Hey, there. Hi, there. Ho, there. My name is Vanessa and I am a mother, wife, music theatre performer, teacher, sports enthusiast, and, most recently, a photographer and business owner. I’m thrilled that you stopped by to follow along as I embark on this adventure.
I began my collegiate career as music theatre performer stemming from my love of 1940s movie musicals. During my undergraduate time, I dabbled in a variety of second majors, from education to graphic design, but nothing really stuck. I graduated with my music degree and performed a bit but didn’t love the lifestyle of constantly auditioning. I then went back to school and got a teaching certification and taught middle school and high school… not my jam. So, I went back to school again and got my master’s degree in vocal performance from UW-Milwaukee where I am now on faculty as voice professor.
How does photography fit into this chaos?! My husband and I received a “nice” camera as a wedding gift and loved taking photos when we traveled. During my master’s degree program, I started using that camera to take headshots for my peers. When I had kids, ages 3 and 10 months now, I took their newborn photos and tortured them as I continue to learn more about the art of portrait photography. I wanted to make this leap into creating a photography business back in 2018 but was always gun shy about doing the darn thing.
So I finally took the plunge in 2021 when I was 7 months pregnant with my son. In the past year, I have met so many incredible families, launched a website, and learned A TON! Which feels amazing for this extroverted introvert. I seriously can’t wait to see where this second year takes me and I hope to see you on the other side of the lens!
An extra tidbit: My favorite number is 4 so it seemed only fitting I would debut my blog on April 4th!