About BE Photo

I attended The Art Institute of Charlotte from 2007-2011 studying graphic design and graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Photography. There, I was able to practice photographing different subject matter - portraiture, landscapes, still life, and even incorporating some graphic design into creating composites in Photoshop. 

Photographing people has always been a favorite of mine, I think because in 2D art I loved drawing portraits. When I started traveling I realized that photographing landscapes quickly became a passion. Thats one of the reasons why I love photographing people outside. I continue to photograph a breadth of work because I believe as an artist, photography is boundless!

I love seeing the world through my camera because it allows me to capture a moment in time that we will be able to look back on tomorrow, or years from now. I hope in doing so it sparks happiness as you look at your memories.

(Photography by Shane Baskin at BlackBox Studios)

About My Family

My husband, Will, and I got married on April 26, 2019 at a beautiful venue in the mountains called Claxton Farms. I truly believe in my heart that we met at the most opportune time that we could. Sometimes the timeline of our lives don’t make sense until something amazing happens, and then it all feels like it was meant to happen this way.

We actually met online and one of the things that interested me was the fact that he is an artist too. He makes utilitarian pottery, and if I’m being biased, he is incredibly talented.

Will sparked the wanderlust in me. We would go on hikes around the mountains of North Carolina so that I could photograph the waterfalls, the Blue Ridge, and all of the sunsets my heart desired. After a while we started thinking bigger and that is what ultimately led us to our need to travel and explore. We started visiting National Parks around the United States and now it is a mission to see them all. Check out our travel blog if you’re interested in seeing our adventures!

How Did We Get Here?

It has been an interesting journey to becoming a photographer. All I knew growing up was that I wanted to draw. What was I going to grow up to be and still be able to draw? In high school I took a few extracurricular classes of art, graphic design, and photography. The era of film was over and photoshop was all the rage. We learned the program by editing photos from our point and shoots, I’m talking digital olympics and sony’s, no DSLR. I quickly became obsessed with making colorful edits and collages. Once it was time to make a decision on where to go to college I felt like graphic design was the best fit for me because I could photoshop my heart out and draw all the time… or so I thought. I attended The Art Institute of Charlotte for graphic design for about a year and a half and realized it was steering me in a direction I wasn’t too happy with. I decided to switch my major to photography because I always loved taking pictures.

I really loved learning more about photography and expressing myself in a new forum, I mainly photographed portraits and tried to add a spin to my work by doing a lot of composite work. Towards the end of college we had to find an internship and I was lucky enough to get one under Shane Baskin at BlackBox Studios in Charlotte. Once I graduated she offered me a full time position as Studio Manager. There I would assist photographers with lighting on photoshoots, retouch images, handle equipment for rentals, manage the accounting and estimates for clients, the list goes on. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity because it really showed me a lot of different facets to photography that have been essential to utilize. After working there for 3 years I decided to leave and try freelancing so that I could focus on my own business.

I started doing portraits for families, which led to weddings, bridals, engagement sessions, maternity shoots, newborn photos, and just recently a gender reveal! Weddings are my favorite because they are so beautiful and full of love and its incredibly rewarding to be able to photograph such an important day in someones life.