A Photographic Journey: Why I Became a Photographer

Each of us has a backstory that tells the tale of how we became to be who we are today, in both our personal lives and within our careers. Sometimes the personal story spills into the career story, such as the case in mine.

As children, we often dream of what we’ll “be” when we grow into adulthood. Some identified with Peter Pan and the “never grow up” mantra (one of which I adopted after I grew up and realized it’s for the birds), while others, such as myself, had a briefcase and my own “business.” After a rousing round of playing with Barbies, I had to take care of my files, meetings, and phone calls, while my sister coaxed me to be the only student she taught in her class. Neither of us had any idea what was going on, but what child does? That’s why it’s called playtime, and while we did, we dreamed that one day we’d be those people we created in our small bedroom. She was to be a teacher and I was to be important like the files I created. One thing I never realized, that all the photographs I loved to admire at my grandma’s house and playing around with my dad’s camera with various lenses, was actually leading me to a path of what I’d make my career.

All my life, I can recall wanting to play around with cameras. It didn’t matter if it was my dad’s expensive camera he kept in that brown leather camera bag, my sister’s blue Mickey Mouse Kodak, or my grandma’s Polaroid camera. Naturally, grandma’s was the most satisfying since it yielded my photograph immediately after a little shake (thank you Outkast for including this technique in our club music during college). There was something exciting about mailing in film and waiting for the photos in the mail. Now I’m just telling my age….moving on.

In high school, I chose to use Photography as one of my elective courses and refused to tell anyone how geeked out I was about actually taking the class. Most everyone else just signed up to catch a break during one block each day. I loved every minute of the aperture lessons, techniques for setting up still-life photos (why sitting flowers are so enticing is still beyond me, but they are), and how to develop film in a dark room. Yes, a far cry from the technology most used today….again, showing my age…no worries, I’m using wrinkle cream.

As I prepared for college, I kept referring back to that briefcase and the important files I loved playing with as a child. So, naturally, I decided to pursue an education and degree in business. Eventually, when I decided to finally stop pursuing education in business, I ended up with a B.S. in Management and Marketing, and an MBA to boot. The only photographs I took in college were to commemorate the fun nights spent with friends I would have never met had it not been for attending school away from home. I can recall driving along on the WV Turnpike admiring the scenery thinking “this would be a great picture”, yet I never stopped to take one. Then sometime after graduation, while searching for a job that would likely never fulfill my heart, just my wallet, I found myself being pulled toward photography once again.

It wasn’t until our honeymoon did I start to make an effort in photography. A trip to beautiful Costa Rica will motivate anyone. Afterward, I found myself taking photos for my brother during his music shows, and eventually for his bluegrass CD covers. Still, I kept working my desk job. Then in 2011, while my husband was away working, I discovered I was pregnant with our first child. It took some persuasion on his part, but I left my job under the condition “I need to do something besides be mom and travel with you for work” to which he responded, “why don’t you make photography a business?” He turned the lightbulb on over my head that I never considered. I loved photography and did a decent job with it, had a business degree, why shouldn’t I do this? Before my first son turned 1 year old, I officially opened my photography business, Callie Thomas Photography.

Although my business has been open for just over 8 years, it’s only my “career” after my first job, which is to raise three small wild humans. They are my motivation for my photography. I wanted to make sure I photographed EVERYTHING because I was so in love with being a mother that I despised the thought of forgetting any moment that came along. I grew a lot the first few years, and with each child, I’ve learned new techniques on how to ACTUALLY photograph small children. They are fantastic at doing the opposite of what you ask and making you sweat even on the coldest days. I still love it. Children are by far my favorite subject to photograph. Even with the difficulties of a child melting down or just simply running away, they are the only subject who will genuinely smile for you during a shoot, and genuine is my favorite quality in anyone.

I often find a camera in my hand for any situation. I’ve photographed my own babies in the hospital as well as others, my children as they grow, playing sports, running wild in the yard, on hikes or sitting on the beach, anywhere, anytime. I’ve also found myself photographing the hard things…the ruins of our house after the flood, my mom’s head being shaved after chemo began to take it without her consent, the kids sitting on the camper steps after losing their aunt, and during quarantined school caused by a pandemic. It isn’t always pretty, but I did it anyway because there are moments, no matter how hard, I knew I never wanted to forget. Lessons to learn or perhaps to look back at the obstacles we’ve overcome.

Each photograph tells a story and ultimately that’s all I think I ever wanted. Just to tell the story. I used to sit and imagine what life was like in the photographs at my grandma’s and I hope one day my children will look back on all the photographs I took, remembering the day and story it tells. They can pass the stories on to their children and our lives can be remembered, the good, the bad, and a lot of times the ugly…I don’t like to photoshop everything. So I’ll keep shooting and tell the story in our photographic journey…telling the story one frame at a time.