Today we’d like to introduce you to Sadie Simmons.
Hi Sadie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve had a camera in my hands for as long as I can remember; as early as eight years old, I was running around family trips and reunions, taking photos of anything and everything. From there, people started telling me things like, ” You know you can grow up to make a living off of that?” I was obsessed with all things film and photo all through childhood and my teenage years, leading to my older sister saving up a big chunk of money in order to gift me a Mac Book Pro. This absolutely blew my mind and really kickstarted my ability to bring my creative ventures with film and photography to life! After graduating from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s in media studies, I was unfortunately at a standstill with my career due to graduating during May of 2020, aka quarantine. As you can imagine life was on pause that year, therefore so were all the internships that might have been lined up. I worked hard for the next two years in the service industry to save up as much as I possibly could in order to purchase my first round of professional photography gear. I’ve always loved weddings, going to weddings, planning them, even being in them. Everything about weddings drew me in, and it only made sense that I then switched gears and turned away from film production and towards wedding photography! I brought my two passions together in late 2022 and officially started my business, Smokin’ Horse Media, in June of 2023.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been dealt an insane amount of bad luck, meaning nothing’s been known to come easy to me in life. I worked 40+ hours a week while attending college full time in order to gain my degree by myself, but I was met with not being able to finish my portfolio due to graduating in May of 2020. I’ve invested so much time, work, money, and research into my career and am beyond thankful to be where I am now with it. It can be really hard freelancing when nothing is financially predictable or stable; paydays come and go in seasons, and that can be rather stressful. However, I remember when I was dying to book even one wedding and would kill to be given the chance to. Now I’m in the double digits for weddings booked yearly, and it was all absolutely worth every sleepless night and hour worked to get me here today!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I provide photography and videography all across Texas and beyond, covering primarily weddings as well as couples’ portraits, family portraits, and corporate work. I specialize in curating imagery with an intimate, warm, vintage, and nostalgic feel. I provide clients with a full photo gallery that evokes these feelings. My goal is to bring them back to that day, that feeling, or that moment they had with their loved ones during our session. Almost anyone can snap a photo now a days and make it pretty, I like to think the difference in my work is that it tells an aesthetically pleasing story, it has heart, and generates an emotion when looking through them. I also really like creating a fun atmosphere with my clients; it’s important for your photographer to be someone you’re comfortable with and can be yourself with in order to receive the best results in your photos!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.smokinhorsemedia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smokinhorsemedia/
