Samantha Jay Photography has had one heck of a year! I can’t believe 2014 is over! This past year has been such a labor of love. I am just so unbelievably happy that I have found something I am incredibly passionate about to pursue long term. I have always been someone who has easily found my passions.
In high school, I was completely involved in musical theater. I took voice lessons, dance and was involved heavily in my high school’s music and theater department. Before leaving for college, I was convinced that I wanted to be on Broadway. However, as I began my college search and the painstaking audition process I realized that as much as I loved singing and acting I felt that pursuing performance as my career would ruin how much I loved it. It would take the fun out of it. I switched gears to Broadcast Journalism, thinking I wanted to be a news anchor. However, the deeper I got into my classes I found I had a real passion to be behind the camera. My first video production course at Penn State was with a professor named Pat Mansell. His course completely changed my path forever. I was hooked on shooting and editing. Pat also got me an opportunity for a summer internship on campus. I spent that summer as the videographer for a children’s science camp. I would shoot all day and edit at night. It was a really awesome experience. So, for my final year in college I was convinced I would get out of school and work in the field of promotional video and I did!
Upon graduation, I searched for video production jobs and eventually worked completely freelance for my first year out. I worked with amazing production companies around Philly and made some awesome friends. Being on set was great, but I found that it never quite fit. When people would ask me what I did for work I always had a hard time explaining. “I work freelance for production companies around the area… I also shoot and edit for other companies…” Blah Blah Blah, I never knew what to say! I didn’t feel like I even knew what my job was anymore. My job became working as many freelance production jobs as possible, but in my free time I wanted another passion project.
I began to shoot still photography. In the beginning, I just shot for friends and began to really experiment. I ended up taking on a freelance job with a portrait studio out in Glen Mills and that is what really changed the game for me. My boss there, Laura, began me on my path to wedding photography. After shooting one wedding alongside her, I was hooked! I loved the passion and theater of it all. A wedding day is full of emotion and theatrical vigor. I had finally found where I was meant to be. From there, I knew I wanted to really start building a wedding photography business and began filling my days with still photography rather than video production. Through a wonderfully hilarious sequence of events involving a Karate Dojo and a chance coffee date, I was introduced to Meagan. Meagan owns her own portrait studio (ME Photo & Design) and was kind enough to give me a part-time job working alongside her while continuing to build SJP! Meagan has truly taken me under her wing in this crazy business and still allows me to flourish on my own with Samantha Jay Photography.
I am so lucky to be a person who has found a job that I am extremely passionate about. I love wedding photography because I am constantly learning, constantly meeting new people and always looking for the beauty in every moment. Now when people as me what I do for a living I feel so incredibly proud to say that I am a wedding photographer. I am an artist. I’m so incredibly hopeful and excited for what the future holds for Samantha Jay Photography. I can’t wait to celebrate the marriages of all of our wonderful couples! This is going to be such an incredible journey. Stay tuned for what’s the come in 2015 and enjoy this roundup of all of our 2014 engagements! {You may even see Patrick and I make an appearance in there!} 2014 Wedding Roundup to come!
Reblogged this on stkmh.
Awesome