Where Life Grows

A Personal Documentary Photography Project

This personal project exists for two reasons. The first is simple. I want to become a better photographer.

I love photography. I especially love photographing horses.

When I first started taking photography courses, being mentored, and learning everything I possibly could, I didn’t yet know what my genre would be. I honestly didn’t even realize equine photography was a thing. There weren’t many equine photographers in my area at the time, outside of event photographers, and I was still trying to find my place.

Mentors and educators encouraged me to pay attention to what excited me. What images I couldn’t wait to get home and look at. What I wanted to edit. What I wanted to share.

It was horses. And dogs.

That realization led me to niche down. I found my first equine-only workshop with Phyllis Burchette in Georgia and drove ten hours by myself just to attend. It was incredible. I was hooked. I was excited. I was all in.

One of my first photos I took once I realized Equine Photography was my jam at Phyllis Burchette's workshop.

I officially started my business in 2020.And then COVID happened.

Not exactly the ideal time to start a business, but I did it anyway. And despite everything, I had so much fun meeting fellow horse and dog owners who love and cherish their animals as deeply as I do. That part has never changed.

What also hasn’t changed is my desire to keep learning. I continue to mentor with Shelley Paulson, my first long-term photography mentor, through her Pegasus program.

I am, admittedly, a bit of a workshop and photography course junkie. Not only because I love learning, but because I believe it is my responsibility to be the best I can be for the people who trust me with their memories and the artwork on their walls.

Which brings me to the second reason for this project.

The photography industry has changed a lot since 2020. With COVID came job loss, uncertainty, and a wave of people turning to photography as a way to make money. Cameras were purchased. Businesses were started. And suddenly, it felt like you could throw a rock and hit an equine photographer.

Many photographers began offering sessions paired with a large number of digital files at very low prices, creating what often feels like a race to the bottom. I won’t get into all the reasons why I believe that model hurts the industry, but it did force me to reflect on something important.

How do I stand out?

It no longer felt like continuing my education or being the most technically skilled photographer in my genre was enough. As consumers, most people don’t know the difference between a highly educated photographer and someone who just bought their first camera. I recently read a post by Cliff Mautner that touched on this shift in our industry, and it resonated deeply.

So instead of asking how I compete, I started asking how I grow.

I’ve always tried to capture connection in my work. The quiet moments between people and their horses or dogs. Often those moments happened in between poses I had instructed. I will absolutely continue to create those portraits. They matter.

But I want more.

I want my work to include the moments in between. The everyday life. The real connection. The things you feel rather than just see.

Elena getting onto Razzie from the stall.

That desire is what led me to this year-long personal documentary project, Where Life Grows.

Audrey enjoying the new snowfall.

This project features the Parsons family, whom I met shortly after starting my business. I had read about their dog nearing the end of her life and offered to gift them images so they would have memories to hold onto. From that act of kindness grew a friendship.

Over the years, we’ve hauled to barrel races together, created unicorn sessions with the girls and their pony, photographed holidays, father daughter dances, fair days, preschool graduations, and so many moments in between. Watching the girls grow has been a reminder of how fast time passes. It feels like a flashback to my own children.

Spending time with the Parsons allows me to relive those moments in a way. The wonder of new experiences. The sibling bickering. The make-believe. The love they have for their animals. Only now, in my fifties instead of my thirties, life feels slower. I’m no longer rushing out the door to an office every day. I can pause. I can observe. I can truly see.

They aren’t my grandchildren, but they are something very close to that and such a big part of my everyday life.

For this project, paired with a new course I am taking through Two Mann Photography called Photography for Life, I am intentionally limiting myself to a single lens. A 35mm. No posing. No directing. Just life as it is lived.

This is very different from my usual work with a 70–200mm lens, which I still believe is unmatched for equine portraiture and competition photography. That work isn’t going anywhere. Horses deserve that lens. But stepping in close with a 35mm requires something different from me. It requires presence. Vulnerability. Trust.

I don’t want to explain every image in this project. I want you to feel them. To feel the moments. To recognize pieces of your own life within them.

Where Life Grows will live primarily as a growing gallery on my website, with quarterly reflections shared through the blog. This project is about slowing down, paying attention, and honoring the ordinary moments that so often become the ones we miss most.

Thank you for being here and for following along as this story unfolds.

You can see the images via the tab, Where Life Grows here on my website.