Why for photography: Blog 1

Hi. Hey. Hello!

Miranda Lopez

This is so exciting. Our first blog post. Something that Jay and I have been working up to for a while now, but here we are! Let me tell ya, it is intimidating trying to start a blog. There are so many out there and so many expectations to live up to. Ultimately, we want you, as our family, current and future friends, to know what we’re up to. Jay and I never back down from a challenge and this is certainly one of them for us! For our first blog post ever, we want to tell you a little about why we choose to be photographers.

Photography started to become a big deal to me when I received my first DSLR camera at sixteen years old. I would take that camera everywhere. When I went off to college, I never thought that a passion of mine could become a career. I searched and searched for a career path and I didn’t land on photography until I was three years into school. Talk about stressful. All of my friends were off getting degrees and being so sure of what they wanted to do, yet I was still wandering around trying to figure out my life. I felt left behind. I finally took a leap of faith and started the journey to getting my Bachelors in Photography. It changed my life and I am so happy I decided to make my career doing something I’m so in love with.

Couples, couples, couples. I love you, couples! You are my first love. I adore photographing the love shared between two people. Seeing the connection that my clients share with each other is why I do what I do. Weddings, engagements, anniversaries; those are my main focus because it’s what has inspired me creatively. Don’t get me wrong though, I just love people in general. Every single person that you meet is different and unique in their own ways. I’m always looking to expand the number of people I get to know so I am lucky enough to experience who they are as humans. If I get to do a session with you, you’ll know that I love to laugh, I love to dance, and I will always do everything in my power to make you feel comfortable.

People are my passion. Meeting new people and connecting with others is so important to me. I am so excited to be able to tell all of your amazing stories on our blog. You guys are what I live for!

-Miranda

Jaylyn Begay

I’m sure we all have a feeling of doing something that just feels right. Well that’s kind of a way to describe me and everything that I will ever do. I’m not afraid to take a risk (unless that risk is requiring me to jump off a cliff or plane, then I’ll be a wee bit afraid) but the important thing is, I am certainly not afraid of getting my outfit drenched in interesting colored lake water and bringing one of the best parts of myself along with me, my camera. I am willing to hang myself out of an helicopter in order to get that epic shot. If you want to see some ridiculous positions I put myself in, put the camera in front of my face and I will show you how the magic is done.

I have made photography my career because it has never been a hobby for me. I sit here fantasizing about the journey I get to have in order to capture great photos. It’s not just the joy of getting a good shot that makes it so exciting, it's the people so full of life that I get to meet and do my best at capturing their essence. That’s the thrill of it. The people that come into our lives that we get to know and appreciate in a new way is what makes it all worth it. The hardest part of the job is making people who you’ve never met before or acquaintances you haven’t seen in a while, and making them feel comfortable enough to tell you about their personal lives. This is also the greatest part because you welcome so many people into your life and getting to connect with them, even if it’s just for a short while.

I capture portraits. People are fascinating and I love learning what allows them to step out of their comfort zone. I love to help people who have moderate self-esteem feel like the beautiful individuals that they are. I don’t photograph people because of all the pretty pictures, I photograph people because I want to know how my subject is feeling; sad, mad, confident, overjoyed, lucky, excited etc. Whatever it may be, I am ready for the challenge of capturing YOU.

Though a good photograph to look at doesn’t hurt, am I right?

I hope you all are as excited as we are about this new step into RKIVAL Legacy and we can’t wait to see your face on one of our posts!

-Jay