Photography has been part of my life for much longer than most people realize. When people ask how I got started, I usually tell them it began in Okinawa, Japan.
That was where my husband and I started our marriage and his Air Force career. Fresh out of college, I struggled to find work overseas while trying to figure out what I wanted to do creatively.
After months of searching, I finally landed a job with a military marketing department doing graphic design work for magazines, books, guides, and ads for both American and Japanese businesses.
The truth is, I had almost no graphic design experience. What I did have was persistence.
Learning Creative Work Overseas
I brought every creative thing I had to my interview, including black and white film photos I had taken in college. Some of those images were from New York shortly after 9/11 when I visited family and photographed the city during a time of heartbreak and change.
Somehow, that stubbornness paid off.
The art director saw something in me and took a chance on a very inexperienced college graduate. I worked long hours learning software, design, layout work, and anything else I could get my hands on.
But the part of the job I loved most was photography.
Whenever I had to find stock images for ads and marketing pieces, I became obsessed with the photos. I started thinking, what if I could create the images myself?
My First Digital Camera and Falling in Love With Photography
My husband bought me my first DSLR, a Canon 20D with a kit lens, and I photographed everything nonstop. Not long after that, I upgraded to a full frame camera and better lenses, and I became completely hooked.
A close college friend and I eventually backpacked through Southeast Asia with cameras, lenses, and not much else. I photographed constantly. I wanted to learn in every type of light, every type of environment, and every culture I could experience.
I had no clue what I was doing, but I loved it. I came home with plenty of terrible photos and a few good ones. One of those projects, a photo essay on Angkor Wat, ended up winning a grand prize in a design and photography competition against brands and companies much bigger than ours.
That experience gave me confidence to keep going.
From Graphic Design to Professional Photography
Soon, my job in Okinawa started sending me out on photography assignments instead of graphic design work. I photographed local culture, people, events, and businesses.
Then friends started asking me to photograph their families, children, and boudoir sessions. Before long, I left graphic design behind and started photographing military families all over Okinawa.
It was one of the first times I realized photography could become more than just a creative hobby. It could become a business. It could become a career.
Moving to Spokane and Starting Over
Then we moved to Spokane. When we arrived, I decided I wanted to try wedding photography. I had never photographed a wedding before, so I asked photographers if I could shadow them and learn.
After that, I started marketing myself as a wedding photographer. It was terrifying.
Wedding photography is a huge responsibility. There are no do overs. I had serious doubts about whether anyone would hire me. But I took the leap anyway. Looking back now, I am so grateful I did.
Photography has brought me around the world. It has introduced me to incredible people, beautiful places, and some of the most meaningful relationships in my life.
It has been there through military moves, motherhood, grief, new beginnings, and every chapter in between. And even after all these years, I still love it just as much.
How I Got Started in Food Photography
Years later, after my husband retired from the military, life looked very different. We returned to Spokane after 10 years away with the military moves.
We were no longer moving every few years, and I had young children at home. One of our children was born with a rare genetic condition and epilepsy that also causes developmental delays, so flexibility became one of the most important parts of my life.
I needed creative work that could fit around therapies, testings, doctor appointments, school schedules, and all the moving parts that came with motherhood.
That is when I found my way back to photography again, this time through food. Just like portrait photography, I taught myself.
I spent years learning lighting, styling, editing, composition, and how to make food feel alive through an image. I photographed recipes, ingredients, drinks, restaurant dishes, and eventually entire blog posts.
What started as a creative outlet slowly turned into Simply Suwanee, my Thai food blog.
Food photography gave me a way to continue creating while still being present for my family. It challenged me in completely different ways than portrait photography, but I fell in love with it just the same.
Even now, food photography is still a huge part of my life and business. It taught me patience, storytelling, styling, and how to create emotion through details.
If you want to see more of that side of my work, you can also visit Simply Suwanee for Thai recipes, food photography, and stories from my life and culture.
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Today, I photograph seniors, families, branding sessions, and portraits in Spokane and beyond.
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