Stacey Manning Photography's recent photos http://staceymanning.smugmug.com/ Stacey is very modest about telling her story of how she became a professional photographer. If it were up to her, this information would be kept anonymous but since I am the web-master, I do have a little say in the content. Besides, I am very proud of her and I love to brag about her accomplishments. My name is Dale, or as she calls me ~ Deej. I am her equipment manager, business helper, web designer (so if you don't like the site, blame me), and oh by the way, her husband. That's us in the picture to the left on a Royal Carribean cruise in 2005....what an amazing trip! The story of Stacey's photography career really began about 20+ years ago when it was a secret passion of hers. She loves people and has always enjoyed taking pictures of people with a dream of someday being a professional photographer. However, rather than pursue an education / career in photography, she took the more practical route and entered into the Psychiatric Nursing field where she spent nearly 18 years helping children with mental health problems. She was an unbeleivable nurse and helped many young people through things we average folk could never even imagine. She still gets calls to this day with requests and opportunities for her to go back to nursing because her reputation is outstanding for the work she did. Her continued passion and dream to get into photography won out and was her drive to study anything and everything possible to gain the knowledge and skill to begin her career as a professional photographer. While Stacey's work is excellent and she has an artistic, naturally creative eye (of course I am biased), the most amazing thing about her pictures is how she can capture people in the moment. Perhaps it's her bachelor's degree in psych plus 18 years in the field studying human behavior. Or, quite possibly, it may be her wit and uncanny sense of humor. She will make you laugh 'till you cry and has a natural knack for making all of her subjects feel extremely comfortable so she is able to capture people just being themselves. It's awesome for me to watch her work! It was the trip to California when we visited San Francisco, Yosemite Valley and Monterey when Stacey's true talents started to come to life. The pictures she took while we were there would make Ansel Adams proud and she knew she was ready to take the next steps in the process of a career change. While still working as a Psych Nurse, she began investing in the equipment needed to begin her new career. She spared no expense and purchased only the best camera gear money can buy and a top shelf post production work station where she spends most of every day producing her incredible work. Thanks to the many willing subjects who volunteered to allow Stacey to photograph them, people (aside from me!) began to see just how talented she really is and the word got out. That's when it all started to come together for her. In December of 2006, she offically retired from nursing and set out to make photography her full-time work. She is now booked just about every weekend this year for weddings, family portrait sessions and seniors graduating in 2009. Needless to say, I am very proud of her for her accomplishments and I know she will have continued success because she truly loves what she is doing. http://www.smugmug.com/img/feed-icon.png Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:44:51 -0700 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:13:55 -0800 http://www.smugmug.com/ Copyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved. http://staceymanning.smugmug.com/photos/310310261_ymCpo-Ti.jpg Stacey Manning Photography's recent photos http://staceymanning.smugmug.com/