Where my professional journey began....

Friday was my last day at First Day Photo.

I started working there 2 years ago... In January of 2006.

In October of 2005, I realized it was photography, not advertising,
that I was suppose to pursue. I had been doing it all my life and it wasn't
until a friend asked me, "So..why aren't you going to be a photographer...?"
that I had even considered doing it professionally!

I was in my senior year at BU, and I decided to drop my 2nd minor so that I could, in a way,
finish up school early and head to photography school... that's the only path
I thought there was to take! I was talking this over with my advisor after
a class one day, and there was another classmate who stayed after and overheard
me. She said, "My brother is a photographer, and he's looking to hire another
photographer right now! If you have the eye, he'll train you on the technical stuff!"
Brad Person contacted me 2 days later via email saying that
he was indeed in search of a photographer-- to work at the business that
he and his wife owned, taking newborn portraits, and he mentioned he could
also use a 2nd shooter at weddings.

I met with his wife, Jessica, at a Caribou a week after that... We talked for a very long time and really enjoyed the meeting.
She said to me, "We have been praying for almost three months that the right person would come along... and I think you're it."
Little did I know, that God had planned it all along-- It was all in His perfect timing... and it was the perfect door that opened.

I remember my biggest fear was that people where going to judge my photos.. I had never taken photos that people would purchase. I was worried that they wouldn't work out! Jessica trained me for a few days, and one day she goes, "you know what, why don't you go do this appointment?" (I had just been shadowing her).
"What?"
"Yeah... why don't you go do it. I think you're ready. If the photos don't turn out, worse case, you go back in and give it another shot..."
"Ok...." I was SO scared... I was sure they would know it was my first newborn I ever photographed! The baby was very fussy.... I came out of the room, and Jessica looked over the photos with me. We weren't thrilled with them. So I went back in and tried again.... and I captured a photo of the newborn smiling, and also a gorgeous shot of her with her eyes open! The parents loved the photos... And I was more than excited that I did a good job! I think Jessica thought it was beginners luck... but I think we were both glad when we realized it wasn't, and I loved photographing the newborns... over the two years I worked there, I learned the tricks of working with the fussy babies, and "the way" of the business. I learned a ton from Brad and Jessica.
Here are a few photos from my last day...:






I will really miss the little cuties and meeting all the new parents!

Going back to the story... In Spring of 2006, I only had one class left to take at school, so I took an internship "class." Basically, I worked with First Day Photo, and 2nd shot with Brad at weddings, and if I wrote journal entries about it and worked enough hours, I got the last 4 credits I needed to graduate! Jess and Brad said they wanted to work it out with me so I could get enough hours in. It was perfect. Brad also invited me to come along to Florida to be one of 3 photographers for the Luis Palau Festival in Orlando. It was such a great experience... being able to photograph the activities and people... and to see so many people give their hearts to God after hearing Luis, or one of the athletes or band members speak... it was beautiful. After the first night, I called Aaron(who was my fiance at the time) and cried on the phone to him because I felt like it was such an intimidating task for someone so inexperienced. Earlier that day, one of the media girls was going though my photos and mentioned something to me about getting the shots, and getting in there to get it. She was in no way mean about it, but I took it to heart. Aaron just encouraged me and said that I could do it... The next day I was told to cover a certain area, and I got in closer and captured what I saw.. I didn't expect that my photos were looking any differently... but the same girl said to me, "I can see more confidence in your photos from yesterday...You're really doing a good job." I was so excited. Here are a few photos from that weekend:


Crowd focused on a speaker...

Point of Grace:

Delerious (I was totally star struck when he looked over at me and gazed into the camera while he was singing for one of my shots. It was weird! This isn't that shot, but I like this one):

tobyMac (I fell in love with his music and all the movement on stage. He is one of my favorite artists now!):

Kutlass guitarist:



Brad also let me come with him to Club3 one night... This is one of my favorites from that night!:


I was Brad's 2nd shooter for weddings through October of 2006. His first non-technical advice to me was before I went off to do the "getting ready shots" of the bride. He asked me if I was nervous, and I said I was a little.
"Just shoot what you see."
The rest of the day felt completely natural... And I loved shooting weddings!

In August 2006, I shot my first wedding as Ginger Murray Photography... Steph and I started shooting together at another wedding she booked in August. Our 2nd wedding together was in December 2006....from there on out, we decided to work together. We now normally 2nd shoot for each other, and I LOVE working with her! In 2007, we did twenty weddings, multiple senior, engagement, and kid portrait sessions. I realized that I wasn't able to keep working at First Day Photo because I had so much work on my plate... which was good, yet sad. Another photographer, Erin Kerr(soon to be Benner!) stepped into my life when she asked me to shoot her wedding in April. She said she had been following my work for about a year!(We had a mutual friend so she came across my old blog one day...about the time I got into photography!).
Erin just graduated and was looking into design... but had her heart set on photography. Something similar to where my story started... She's currently being trained at First Day Photo, and I know this door opened just for her, and will be her starting point as well. Again... amazing how God's timing is so perfect if we just wait on it...

I will never be able to say "THANK YOU" enough to Jessica and Brad for all of the opportunities, training, and mentoring they have provided for me! They are truly great friends, and I will miss seeing their 3 beautiful kids every day!


....But Brad and Jessica are fully supportive of me, and I will stop by whenever I am down in their area, and continue to call and text Jessica when I want to bug her:)




....And so, 2008 is completely dedicated to my business. I am both nervous and excited to take this next step, but I know this is how I need to continue on my journey. Where it will lead to, only God knows!