Hello! I’m Sam, a camera collecting, photo loving chicken lady.

 

I got my first camera at a garage sale. I was about 12. It was a disposable film camera all wrapped up in a shiny silver bag for a dollar. After I persuaded my mom to buy it I went home and set up a white shower curtain in the corner of my room and photographed my two younger sisters. I never stopped taking pictures after that. I fell in love with the darkroom and an old metal Pentax camera in high school. Looking back, I think most of my days at DRHS were spent in the art room! 

I then attended Minnesota State University, Mankato where I received my BFA in Photography. Digital photography was so new and frankly took me a while to come around to! My favorite memories of college are still the late nights and endless coffee in the darkroom. It was while I worked as a photojournalist for the Mankato Free Press where my love for Nikon, digital photography and documenting life’s moments was truly born!

I met my husband while living in Memphis for a year. We eventually settled in a little house in the suburbs of Minneapolis where we started our little family of four. But life is a funny journey! After my son was born I had this overwhelming feeling it was time to “go back home!” So we packed up, found an even littler house in the woods, got a few chickens, a giant St. Bernard, and made this place home again!

I have a sign that hangs in my living room made by Twisted Metals that says: Trust your Story. It is one of my favorite things and I wholeheartedly believe it! While in the twin cities, I worked for both a large photo studio and also did my own photography on the side. After my son was born, I took a 2 year break from photography and focused on my family.  I received a message from an old high school acquaintance a year after moving back to Deer River that the pony league t-ball teams needed some pictures and if I could do them…"SURE!" I said! It might be a little cliché, but you should always trust your story! I consider that message and that photoshoot to really be the turning point where SMP went from a lifelong hobby to a true business.  I love being in a small town community and being able to capture moments and truly be part of my clients' lives. 

 

This is my Story.  I would love to capture yours!