A Photographers Retrospective
In 1980, when I was 15 years old, I was obsessed with fashion magazines, so my grandmother bought me a used Canon F1 kit. I collected boxes of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harpers Bazzar magazines. The goal was to be a Fashion photographer like Helmut Newton, Horst and Patrick Demarchelier. My poor girlfriends were my constant fashion models. I loved people and fashion, no landscapes for me, I had to have a person in my image.
At 16 years old, it was time to get a real job, no more babysitting and selling pet rocks I made. So, I went through the phone book and called every photo studio in the area, finally landing a job with a wedding photographer. This is where I worked after school and weekends processing film, putting together wedding albums and assisting on weddings.
My High School teacher was one of my greatest mentors, he taught me to see lighting and inspired me to be a great photographer. I studied photography for 3 years with him, shot for the yearbook and received the Bank America award for fine art. These experiences gave me a great understanding of photography and set me on a path of intention to run my own studio.
After High School I attended Academy of Art University in San Francisco all while I worked at commercial labs and advertising agencies. This is where I learned to process film, print, retouch. I soon then gained the experience to run the customer service department, this is where I would oversee production for ILM, Lucas films and Fila. All in all trying to educate myself in every aspect of the trade.
Yearning to get back to shooting, I moved to Modesto in 1989 and started AC Images.
The road to becoming a portrait photographer has been very rewarding. The studio was started in the garage of my Modesto condo in 1989, this didn't last too long with no heat and air conditioning ( only 8-10 years..lol ) By 2005 I opened my downtown Modesto commercial studio, finally I had reached my dream and goal ( it also got me out of the house where the 2 year old was banging on my office door)
Around the same time, 2003-05, digital had become the way of the future and everything changed. I stayed up many nights teaching myself Photoshop (with the help of a couple good friends). Computers and digital cameras were a huge learning curve considering I came from a medium format film camera and a darkroom.
Today, the studio is in downtown Turlock, a great space with natural light, studio lighting and an old vault dressing room.
Over the last 30 years I have had the privilege of photographing a baby grow, then turn into a dancer, graduate high school, attend college, get married, have their own children and start the circle all over again! One of the greatest parts of being a portrait photographer is being a part of my customers "best life moments". This circle has led me to know my subject to best reflect their personality in a portrait.
I can't begin to say how rewarding it has been and how proud I am of being a part of my customer’s lives. I consider them friends & family, customer is not the right word.
This year marks my 30th year in business and next year my 40th as a photographer. Even though I didn’t go to NY or LA to be a fashion photographer, I still get to play and style people for their portrait every day!
Do What You Love!
Love, Angie