The beginning – North Dallas photographer Mandy Hornbuckle

“What do you want to accomplish with this business?” a friend asked me as I was talking about building my portfolio website.

I looked back at him quizzically. You’re supposed to think about, like, goals and stuff when you start a business? You don’t just flit around doing whatever it is you feel like doing that minute? Oh, right. I can totally do that.

Honestly, I had been thinking about that. The fact is, I have a passion for capturing memories for people. It’s important to me for many reasons, the biggest of which you can read about on my “About Me” page. But the thing is, this photography thing gets expensive, both financially and time-wise, and in order to maintain my equipment and manage my time, I have gotten to the point where I have to start charging for services that I don’t flat-out offer to volunteer for.

So here I am, making this a business. And at the risk of over-spirtualizing it, I feel like it’s sort of a mission as well. This is something I can do for people that will matter to them, especially if the unthinkable happens. This is something I can do for people after the doctor tells them the unthinkable has already happened.

And you know what? It’s a really fun mission. Little by little, I am getting more comfortable calling myself a photographer, and that makes me really happy. Capturing my baby nephew’s new “furrowed brow” look, or the way the girl I used to babysit giggles after she plays her euphonium, or the faces that one silly family makes at the camera… I know I use this word a lot, but it’s magical. I even love the product photography, as boring as it sounds, because there is just something beautiful about making the lighting and the camera settings and the color all come together to make somebody’s product appealing. They created that the way that I am creating this.

I love it all.

So, thanks for joining me here, on my professional little corner of the internet, or as professional as it can be when I’m running it.

I hope to make this into something truly meaningful.

To book me for a North Dallas senior session, family portraits, newborn or kids’ pictures, product shots, bridal portraits, events, “real life” session, or any other photography needs, visit me online at my Hornbuckle Creative website! And if you haven’t already liked Hornbuckle Creative on Facebook, you can do that here!