Bio | Snaps By Halee

bio

I have always had an eye for composition and design but never thought I would ever become a photographer. Back in 2005, I took pictures for yearbook in high school which was my first real experience behind a camera but it didn't really inspire me to pursue it.

It wasn't until I became a parent that I began to understand fully the fleetingness of life and how there are moments, emotions, and details we experience as humans that we wish we could hold on to forever.

I downloaded Instagram when it was in its early years and used it religiously to document moments of my kids' first summer on a farm we had moved to in 2012. That's when I truly fell in love with photography. I knew deep in my heart that these years of littleness were going to pass quickly and I wanted to make sure I captured my children in little ways that we take for granted. Like the way the sun shines on their faces, their curious spirits, and the way they look up at you like you are their whole world.

My Instagram got pretty popular locally and I had friends start asking me to take pictures of their children. So I invested the little money I had and bought a cheap Canon T3 Rebel and learned everything I could on YouTube on how to use manual mode. I didn't stay loyal to Canon though, I bought a Nikon when I had a little more money and so far I've been through four or five Nikons. I am currently on my second Nikon D700. Yes I know it is ancient in today's camera world, but I can't describe the happiness I have when I use it compared to newer ones that I've owned.

When I got asked to do a wedding for the first time I was extremely nervous. These photos were going to be passed down for years and I wanted to make sure that they were worthy of that. After I saw the images on my computer, I knew that this was something I was called to do and felt so honored to be part of their story.

The range of emotions and love from that wedding got me hooked into doing more and more weddings and the rest is history. I look back on albums from long ago and cry when a photo brings me back to a beautiful moment I got to be part of.

Photographs are all that's going to be left of us one day and that thought has always stuck with me. I look for love and genuineness and capture it and I think that's what makes my style unique. I hope that my photos are cherished by those I take them for and for the generations that come after.