I am a full time working mother and wife living in a smallish beach town in Southern California. I have two young wild and crazy boys 4 and 18 months who keep me on my toes. My husband really is my best friend. He along with my family are my biggest support system. I started my photography journey a little over a year ago when my youngest son was born. I wanted to be able to document my kids childhood and to take really awesome photo’s of them. I am an artistic person and besides wanting to tell my children’s story through photography I really love the creative outlet it provides me. I feel like photography has changed the way I see everything. It has made me open my eyes to the beauty and I find a lot that I notice things that before I would not have seen.

I think the best advice I have heard is to not compare your journey to others and to create images that are meaningful and true to who you are. If you like it and if it speaks to your artistic style then go for it. Don’t be afraid of judgment and don’t be afraid to listen to your creative voice. Also never stop learning. Even the most experienced photographers never stop learning.

My biggest inspiration is my children. I started learning photography because I wanted to be able to document their childhood. I also find inspiration in the everyday. I think life can be incredibly beautiful and I love capturing those mundane everyday moments. The way the light falls on my subject or the way the wind is blowing their hair. I just love how you can show people the way you see the world and how you can truly turn anything into something beautiful. Another huge source of my inspiration is other photographers. By being able recognizing what I admire about their work has helped me incorporated new elements into my own images and has really shown me what elements of photography move me.

I am mostly self-taught. As far as the technicalities of photography go and learning how to use my camera along with tons of practice I utilized online tutorials. There are so many amazing resources online that help you learn the basics of photography. I have also taken one online workshop through Click in Moms called Fine Art and Visual Expression. It really opened my eyes to what moves me artistically. It helped me learn to visualize and incorporate elements into my images and really was a huge turning point in my photography journey. I would have to say the one thing that has helped me grow the most in my photography journey would have to be practicing daily and by just getting out there and experimenting with new things.

I am doing the My Four Hens project 52. This is my first photography project and it has been really hard to stick with it but I think it has been great challenge for me to come up with something creative each week. At the end I plan on creating a photo book showcasing all of the images throughout the year.

Hands down my sigma 35mm. I just got it a month a go and I don’t know what took me so long to purchase it. I love this lens for so many reasons. It is an amazing lifestyle and storytelling lens and just works great for the style of photography that I like.

5 ways to capture true emotion – I love this tutorial because I really think that the key to creating compelling images is to know how to capture genuine emotion from your subjects.

How to use back button focusing – I discovered back button focus early on and would definitely recommend this focusing technique to everyone.

11 things beginners should know about photography – I think this article is great for beginners it really hits all the key points you should know.

Right now this image of my son in his batman mask is my favorite image. I took this for my project 52 and I love it because it was exactly what I had envisioned for that week’s them which was “small”. Though he may be small he is might. I also really love the creamy colors, the negative space, and the way the lighting and shadows emphasizes his delicate features.

I have a Nikon D610, a sigma 35mm, a 50mm 1.8 and the lens baby 35mm.

Let’s see… This is really hard because there are so many photographers that I admire. Here are the three that come to me off the tops of my head.
Candice Zugich – The Blissful Maven

Kelly Sutton – Horse & Feather Photography

Kyla Ewert – Pinball Photography

I think my biggest challenge when it comes to photography has been my self-doubt. I have learned so much in the past year but I tend to want things fast and I had to quickly come to terms with the fact that this is a journey and it will all come with time, practice, and persistence.

I am so bad at this. Right now my only display would be my Instagram or my hard drive. We have been living with my parents for the past 8 months whole our house is being built so I don’t have my own space to display my images. But I already plan on dedicating at least one wall in our new house for a gallery display.

Film. I love everything about film and would love to learn more about it.

I have a website, facebook, and Instagram. My favorite of the three would be Instagram = @whitneyb_lpphotography. It is a visual platform that is great for photographers and I love the photography community that I am apart of there. If you would like to check out more of my work and join in you can find me there. www.luluphotography.com