I started Wall 2 Wall Photography in March, 2007. I went to the county courthouse and got a "DBA" last September, went to City Hall and applied for (and found out that I didn't need) a business license that same day, changed web hosts last spring, built a new site, and contructed a studio a few weeks ago (which is still in the works; I have four walls, a floor, a roof and a couple of doors.
Business started slow. I mean, REALLY slow. I don't have a degree in marketing, or business, or...well, I don't hold a degree, period, so this is all very new to me. It's been fun thus far, and gets more fun as days go by.
This all initially started when I was a little kid and somebody (I think it was my parents) gave me a 110 camera for my birthday when I turned 9 or 10. I went nuts. I've got pictures in albums from back in the 70's! I took a film photo class for one semester in high school using a borrowed 35mm camera. I think it was a Yashica.
Anyway, fast forward to the mid-80's. I was living outside of Lubbock, Texas, in a small town called Shallowater. My spouse at that time (I've been married 3 times, kicked 2 to the curb and kept 1, but we may get into that on another post) was stationed out at Reese Air Force Base. I used to stand out in the back yard and shoot pictures of sunsets, thunderstorms, and flowers. I loved it! It killed time, and it was neat to see how the pictures came out.
As the years went by I took a lot of pictures of the kids growing up; birthdays, Christmases, special occasions, etc.
Fast forward to early 2004. I'd been married to my husband, Johnny (the other Wall in Wall 2 Wall Photography) for a few months, and we were sitting in the hot tub one nite talking about what we would do if we could do ANYTHING in the world we wanted. I told him that I would take pictures. Of course, I couldn't make a living doing it, but I would have if I could have. He asked me why couldn't I? I rattled off a number of reasons; my camera is 1.3 megapixels and has no manual settings, I hadn't shot manual in years, I wasn't good enough, I needed my full-time job income to pay the bills, the list went on and on.
Nonetheless, this conversation motivated me to pull out the 1.3 megapixel digital and start exploring things like the macro settings and white balance options. I shot EVERYTHING in the back yard over the next few months. Flowers, bugs, Johnny and his daughter forehead to forehead (which, by the way, is framed and hanging in our living room and is one of his favorites!), our dog, leaves, blades of grass, dirt, glasses of wine, you name it. The photo at the left is a tree frog that I shot through our storm door with that little 1.3 megapixel Sony. By July of 04, this had blown into a pretty good sized hobby, and we purchased a Fuji S5000 with all kinds of neat settings PLUS full manual. I went NUTS.I left the backyard, and hit the open road, looking for anything and everything I thought might look 
good in a frame. This went on for a few more years. I created a pretty impressive collection of landscapes and floral macros. Everything was fair game. :) We went to farms, to the beach, to my mother-in-law's garden, my mom's place in Raleigh, car shows, festivals, football games, etc., etc., etc. I had collected enough images that I was able to donate about thirty matted prints to a benefit art auction we held for the American Cancer Society. Between three photographers we were able to donate over $1300.00! :)
good in a frame. This went on for a few more years. I created a pretty impressive collection of landscapes and floral macros. Everything was fair game. :) We went to farms, to the beach, to my mother-in-law's garden, my mom's place in Raleigh, car shows, festivals, football games, etc., etc., etc. I had collected enough images that I was able to donate about thirty matted prints to a benefit art auction we held for the American Cancer Society. Between three photographers we were able to donate over $1300.00! :)About 18 months ago I purchased my first DSLR (a Canon - my weapon of choice!), and decided that yes, maybe it's time to do this. About that time I also started shooting pictures for work as a staff photographer for the newsletter, and I also grabbed the majority of shots used in our quarterly reports and presentations. I got a LOT of free lunches from that gig.
Next time: A Little History - Part II: More staff photography, a couple of nights with the cops, and a peek into portraiture.
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