Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Dougherty.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my business after having my second daughter Parker. As the wife of a physician, we spend many years making sacrifices for our husband’s career. Med school is a money hole with no extra time. Then residency comes around and you have even less time and make less than minimum wage when the hours are counted up.
So when we were one year away from graduation, I decided it was my turn to follow my passions. My husband got to where he needed to be and was ready to turn the focus on me again. It’s been a breath of fresh air to put my energy into my passion. Photography started out as a hobby for me when I was 14-15 years old. I was raised on the island of Sint Maarten and obsessed over the beautiful pictures in my National Geographic magazines.
I saved up one summer and bought my first DSLR camera. A canon rebel. I would take pictures at the beach of skimboarders, friends, animals, palm trees, you name it. I slowly figured out on my own what all the settings meant. You have to remember, this was before what Google is now. And growing up on a small island, there weren’t many other people who shared my interest or had the knowledge to share with me.
Now as an adult with more resources, knowledge, and capital, I have the insane gear I only dreamed about owning as a teenager. And I get to take beautiful portraits of people in places that make me happy. I’m always keeping an eye open for a pretty piece of land with trees and flowers. Florida definitely has a lot of hidden gems and I’ve been loving finding every one of them.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Balancing being a new mother was a big one. But even bigger was starting over a second time when we moved to Florida. We moved to an area where we knew no one and photography is a very word-of-mouth type business. But slowly I’ve connected with people and some of my clients are even my closest friends now. It’s amazing sometimes how God turns hardships into blessings.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do a lot of family photography. It’s easy for me since I have two kids of my own. A mother’s patience is a unique thing and having that makes taking pictures with children surprisingly easy.. even fun. I would like to get into more newborn sessions. I love working with babies.
I am currently booking more weddings and I think that is my ultimate goal. It’s very hard work. A wedding day is long, stressful, and physical with a big camera in your hand all day. But I find that stress to also be exciting and the finished products are more than worth the physical stress the day of.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I don’t know if it’s a risk. But I like to try new places and ideas all the time. I try to be open to suggestions. I once had a client ask me to shoot at a location that was 2.5 hours away. It felt like a bad idea at the time since she didn’t give me a lot of information beforehand.
But the location was so breathed taking and we took amazing photos of her daughter for her quinceanera. Sometimes you just have to push through the initial fear and trust that new things can either be good or bad. But you learn by making mistakes.
Contact Info:
- Website: alyssadoughertyphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssadoughertyphotography/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaDoughertyPhotography/
