When I was prepping a bunch of photo content blogs, I couldn't help but worry that I'd come off super confusing in my SEO + social media with a ton of Maryland based events while now living in Arizona. I'm sure I've had at least one website visitor question "wait, where is she again?".

Moving or expanding your business to multiple areas is a bit harder than I expected. I haven’t totally left Maryland behind with the weddings I have there this + next year but I haven’t had the chance to really branch out in Arizona yet because COVID-19 has just straight up awful timing.

So today, I wanted to shed a little more light on why we moved and answer where I’m photographing from here on out. Let me explain. :)

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W H Y A Z ?

t h e T I M I N G

When the hubs and I sat down to genuinely talk out all the details, we realized this would be the ideal timing. MD had been our home growing up but hadn't been where we put our own roots down together yet. We hadn't bought a house or started a family - the typical things that tether you to one specific place. We knew as we progressed further in our careers, we might not move again until retirement, and by then we may not be as flexible as we are now.

t h e D E T A I L s

Arizona has such amazing weather! Yes, yes, it gets hot. Like over 100 degrees hot but that's typically only mid-day a couple months out of the year. The rest of the year is spent with near-perfect temps, little to no humidity, and windows open in January. How can a girl from MD with slushy, icy winters and humid sweat-filled summers say no to that? If you've ever lived in MD, you know that it is a roll of the dice when it comes to nice weather. It's usually few and far between - that's why so many people love spring and fall out there, the two weeks they get it. But weather is a major concern as a photographer. I was always setting reschedule dates in case of rain, especially during the busy fall months when it seemed to rain every. single. weekend. That's not nearly as high of a threat out here in AZ and there are a lot more indoor based venues to photograph in the months when everyone would rather be inside, so my work schedule can be actually year-round.

I also totally dig the housing out here. Home designs are a lot more open, with most having a default garage (to avoid sun damage to your car) and lounge area backyard. Plus a lot of the homes are newer with a modern aesthetic, something we didn't see a ton of back home within our price range. We could get more bang for our buck while enjoying gorgeous mountain views right outside our door.

Speaking of mountain views, there's so much to see out here. When a friend asked me what my favorite part of AZ was, I couldn't help but tell her how in awe of the mountains and sunsets are here. We'll never forget the surreal moment we had just watching the sun go down at the Grand Canyon. We felt humbled by how small we are in such a big world. How much peace we could feel together in a single, quiet moment. You can't help but want to live in or close by a place like that.

t h e C H A L L E N G E

This might be the craziest reason to explain, but we honestly needed a change. We had gotten really lazily comfortable, making us bitter and complacent. I wasn't pushing to learn or explore more with photographing different places and expanding out my craft. I was stuck in a day-in, day-out kinda rut, feeling like I could see what the next 50 years of our life was going to look like then and there. I had prioritized nearly everyone else I knew over myself; being what others expected or wanted out of me. Ya want to talk about self care? This was my time! I wanted a change; a challenge, to fuel me toward my best possible self. Sometimes uncertainty can light a fire in you to be brave. To not settle for the easiest way out but strive for what you really want in life. Not saving those great places or great memories for a once-a-year vacation, but making it your daily routine.

WILL YOU PHOTOGRAPH IN MD OR ONLY AZ?

For now, I'm totally open to splitting my time in both states while I build up new clientele in AZ. Running a full-time photo business in MD the last 5+ years gave me so much experience that I look forward to revisiting when given the chance, but I'm crazy excited to expand my portfolio with new material here in AZ. Ideally, AZ or MD isn't the limit. My ideal goal is to explore more into Adventure Elopements that give me the opportunity to photograph destination events and adventure sessions in amazing places all over the world. (Hello Iceland + Ireland!)

Hopefully I calmed down some confusion and gave ya’ll some insight on why this MD native became a AZ transplant. I have no doubts we made the right call and the future hasn’t looked better.

** And any AZ couples looking for a photog- holler at ya girl when this quarantine is over. ;)

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