Where It All Started

The year was about 2016. I had finally gotten my hands on a DSLR camera. I was learning about aperture and ISO, and all those other photography terms that usually end up having numbers. One thing I know for sure I enjoyed was creating a composition. Looking though a lens and then figuring out what side I wanted to line my subject up against the 9 box grid presented before me in this small view finder.

I started taking my camera with me to different places; parks, my friend’s house, just around running errands in case I found something awesome to photograph. My camera became kind of like my friend.

This camera, who was like a friend of mine, helped me capture pictures of some great adventures I took. One in particular that I hope to never forget is my trip to New York City with my best friend, Jenny. I took both my DSLR (a Canon EOS XS, if I’m not mistaken) and my P&S (Canon Powershot SX250). I was still learning my DSLR, but the shots I did get made my heart feel some sort of satisfaction. You can find these shots on my Instagram (@for_deedee).

New York for sure changed my view, as far as life and my artistic side. So much beautiful scenery, so little time to see it all. I for sure did not get a picture of the Statue of Liberty, mostly because we just didn’t have time during our trip, and we mostly walked everywhere. Imagine this: we walked from our hostel in the Columbus circle, all the way down to about Bleeker street. All because we wanted to do was find a PetSmart and a Petco. 😂

Nature and animals is FOR SURE my favorite thing to photograph. I absolutely enjoy taking a beach trip and take a picture of the ocean in front of me, even if I have hundreds of the same photo already stashed somewhere in my photo files. Every wave is different, and every photo may have a new bird species flying through it. You never know. 😉

Ohhhhh and let’s not forget the Colorado trip! Imagine this!! Two girls in their early 20s traveling BY CAR from Long Beach, CA to Cedaredge, CO. 17 hours of driving, nonstop, and I was the only driver. We saw some amazing stops along the way, including the Seven Magic Mountains near Las Vegas, NV.

Just look at how amazing! We parked and took pictures here, and saw some awesome lizards. So many people were stopping by to see these awesome rocks. Supposedly they were going to tear them down to make room for something new. I wonder if they are still there.

Colorado is definitely a place I would visit again. I was in awe of all the nature and animals you get to see just by walking down a street. One part in particular I will NEVER forget is driving through the Red Mountain Pass. Snow on either side of the road and cliffs your car could fall from if you got too close to the edge of the road. Which almost did happen, but I don’t think my cousin and her dad even noticed, lol. We made it back alive didn’t we?

This is where my love for taking pictures started getting more serious. I started “booking” shoots, mostly of my sister-in-law to be and her friends. Like her prom, and her birthday, some graduations, etc. I got to witness photographing people for the first time. Not going to lie, it was something I didn’t really enjoy, mostly because posing people is really hard. Trying to come up with different ideas and how to place their hands. It is definitely helpful to have some Pinterest photos of possible poses, just so you know.

However, one photo in particular made me realize what I do love about taking pictures of humans: Emotion.

I was blessed with the opportunity of capturing my cousin (who I went to Colorado with) getting engaged! Funny little story, her now husband contacted me and asked if I could help him capture the moment. We had planned that he was going to take her on a date to the aquarium here in Long Beach, and I was going to be hiding within the crowd of people and snap pictures and just pretty much catch the proposal, but my cousin being the little falcon that she is, SAW ME and of course ran to me and asked me what the hell I was doing. My story was that I came to just take pictures here because I just wanted to practice. Eventually her now husband lead us back over to where he wanted to pop the question, and so he did.

Honestly, not my best work, but HEY. It was my first time shooting a proposal and I was still learning how my camera worked. And in case you are wondering, no I was not the photographer at their wedding. I was one of the the maid of honors. 💁‍♀️ Plus, I don’t think I am skilled enough to photograph weddings. That’s a terrifying task.

(Excuse the SnapChat thingies on the photo, the editing software on Wix isn’t letting me crop anymore..)

Another task I absolutely love is the task of taking MATERNITY photos! These are so fun and so cute and probably one of my favorite ones to do. I was lucky enough to help my uncle and his wife (not pictured due to privacy) capture some shots before my new little cousin arrived. I also helped my friend Claudia with her first baby’s maternity shoot, and recently did her second baby’s which you can find here on my website under the “Client Albums” page. Thank you Claudia, Lucio, Brence, and now little Aleah for always having me be the photographer. ♥️

I wanna say these were my best work yet. 🥰

They are growing the family and I couldn’t be more excited for them!

I still do this, but for a little while I was doing pet photography for dogs I used to walk. I still take photos of dogs, but now it’s mostly my dog because I am so obsessed with him. 😂

Some of my best photos are of my dog, Dante (an Australian Cattle Dog), because he is my newest muse. Let’s get into a little bit of history behind the name “For DeeDee Photography”. DeeDee is not my grandmother, or an aunt, or a great great aunt, or my mom. DeeDee was my childhood dog. She was a cute pit bull chow mix, black in color with some white, in particular she had a white heart on her chest. DeeDee was my first muse. This was back when I had my little pink Sony P&S camera. I took a black and white photo of me kissing DeeDee’s snoot, and since then photography has just been my thing. I took pictures of EVERYTHING I could. I wish I knew where that picture was right now so I could show you. I’m sure I’ll find it again sometime and I will post about it.

Last, but absolutely not least, and absolutely not my last trip to this beautiful and magical place, let me bless you with the one city that has captured my heart.

Seattle, WA.

I just can’t get enough of this place. I’ve only been here ONCE (June 2021) and a piece of my heart lives here, just like how a piece of my heart lives in NYC. This was another amazing trip. Imagine me, my boyfriend, 1 car, 2 dogs, 15 hours of NONSTOP driving from Fresno, CA. My boyfriend drove most of it. I drove maybe 1.5 hours. I would have done more but my body was literally shutting down. My blood flow was starting to slow down and I seriously believed my body was just going to shut down while I was driving and cause a wreck. But we made it there safe and sound, enjoyed an amazing adventure, and made it back home (that was another hard 15 hours back…). We will definitely be back here, and I for sure want to get married here. That’s the dream. That’s the goal.

Dante and I want to thank you for stopping by today and taking a look at our first blog post. Dante is the official mascot of For DeeDee, especially now because he is my newest muse, and DeeDee will forever be the name of this journey, this business in the making.

Until next time. ♥️