If you know me, you know I’ve always been a natural-light dominant girl. Give me golden hour, give me sun flares, give me all the dreamy outdoor settings and I am in my element. To be quite honest, I have been in my comfort zone for so long that I didn't even realize I haven't tried anything new in... years?

So, naturally, I panicked for a split second when I thought about the idea of practicing on a new brand of camera, in a setting that I've never worked in before.

Enter: The Studio (Dun Dun Dun)

My sweet friend Raegan agreed to be my test subject while I tried my hand at studio photography for the very first time. Walking into the studio, I had one immediate thought: Where's my natural light?!

No soft natural light? No conveniently placed trees for depth? Just… a blank space and some fancy-looking equipment that I now had to figure out? It was a little intimidating! But once I stopped staring at the walls and started playing around with the lighting setup, things got fun.

Turns out, studio photography is like a well-organized science experiment—except instead of beakers and Bunsen burners, you have softboxes and backdrops. Every single shadow and highlight is intentional. The light doesn’t move unless you move it (which, honestly, felt like way too much power at first). But once I got over my initial “what am I doing” phase, I LOVED the creative control. And Raegan was the most patient model while I learned the new equipment.

A New adventure in My Photography Journey

Here’s the best part: this little studio adventure was just the beginning! I was recently hired for part-time work with a local photography company (yay!), and they’re going to be training me in studio photography (along with having me work sessions that I am familiar photographing already). So now I get to officially learn the ropes from people who actually know what they’re doing.

It’s honestly so refreshing to push myself creatively again. Photography is all about evolving, growing, and finding new ways to tell stories. And while I will always have a love for natural light, I’m so excited to explore this new facet of photography.

So, if you’ve been thinking about trying something new but hesitating because what if I’m bad at it?—let me tell you, you will be bad at it (which is refreshingly humbling). At first. And that’s okay! Because then you get better. And maybe, just maybe, you fall in love with something new along the way.

Looking forward to sharing more soon!