Why Photography?

For the longest time I felt like I did not fit in and that I was always out of place. I’ve never had a “favorite” of anything (took me too long to figure out the “favorite things” portion of my website). I could never pick one thing that felt better among the rest. But one thing I always enjoyed, was photography.

When it came to figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted my forever career to be.

I loved animals, so thought I would be a vet, or a dog walker/trainer. But I also had a love for kids, so I wanted to work as a teacher or a pediatric nurse. Then, my love for nature came to mind; I thought I wanted to be an environmental lawyer to help make a difference for our planet. Or work as a botanist and get to study plants and flowers for a living. My strive to make a difference grew to getting a degree in Marketing to work for companies who were making a difference in the world. Or I thought about opening up my own animal shelter. Each pathway had its own reason why it was the right choice, making it too hard to choose.

My Photography Journey

When I was 10, I took a picture of a water lily on a lily pad in the lake of my childhood home. It was with the first digital camera I had owned. I remember looking back at the picture I took, and feeling an immense amount of joy. My mind was flooded with ideas of traveling the world and taking pictures of nature for Dell screensavers.

High School was when I took the first step towards pursuing photography. I took a digital photography class as well as a film photography class. This is where my love for photography grew, being part of every single phase of my picture coming to life. My dream grew, I thought about opening my own studio to be able to teach aspiring photographers and have a dark room for pursuing film photography.

I wanted to go to College for Creative Studies (C.C.S) and learn everything possible about photography. But the cost of college scared me, it was a major commitment to this ONE career- Would I regret it? Would I no longer love photography because I HAD to do it to pay the bills, so if the passion goes than what is the point? Would I be able to find a steady job to pay rent, car insurance, gas, groceries, etc.? If I travel so much for work, will I miss out on family events and how could I find a partner for life and become a mom? | Yes, to answer your question, I am an over thinker |

I used these thoughts as excuses to not to apply to C.C.S and work in entry level positions while I went to community college to try and find my calling. Eventually I learned that whatever I wanted for a career, needed to be hands-on and exciting. I still didn’t know what exactly, but I felt like I at least had a path. This is when I went to school for massage therapy. I loved all that I was learning, but it never felt 100% right. I have horrible test anxiety and failed my exam to become a licensed massage therapist. This crushed me. I felt I would never be able to have a career if I can’t pass a licensing exam.

I got my first 9-5 job as a receptionist and figured I would just gain experience in corporate life and have my weekends always open.

My Personal Journey

This sucked the life out of me.. While I learned a lot working my 9-5 jobs and am grateful for these lessons, the work environment silenced who I was.

{Moana reference loading.. hello mom life}

I felt like I was Te Feti, full of life and constantly growing but then all of a sudden my heart was gone and Ta Ka took over. I’ve never related to a Disney movie so well until making this realization, as well as the song 9-5 by Dolly Parton- this song has been played a lot during my rebranding.

When I became a mom, I was lucky enough to be able to pursue my dream of being a stay-at-home (a big thank you to my husband for helping my dreams come true). Being a mom felt like Moana giving the heart to Ta Ka and Te Feti came back. I finally remembered everything about myself, and had no idea I had forgotten who I was. When I realized how much a 9-5 job sucked the life out of me, I knew to be the best mom and wife I would be, I had to find a career that allowed me to be… ME.

My Photography Timeline

November 2019

✔️Created a website and bought my first domain for my photography business as Teddie Armour Photography

✔️Realized I wanted my photography career to include weddings and families.

✔️Was setting up a timeline for pursuing my business after having Amelia.

December 2019

✔️Had my first mentor session with Hannah from HZ Photography – lit the fire for my entire photography career. A huge shout out and thank you for Hannah, you a major part of my journey and I am forever grateful for you and your help.

January – February 28th 2020

✔️3rd trimester of pregnancy, just focused on alleviating my heartburn, staying awake while at work and deciding to take a break on building my business until after giving birth and getting my energy back (HA HA HA… that was a cute thought)

February 28th 2020

✔️My last day at work, it was weird leaving knowing that after having Amelia and going back to work, that it wouldn’t be an office job anymore..

March 19th 2020 hello becoming a first time mom – during the first global pandemic in 100 years…

March 19th 2020- March 2021

✔️Focused on keeping postpartum anxiety and depression at bay

✔️Focused on surviving during a global pandemic as a first time mom

✔️Mommy burn out

✔️Got help for postpartum anxiety and depression

✔️Had no idea how my future as a photographer looked

April 2021 – December 2021

✔️ Start to find a new normal

January 2022- March 2022

✔️ Started my rebranding journey and my relaunch as Authentic Love Photography

March 1st 2022- April 14th 2022

✔️ Started my mentor session with Joy Michelle Co.

✔️Hit the ground running with a plan to re-launch my business and give it the TLC it needed!

✔️Many many late nights

April 15th, 2022

✔️ The official launch date of Authentic Love Photography, finally putting my hard-work and passion on display.

✔️ Excited to get back to a regular sleep schedule

Now, I’m at a place where I am no longer scared to make the jump and am pursuing my passion of becoming a photographer and still getting to do all the things I love.. I get to work with kids of all ages- this is why I offer newborn, milestone, and family photography services.

I get to work with animals -this is why I love having pets join for family sessions. My love for nature can be captured through my work or as a hobby still.

My passion for wanting to make a difference, led me to embracing my abilities to make a difference as a business owner. Find out how I am doing so with My Going Green Journey blog series!

So much growth has happened in such a long period of time and such a short period as well. This business has been in the making since 2004, but the cards finally fell into place in 2022.

I haven’t really reflected on my journey getting here until I wrote this blog post. I am so thankful/humbled/grateful/ to see how much my passion for photography has grown in the last 18 years 😳. Photography has helped me find myself again and I am so thankful for all this industry has exposed me to and for the people I have met along the way. I am so excited to see what the next 18 years have in store.

Follow along with me and find out as I go… 💚

XOXO Teddie