We were lucky to catch up with Amy Jean Showalter recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amy Jean, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’m a self taught photographer, but I’m a creative through and through. I’ve been a tattoo artist for 15+ years. I am a renovator and love to build things. I like to consider my self a maker. All these different skills started as simple interests and hobbies then blossomed into jobs. When doing anything creative it’s so important to really love that craft. I never think of it in terms of how can I turn it into a business. All that comes later because when you are doing something you really enjoy, eventually you end up cultivating a skill , developing your own style and then become sellable.

I learned how to do photography by getting a digital camera off Craig’s and just taking it with me everywhere. I took photos of everything and everyone. Eventually I met other photographers and started second shooting for them. I would ask them tons of questions and watched how they would pose their couples. I also loved a website called Creative Live. I couldn’t afford a membership, but they do free live streams from time to time. I would soak in as much information as possible from that site, and I think it really grew me as an artist.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into doing wedding photography while living in Hawaii. I was amazed by Hawaii’s beauty and wanted to capture it. So I got my self a camera and started shooting. Eventually, people started asking me to do family portraits and I slowly started making some money. Then a friend asked if i could shoot their wedding. I was so nervous and really had no idea what I was doing. The groom was a photographer and he kept recommending locations to shoot at. After that I started doing wedding more and more. I also met my now best friend Amber Schoniwitz, who is the such an amazingly talented photographer. She inspired me constantly and challenged me to become the best I could be.

I quickly realized that weddings were what I wanted to focus on. I love, love and want to celebrate it. Couples are magical and I really like photographing the chemistry between people. It’s a huge honor to be chosen as the person to capture those first moments as husband and wife and all the emotions leading up to their union.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I truly believe that each person was created with so much beauty and If I can take a portrait of someone and have them recognize that stunning quality then I feel like I have done my job well. My goal is to showcase each persons individuality not just take a pretty photo.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Moving from Hawaii to Texas has been a challenge for me. Hawaii has very consistent lighting, not real weather changes, and a similar style venue to venue. It’s really easy to learn what works at each location and stick to that. Austin has weather changes, different lighting, and each venue is so different. It’s forced me to be ready for anything. To be super comfortable with using my flashes and constantly looking for great photo opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://amyjeanphotos.com
• Instagram: @amy.jean_

Image Credits
Amy Jean Showalter