A short-ish story about me and how Victoria Robinson Photography came to be
I have lived all over in many states but I spent most of my school years in Florida- you know, home of the Florida man and where they teach you to run in a zig zag line if you are ever chased by an alligator.
I was adopted as an older child by a family that both drive me crazy and make me feel incredibly loved at the same time.
My 6th grade history class is where I met my husband. He struck up a conversation with me over a nerdy manga book I was reading and from there we became the best of friends- it's a love story definitely worth hearing... another time.
I graduated top 5 in my class in high school. But I was sort of a "don't tell me what to do" child so against my parent's advice, I decided to forgo the college life and pursue my love for photography and my dream of becoming a photographer. But of course- life is a marathon not a sprint, so stick around to hear how it took me 8 years to get there.
In April of 2012 I had my oldest son and became a mom-tographer at 19. I then married my husband in December of 2013. At that time I worked in child development with special needs and low income children. While it was very hard work it really was something I truly enjoyed doing and something I do find myself missing at times.
In 2014 my small family loaded up in a Uhaul with all of our belongings and drove to North Dakota to start what would be our new life for the next 5 and half years. In those five years I faced some crazy challenges. Being thousands of miles away from my family and my husband being gone for work for 6-8 months at a time every year, I really had to buckle down and learn what it meant to "just make it work- whatever the case may be". I learned that no problem is too big to handle and even under some of the most pressuring times there is always a solution.
During my time in North Dakota I owned a home daycare for almost 5 of those years. That is where I learned the bones of being a business woman. Writing contracts, bookkeeping, and filing taxes. In that time I was also a hobbyist photographer taking photos of families, kids, and military homecomings.
In April of 2019 I had my youngest son and we then moved to good ol' Norman Oklahoma in November of 2019.
In January of 2020 before the height of covid struck our nation, I let go of the idea that I needed a 9-5 repetitive day job to support my family and I made the leap to open my photography business full time. After all, I had had a camera in my hand for a over a decade at this point.
I dabbled in all types of photography in 2020 trying to find where I fit into this industry. From boudoir to newborns, I searched for that spark that said "I am exactly where I am supposed to be-doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing". And that happened when I shadowed my first wedding in June of 2020. From there I knew thats where I was being called. On the 2 hour drive home I called my husband I told him after 8 hours of continuous shooting and standing on my feet I felt so energized. That whole day I laughed with the wedding party, cried at the vows, I joked with the father of the bride, bawled my eyes out during the first dances, all while capturing amazing photos of these once in a life time moments. I just felt like I was.. well, exactly where I was supposed to be.
So I niched down and became an Oklahoma Elopement and Wedding Photographer.
It doesn't even feel like a job most days and I have got to say- I couldn't be happier with where life has brought me.
I could go on for days but if you have made it this far- thanks for reading!
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