and love me and encourage me.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

  1. Anna K. says:

    Yay Sabrina! I am so excited for all you have accomplished and the adventure that is ahead of you!

  2. Jodi says:

    Yay! Excited for you to pursue your dream full time. Good for you!

  3. Ruth Campbell says:

    So proud of you, Sabrina. And delighted for you and Ben. May God continue to give you His favor and blessing.

  4. Mommy says:

    I love it when dreams come true. Daddy and I have had our share and it’s almost as if you feel like you are a special child of God…not just His child. I know you must be feeling like that too. We send our love to you tonight as you continue to dream and see God fulfill His plan for you and Ben.

  5. Kadie says:

    That is incredible news and you may be getting some MI clients eventually :) I’ve had at least 3 people ask who my photographer was in October and all were incredibly disappointed you were so far away.

  6. Allison says:

    I love this, I love you, and I love the new 90210…I’m not ashamed. So excited for you Sabrina!

  7. Beth says:

    It’s so awesome to see God’s guidance and provision in you and your husband’s lives! Congratulations on going full time!!! :)

  8. Kelly says:

    That’s awesome! Congrats photographer :)!

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