More About Me: A Brief History of Aarica Rice & Photography

Hello and welcome to my first blog entry! I decided to begin by talking a little about photography and how I got into this business. The photos I have chosen reflect my progress as a photographer and I loved getting to look back and see my growth in my career!

Where it started

I didn’t start doing photography until a little later in life. I always enjoyed the idea of taking photos and would sometimes find creative ways of taking a photo on my phone, but just never had the opportunity to really engage in it as a business or creative venture. I purchased my camera in 2016 and started taking a photography course online that I quickly gave up on. Eventually, the chaos of life got the better of me and I put my camera away for a few years.

Yes, YEARS… I pulled it out to do photos every so often for a friend or two, but otherwise my large investment went unused and unappreciated. I spent those few years trying a lot of new things with my career, just hoping something stuck. I got a degree in English, got a Master’s degree in education and eventually landed in a school.

I loved so much about teaching, but I left the profession after only two years, my final year being 2020, when everyone had to spontaneously become an expert in online school. While I sometimes think back to my time as a teacher and miss the work I did and the effect it had on my students, I ultimately realized teaching wasn’t good for my mental health and I am happier not in the classroom.

This left me struggling to find another career track to follow. Lost for ideas, I got my license as a real estate agent and did a few deals, but I neither enjoyed nor was good at sales. I was happier doing the behind the scenes work (there’s a lot of paperwork involved in home buying and selling), and landed myself a gig as a transaction coordinator for other real estate agents. I still do the occasional deal, but now focus my efforts on helping others find real estate success.

How it started

Now, where does photography fit into all this? With every new thing I tried, I kept feeling like something was missing. I just wasn’t getting that *spark*. At the same time, I followed plenty of photography pages online and loved looking at other people’s photos, asking myself “why can’t I do that?”

So I finally stopped making excuses for myself and picked up my camera again. In 2022, I started marketing myself as a photographer. I believed I was going to make it work this time, and business exploded. I found online classes to teach myself the parts I didn’t know and I practiced my craft. A lot.

While I started finding success, I was still asking myself what it was about photography that I was enjoying so much. Why was I so drawn to it? Why did it keep coming back to me? Why now was I engaging with it and actually trying to make it work? I think by now, I finally have the answers to these questions.

The Big Why

The key difference between this year and the first time I picked up a camera is that I am now a wife and a mother. Before, I was just a young college student, trying to figure out what is important to me. Now I know what is important to me, above all else: my family. I can empathize with these other families, trying to make memories together but struggling with all the same curveballs I do as a parent. I wanted desperately to do something to help these families have good memories that they can cherish. 

With photography, I capture families, their memories, their emotions, what is most important to them. I feel connected to my clients in a way that I haven’t in all my other professions before this. I can empathize with their struggles and their fears. I can participate in their joys and accomplishments. And I can actually help them.

This is why I am a photographer. To help families make and savor their most important memories.