Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Garcia-Wilkinson.
Monica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve had a passion for Photography most of my life. I studied Photography at Trimble Tech High School & have been doing it since. I’ve always had my camera in my hand & everyone counts on me for photos at Family gatherings. My focus when I started shooting professionally, was to deliver Quality photos at an affordable price. I’ve been known to work with Tight Budgets & even offer Special Discounts to help those in need. Photos are meant to Capture Memories & I enjoy Bringing those Memories to Life! No family should ever miss those Special Moments due to cost! I had always planned to become a mom & shoot tons of photos of my own kids. Unfortunately, the journey to parenthood was a tough road for me.
After 2 miscarriages, I became pregnant with my daughter. But at 28 weeks & 3 days, my sweet Arianna Elizabeth was born sleeping on April 12, 2010. After a year, we tried again. And at 11 weeks, we suffered our 3rd miscarriage & 4th loss. After each loss, I tried to hold on to hope. Each family session, newborn session, birthday session; became harder but yet meant so much more! I decided to take a portion of my profits each year & donate to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth in honor of my daughter & other angels. I get to provide a small gift to other kids & help my daughter’s legacy live on in those children. In January 2014, I had to put my career on hold & begin the fight of my life. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian, Stage 3 Endometrial & Stage 2 Stomach Cancer. I had emergency surgery which included a Full Hysterectomy, a Full Appendectomy & the removal of part of my stomach. This meant never carrying a child of my own & was the toughest part of my journey. My husband stuck by side through my whole fight & helped me be strong when I wanted to give up!
I had 35 rounds of Aggressive Chemo & then another 25 rounds of Intense Radiation. I lost all of my hair & felt like a failure as a woman. I focused a lot on memories through my own photos & remembered those friends & family members I had lost over the years. I tried to focus on making memories & fighting hard. Once I was done with treatments, my career had new meaning. I was responsible for creating memories for others. Memories aren’t meant for us, they are for those we leave behind. It’s easy to do a random search for Wedding Photos or Baby Pics or Senior Shoots. Some of the poses appear similar. The faces fade into each other. But each Wedding or Newborn or Senior of Family Photo tells a story if you listen! Those photos should take you back to that special moment in time. It could be a Grandpa reading to his great grandson or that Bride wearing her favorite pair of Converse or the 1-year old Smashing that First Taste of Cake in their mouth or that Senior wearing a College Shirt to that school she’s dreamed of attending since she was 5! When you’re posing a Newborn Baby & you have to fight back tears because you know the couple lost their last baby at birth. Honoring their Angel & celebrating their Rainbow give you an Amazing Feeling.
Those moments don’t happen every day & they don’t happen more than once. Knowing each client can go back & remember the way they felt in those moments is so special. I don’t take photos to become a millionaire, I take them to create those Memories! I take the time to get to know my clients & their stories. I want the photos to truly reflect them & their personalities. When I go through the photos & even before edits, I can’t pick my favorites, I know that was a Perfect Session! Each session I do only makes me know I was meant to do this! I feel blessed each time I pick up my camera & look forward to shooting more photos!
Has it been a smooth road?
Photographers struggle in so many ways. You do anything you can to get the perfect shot! You look everywhere for those hard to find props. You struggle with pricing. You don’t want to overcharge but you don’t want to be taken advantage of at the same time. It’s hard to find the balance. Once you figure out what your business really means to you, it somehow just falls into place!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Pics By Azul story. Tell us more about the business.
Creating Memories for my Clients is the most important thing I do & Cost doesn’t matter. Being able to take a part of my profits & helping create a legacy for my 4 Beautiful Angels means everything to me.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We live in the Digital Age. Selfies & Cell Phones. I pray that People don’t lose Focus & think those things can replace the Real Photographer. Having real, genuine photos should not be out of reach because of cost.
Contact Info:
- Email: PicsByAzul@Gmail.com
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/PicsByAzul
Image Credit:
Pics By Azul
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