tPre-Photography days
WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME A FINE ART WEDDING AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
EDNA EUDAVE
I have often been asked why I decided to become a professional photographer. It isn’t an easy answer. It wasn’t what I dreamt about doing when I was a child. I was one of those kids, you know, the genius kid, the principal’s pet, the ridiculous straight a honor student, the kid that got all the awards, the kid that was involved in everything: the school newspaper, vice president of her class, all the fun and nerdy clubs. I probably could have done anything I wanted to. I had a serious passion for biology, physiology, English literature, psychology, marine biology and the arts.
What a lot of people don’t know is what my home life was like. I grew up with rebellious parents. Parents, that wanted to break the cycle of their cultural upbringing. My parents and I immigrated from Mexico when I was just a baby. I think they desperately wanted to be engulfed in the American culture. They were a little hippie-ish and definitely freethinkers. I grew up learning about Einstein, Gandhi, revolutionary leaders and understanding the plight that was the human condition from a very very young age. I also come from a family of artists. My brothers and I all are artists.
As early as I can remember my mother let us draw on the walls… Paint whatever we wanted. She wasn’t one that was concerned about how the house looked to others. She was concerned with expanding our mind and breaking the rules. My father was an amateur photographer. We always had camera around. Even though we were very poor growing up, we had a camera, lenses and at one point I even remember a video camera. My father had an entrepreneurial heart. He has been a Tailor since he was young even though he studied accounting in Mexico. He worked for several companies before deciding to move on and start his own business. My father is a kind, Buddhist, unconditionally loving freethinking man and my mother is a strong, independent and brilliant woman.
As a teenager I embraced both my scientific curiosity and my deeply entrenched love for fine art. Since there was always a camera around my house I started to learn photography. Photography was never something I considered a career choice, like my father I wanted to make it a hobby. I was really leaning towards becoming a painter or a writer. I wrote poetry, short stories and painted quite a bit.
Starting in the seventh grade I started taking pictures of my friends. I loved the reaction that I got from my friends and family when I took their photos. I loved making people feel beautiful. I have struggled with my weight my entire life, I’ve never really felt particularly beautiful, at least not in a socially acceptable way. This was an outlet for me to make other people feel beautiful. Because I was surrounded with art my entire life I innately understood composition, color and texture. It came so easily for me. I was able to give others what I had always wanted for myself…to feel beautiful.
When I got into college I majored in fine art photography and English literature. We were poor so I have been working since I was just a kid, eventually making money took over getting an education and I never finished my bachelors.
I was working for a large corporation making, for my young age, a very good income. When all of a sudden I quit to pursue my dreams in photography. I had been shooting for small jobs for a while. I left my friends and family aghast at the decision. At this point I had been living on my own for a while and decided to get a job at Pro photo connection in Irvine when by chance I befriended the owner on a late Sunday evening picking up some material for a photography class I was taking. He gave me a job… And I began to network with the local photographers in Orange County. I got to see all the high-end photographers working in Orange County, how they did what they did and eventually got a job assisting for one of them…Jimmy from Studio 52 (I think) As I honed my skills I soon surpassed the creativity of my employers. Once I started seeing that my employer started using my work to advertise their high-end studios I realized it was time to go out on my own. At about the age of 30 with over 10 years of photography experience already under my belt I went out on my own.
I have been a full-time photographer for 14 years and I have 24 years of professional wedding photography experience. I am an extensively published, award winning photographer. I have been mentoring and education photographers for years and I am proud to be able to wake up every single day and LOVE what I do for a living. I was able to merge my fine art background with my love for the technical… and along the way.. I was able to help families eternally hold on to the memories that mean the most to them… To lock in the legacy of their truest love and the meaning of their lives.
I never budge on my integrity because I am my own boss. I make my own schedule and though I work my butt off every single day.. I get to enjoy life at my pace and with my rules! I love that. I am so grateful every single day to have so many “walking billboards”… my clients are the backbone of my business and I attract the most AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and LOVING clients.. this this whole wide world!
ME.. EDNA EUDAVE
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