Origins

My journey with photography began in high school circa 2002. I took a class and immediately fell in love with the darkroom process of developing my own film. Something about creating an image truly from conception to print enthralled me. I started taking still life imagery, a few portraits and had dreams of creating a coffee table book one day. Never did I believe I would make a career out of photography.

Image by Thomas Lucas

Fast forward a few years to 2006 when I started planning my own wedding. I fell in love with all things weddings - the industry was just starting to boom and I would soak up every blog post I could, tear out pages in magazines and paste them into a journal. As the saying goes “do what you know”, all I knew how to do was photography so I took a leap of faith and began Amanda Watson Photography in 2007.

I was still in college at the time, studying Economics and Finance (which has come in handy over the years) and I was essentially a walking insurance company (I had my producers & claims adjusters licenses) but something in me just yearned to pursue my creative passions. I’ve always been more artistically inclined - pottery, stained glass, painting - I enjoyed making art with my hands. When I found film photography in high school it felt so natural - I could see an image through my viewfinder, then develop the film myself in a darkroom and enlarge it to a print right before my very eyes.

Over 20 years later and I’m still shooting film but have learned to embrace the spontaneity of digital photography as well - some times call for slower moments, while others just flash by. It’s a dance and I love to dance on a wedding day.