“Don’t be ashamed of your story. It will inspire others”

I stumbled upon this quote while surfing Pinterest a few weeks ago and it dawned on me that I’ve actually never blogged about my own journey to becoming a wedding photographer.  It’s something that most of my clients ask me about at some point in time and it’s always a story they seem to enjoy hearing because it is so completely random.  So I thought I’d blog about it here in hopes that maybe it will inspire someone else to follow their dreams and take a chance on themselves.

It all started back in 2010 when I bought my first DSLR camera.  From the very beginning, I was determined to learn how to shoot manually – so I dug into my camera’s manual and Bryan Peterson’s fabulous book called Understanding Exposure.  Within a few hours, I was starting to really grasp the relationship between my camera’s ISO, shutter speed, and aperture… and I knew that I was on my way to creating the types of photos I had always dreamed of creating!  Armed with my Nifty Fifty lens, I started practicing every single day – and most of the time, my two pups Camden + Brady served as my begrudging models.  It was through that time spent with my dogs, practicing my camera skills, that I fell in love with pet photography… and when I actually Googled “pet photography” one day at work, Jamie Pflughoeft of Cowbelly popped up.  That’s when I realized that pet photography was a real “thing”!  I thought this was the PERFECT fit for me and started to research how to become a pet photographer.

My “real” job at the time was as a mutual fund accountant at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore, Maryland and honestly, I absolutely loved it.  I had gotten my BA in Business Management, then I went back and got my MBA while working full-time at T. Rowe.  I was quickly rising through the ranks of Corporate America and loving my job as a Team Coordinator during the week… but in my spare time, I could be found behind the camera.  This was the very beginning of Dana Cubbage Photography – my first photography business, specializing in pet photography.  I loved it so much and wanted to give back to the community by helping homeless animals find homes so…

I started volunteering at BARCS Animal Shelter in Baltimore City in March 2011, taking photos of the adoptable dogs in the shelter for their website.  Shelters really need good quality photos of their adoptable animals because it really can make a huge difference in adoption rates.  It was an incredible experience that brought a lot of fabulous people into my life – one of which was Teri Pozniak, another volunteer photographer who happened to be a full-time wedding photographer.  We became close friends through volunteering at the shelter and at some point, I asked Teri if I could tag along as a third shooter/assistant – just to see what it was like to be a wedding photographer.  She graciously agreed and let me tag along… and that’s when I fell in love with second shooting!

We moved to Charleston in January 2012 and once we were here, I reached out to a handful of wedding photographers I admired here in Charleston to see if they needed an assistant or second shooter.  I was working full-time at a digital marketing firm and continued to build my pet photography business, but I spent every weekend shooting alongside some of the best wedding photographers in Charleston… and I loved it!  After a few months, it was becoming increasingly clear that I needed to make a decision about my future.  I loved second shooting, but I was absolutely miserable at my full-time job – and working 40+ hours a week at my full-time job plus weekends at weddings was getting old really fast.  I never thought I’d have the skills or confidence to become a wedding photographer, but after second shooting so often, I felt like it was time to at least try it.

I started to put together a portfolio + website for my wedding photography work and set a launch date for Dana Cubbage Weddings of August 1, 2012.  The day before I was set to launch my website and start putting it out there that I was going to start shooting weddings, I was laid off from my full-time job here in Charleston. I’m fairly certain that I was the only person who walked out of our office that day smiling.  I called my mom that morning to tell her I’d been laid off and she said “congratulations?”  Yes.  Exactly.  It was perfect timing and the push I needed to make it happen.  I’ve been a full-time wedding photographer ever since!

Through a lot of practice, trial + error, and some luck along the way, I’ve built a business that I am extremely proud of.  I absolutely LOVE what I do and I’m so grateful for every single client who has trusted me with their wedding day.  It’s been an amazing journey and I can’t wait to see where I am 5 years from now!